With engine swaps other custom projects becoming more common place, we enter the era of electric power steering swaps. Most auto makers have moved away from the traditional power steering pump/rack configuration. Some engines like the Ford Coyote have even never even been offered with a traditional power steering pump. While this creates new challenges, the auto makers have supplied the solution with more vehicles coming with EPAS or electric power assisted steering. There are multiple solutions available at the moment. Custom EPAS installs have now become common on hot rods, rat rods, mud buggies, sand rails, classic cars, resto mods, side by sides, rock crawlers, and even atvs.

One of the options available to people doing swaps to a classic or other chassis with factory power steering and an engine without is the Volvo electric power steering pump. These work great with Coyote swaps. They simply require plumbing into your existing power steering rack or steering box ant the connection of 3 wires and you have power steering without an engine mounted pump. When I sell these, I include the pump, reservoir, bracket, wiring pigtail and a small section of the factory pressure hose. That way you can take the hose to a local hydraulic shop to have the correct hose for your application made.

Another option available to people is the column mounted EPAS setup. These include an electric motor mounted to the steering column to assist in steering the vehicle. They have a torque sensor on the input shaft that reads the amount of torque being applied and relays that to a control box that controls the assist motor. This is a simple and effective setup. The real challenge in this setup is in the mounting. It has to mount somewhere between the steering wheel and the factory steering rack or box. These units can replace the existing steering column, Or they can be shortened and installed to replace a section of the steering shaft between the factory column and steering rack or box. There were many vehicles that came with the column mounted assist motor from the factory. The units that I use work in fail-safe mode, with just 3 wires connected. They do not require a vss or can bus input to function. They simply require a connection to battery, ground, and a switch 12v input like ignition. I use select years of columns from Toyota Prius, Nissan Versa and Toyota Corolla.