G'day,
Has anybody installed power steering on a bus? Been in the city a bit recently and enjoying the struggle of 3 point turns in the ute and was wondering how tricky it would be? The guy I bought the ute off rambled on about some way to do it but the rambling didn't make a great deal of sense in the end.. Any thoughts? Even though the upside is I can now beat anybody (except fellow bus owners) in an arm wrestle!
Cheers,
Dustin

Do an expensive and difficult rack and pinion steering conversion.

Hi dusto,
What year is your ute?
What tyres and tyre pressures are you running?

My double-cabs steering is not very heavy; certainly not enough to make me want power steering, but I run 42 psi up front in Michelin LT tyres.
hth

Power steering won't fix worn steering.

If the steering is all in good condition, they are what I would consider light to steer.

Tis a 75 dual cab.
Ahh helbus is right about the worn steering factor, which I still have to get fixed... Which I know is half (or more) of the problem. I'll have to check on the tyres, pirelli's of some sort and a lot wider than my previous bus.
The guy who I bought it off gave me the idea anyways and he made it sound as easy as just adding to the existing steering system with some hydraulic kind of assistance....

Well I've had a look and the tyres I'm running are:
Pirelli P5000. 205/65R tyres. on 15inch wheels.
The pressure I believe is about 36psi last time I checked them.
Is that much different to you Modulus?
Cheers,
Dustin

Hi Dustin,
Not that vastly different. The Bay buses seem to work equally well on passenger vehicle tyres such as you have and such as Helbus runs or light truck tyres like I run. Either way, the steering should be quite light even at low speeds with a properly aligned, non-worn steering box. Since you're runningsay 36 psi,, there's not much point going higher on passenger tyres. For the record I'm running Michelin XCD light truck tyres, 185/78 X 14, at 42 psi up front, 44 psi at the back, but LT tyres generally run higher pressures than pass. car tyres.

I'm a weak, old bastard and I can still wrangle mine around without raising a sweat.

Sounds like you need to get your steering box checked. One place in Melbourne that can do that is Tucker Rd. Motors in North Rd., but equally any of the other VW specialists should bre up to the job.

hth