Alternative power steering pumps

[Tundra]

Sorry if this is an old topic but has anyone experience of fitting a more modern falling rate power steering pump to overcome the constant rate lightness of Stag racks?

[richardthestag]

probably easier to buy an MX5

#joking

Sort of, surely half the charm of driving an older car especially a Staaag is the feel of it. I it steers like a Lexus and Stops like a New Merc SL bits of its soul are being robbed away.

Says the bloke with Rover Tomcat seats, modern ICE, header tank and lecky ignition lol

I fitted a recon rack that I bought from HRS a decade ago, it had something special done inside it and does feel nice. Still light but not overly so. Tony Hart still posts on here he may be able to fill us in on wizardry that may or may not have taken place.

Cheers

Richard

[mike@thenook]

My rack is as (traditionally) light at all, very good feel to it and in fact it's no as light as my 03 Freelanders steering. Think I got my rack from Paddocks about 10 years ago...
You can make mods to the valves so that less assistance is given through the hydraulics.

[redstag]

My rack is as (traditionally) light at all, very good feel to it and in fact it's no as light as my 03 Freelanders steering. Think I got my rack from Paddocks about 10 years ago...
You can make mods to the valves so that less assistance is given through the hydraulics.

Sounds like mine, I wouldn't describe it as light at all. It is a rack I took off a late, low miles T2500 30+ years ago.
The original rack was completely different and very light but had done a lot of miles.

Pete

[stag8manod]

An easy adjustment is to undo the large nut on the back of P/Steer pump (high pressure). Retrieve the internal piston and on the end of it is several shim washers, remove one or more, reassemble and test drive, I took both shims out of mine and it did increase the feel, not as much as I'd like but better.
Cheers, Ian A.

[Tundra]

An easy adjustment is to undo the large nut on the back of P/Steer pump (high pressure). Retrieve the internal piston and on the end of it is several shim washers, remove one or more, reassemble and test drive, I took both shims out of mine and it did increase the feel, not as much as I'd like but better.
Cheers, Ian A.

Thanks for the info, I've come across a thread under "over sensitive steering" that suggests the same mod.

[mjheathcote]

I've an unfinished project of replacing the original pump with a Mercedes A class electric pump. This fits nice and neat where the original water expansion bottle was.
Popular mod with engine swops when difficult to fit a belt driven pump.
I have no engine swop, but hoping for better feel using one.
The other reason that with the alternator being now on the upper nearside due to my front exiting tubular exhaust manifolds, I could mount an air con compressor in place of the alternator...another project!!

[V Mad]

I used to think that all stags had over-assisted steering, but I have found that they do not need to be that way, and that their is quite a variation of racks in service. Mine now is just about right, and so is the spare that I have. It is always worth trying out a different rack to find a good one. I think the design changed at least once, but I dont know if they are marked differently for identification.

[Tdm]

Just to throw my twopenneth in, my car is a late 1977 auto model near the end of the production line, and I find the power steering just right, not too light at all, and certainly no lighter than others I have driven. Maybe Triumph changed things towards the end?

[72BLUE]

I remember reading a while back that the Triumph 2000 rack looks the same as the Stag rack, but they are 'weighted' differently?

When you by an exchange rack, it is a sort of lucky dip as to which one you get?

Cheers
Keith

[Mike Stevens]

I remember reading a while back that the Triumph 2000 rack looks the same as the Stag rack, but they are 'weighted' differently?

I'm not sure that is true, but the end stops (white rings inside inner ball joints) are certainly different with the Stag having thicker ones which reduces the lock.

I've had different PAS racks in the Stag and the various big saloons I've had and they have varied in assistance. I did read somewhere that as it ages, a rack provides more assistance due to the wearing of the various 'orifices' which are used to reduce the fluid flow and hence increase the assistance. I don't know if this is true but it does make sense. Now, whether this is in the rack or the pump is anyone's guess!

Cheers,
Mike.

[jbuckl]

I know of someone who has fitted epas from a corsa to a stag.
No reports yet though.

FWIW, I just got a low mileage 2005 car with epas, the straight ahead condition is really awful / horrible. (its probably a valeo system...... c**p)

The manual has 35 pages of fault finding for the epas system alone hmmm.

[Tundra]

I've now come across a power steering pressure adjuster made in America and sold by Real Steel over here. The make is Heidt who seem to me quite established on the muscle car scene but not yet found any independent reviews. It is a simple design that allows the pressure to be adjusted by diverting "excess" pressure back into the low pressure circuit depending on how you set the adjuster within the range. Not cheap at over £100 plus new hoses/ additional hoses though.

[GDPR]

The Honda engined V6 Rover 800 had a valve fitted to the gearbox that ran off the diff speedo drive worm. This valve reduced PAS hydraulic pressure according to road speed, to no assistance by 25mph, and was directly linked into the PAS hydraulic lines.

Will see if I can find my books that describe the actual mechanism by which this happened - might even be adaptable to our more primitive PAS system.

[Tundra]

First thoughts are that could be quite tricky to reverse engineer onto a stag - going to try and find info on falling rate power steering pumps as that would give the same effect without additional plumbing complexity.