power steering

[hodgson4711]

i am about to fit a 2.5 diesel engine into my 1981 transit motorhome and have been told that because of the weight of the engine it will make the steering very heavy. if that is the case i would like to know if it is possible to fit power steering to my vehicle, even though i have a steering box other than rack and pinion. regards dave

[madmark]

dave this is a tricky one ,yes pas can be fitted but will cost loads to do, as you will have to sorce a steering setup from a mk3 transit , the van will have to be cut around abit as well to make it fit! the pas steering boxes are very hard to find though! if you pump up the tyres this will hep abit when you are on the move it will be ok! most erly transits diesels i have owned never had pas and i didnt find it to much of a problem! hope this helps you mate mark

[Luke]

Dave - It is heavyer but then again 99% of mk3 lwb Di's had the same engine and no PAS!! i think you will find it ok, i did it to my mk1 and it wasnt that heavy, but if you need PAS like mark says very rare and hard to find!!!

[john leeman]

also check tyres, 50 psi all round also if it a beam axle grease the king pins, so a small amount of grease shows top and bottom of the axle beam from the swivel hub good luck.

[Gunslinger]

i have a mk3 stearing box (good as far as i know) if anyone has a mk2 one removed that they would be willing to part with (dont care if its knackered or not) i would be interested to see if it was possible to modify or have it modified so that you dont have to fit the mk3 column

assuming the fittings on the mk3 pas version are the same .... anyone know if this is the case ?

[madmark]

mate most of it is all difrent even the droparm is a difrent shape

[FredTransit]

This really will depend on the individual van. We have we have had 6 conversions, and one factory Di deisel The factory has the easiest steering, BUT the steering box has been replaced and is currently steered by a box off a petrol van! 2nd lightest is a conversion. No two are the same, and all of them have no power steering, I manage them all fully loaded.

[Gunslinger]

I manage them all fully loaded.

i'm lazy


yeah i know there is a bit of difference, the drop arm is imaterial unless the splines are different as i would look to use the mk2 one.

the diferences you talk of mark i assume are between mk2 and mk3 and not mk3 PAS and mk3 NON-PAS

maybe its one of those things to play with on a rainy day

[pete_the_4x4]

i have just striped a mk3 with power steering got all the bits includeing a big lump of inner wing i will be fitting it to the 4x4 mk1 soon as i am changing the engine soon too the death toll of vans for this one is getting quite high