[justmack]

The steering in my Gen IV Sable is overboosted. Could I make the steering tighter and less boosted if I were to remove some of the power steering fluid? If I did this, would I damage the power steering pump?

 

[mykej27]

Oh, god no. Don't do that.

Buy a strut tower brace. That will help tighten up your over or under steering problem.

 

[Capital Punishment]

Originally posted by justmack@Jan 22 2004, 09:28 PM
The steering in my Gen IV Sable is overboosted. Could I make the steering tighter and less boosted if I were to remove some of the power steering fluid? If I did this, would I damage the power steering pump?

Not that i know of. The best way would probably be to just get used to it, you will eventually.

 

[justmack]

I have been driving my car since November of 2000... it seems that over time, the steering has become more "artificial." I wonder if there is a way to override the variable assitance feature?

 

[baby sho]

underdrive pully... two birds..........one stone!!!!!

Brad

 

[biteableniles]

What, is VAPS not on Gen4's?

 

[Kermit]

No VAPS on Gen IV's I have the same complaint. UDP's would be nice if I could get one from somewhere.

 

[Guest]

If you have a vulcan - you're in luck - Apparently taurus8916? (Paul) is having UDP's made for our vulcans (check out the performance thread - engine & drivetrain mods)

 

[Twilight]

Shift to N and turn the car off. Then you got all the tightness you want.

 

[sundarpn]

otherwise, what would be the causes of "too easy to turn steering"??

 

[sundarpn]

I actually drove two rental cars fairly recently,
one a olds alero (sucks..too tight steering) and a Impala (had the right tighness)

wonder if anthing is worng in my bull. a 96 GL. front tires are good

 

[cincyses]

Just an observation here: The Gen III steering feel was MUCH lighter than the GenIV, so if we can nail down what they changed between the two generations, this may tell you what you need to further modify to get an even heavier steering feel.......

P.S. I haven't thought this part through yet, but I do know that the front suspension on the Gen VI was made 30% less stiff (supposedly to improve ride quality over less-than-perfect surfaces) than on the Gen III, perhaps this had some effect.

Also, A wider contact patch on the front tires should, effectively make the steering feel heavier, but I don't know what width aftermarket tires would fit....

 

[mykej27]

Originally posted by CincySES@Jan 23 2004, 11:05 AM
Also, A wider contact patch on the front tires should, effectively make the steering feel heavier, but I don't know what width aftermarket tires would fit....

I was think the same thing. A wider tread should help. That doesn't mean you have to buy 235 wide or wider tires and rims, just buy wider treaded tires than your Continentals. I think the tread on the Contenentals are more narrow.

The UDP did help the steering assistance on my car. It feels much tighter. Also, you may want to concider buying some coil rubbers. They wrap completely around one layer of the spring. This will also assistant in controling the pitch and role. It's almost like having high performance coil overs without actually buying coilovers. You will have a much tighter suspension with the coil rubbers and they are about $30 a pair.

 

[sundarpn]

what exactly is a coil rubber? will it do some magic for a older gen 3 that has 130 k miles.

 

[mykej27]

Originally posted by sundarpn@Jan 23 2004, 12:55 PM
what exactly is a coil rubber? will it do some magic for a older gen 3 that has 130 k miles.

Click here to see an image of what coil rubbers look like.

 

[shoz123]

The Gen 3s had VAPS and the GEN 4s don't. You can get one off custom pulleys made by ADP.

 

[Lou]

An UDP would presumably slow the power steering pump down and therefore the flow. Power steering pumps are designed to provide maximum assist at minimum engine speed and tire friction - parking. If you dropped the power steering pump speed down 20% the only impact would be increased effort at parking and have zero impact at any engine speeds above idle. Power steering pumps do not create any additional flow through the pressure hose to the rack above 1000 +/- rpm engine speed. It is actually wasted internally as friction and ultimately heat. UDP will not help any here; others mentioned underfilling the reservoir is a big mistake as well.

I believe the VAPS steering rack sensor measured input shaft (steering wheel rotation) and the computer compared this against vehicle speed - slow speeds and steering wheel turning would allow additional flow to assist steering. If you lost the signal, parking efforts would be increased.

There is a certain amount of compliance (softness) in all steering systems that contribute to "on center feel". One of the reasons for putting this feel into mass produced passenger cars (as opposed to performace cars) is that the driver is not constantly making minor corrections when traveling down the road. If you have rod ends on their way out you could have a floaty feel. Low profile tires with stiffer sidewalls would help as well.

Inside your steering rack is a valve that rotates in response to the amount of torque that is applied to the steering wheel. The valve allows increasing amount of pressure to build up on one side of the rack piston or the other based on how much torque you apply. Lots of torque (parking) will allow lots of pressure to push the piston in the rack to provide assist. A small amount of torque (lane changes at speed) will allow a little pressure. Each production model has a valve curve that represents this torque to pressure relationship, but unfortunately there is nothing you can do to change the valve curve.