Upgrading Your Rig’s Steering System

Ok, you’ve lifted your rig so you can put those big tires on, and you take it out on its maiden wheelin’ trip. The first thing you notice is how the terrain seems to guide the tires while fighting your biceps. If this sounds familiar, then you probably have manual steering. Many of the older rigs on the trail only came from the factory with a manual steering box. There are several options to remedy the manual steering blues. Upgrading to a power steering setup is the most basic route, then there are a number of companies specializing in hydraulic ram setups. There are also many combinations using common power steering boxes in addition to a hydraulic ram assist. With the vast variety of power steering system components available, the possibilities are quite endless.

Universal Concepts in Power Steering Upgrades

While the power steering upgrade in our story may be on one particular vehicle, using particular components, the basic concepts can be used universally. Most steering components are very similar in that they perform the same basic functions. They all vary in their particular design, so each application will adapt certain components differently.

Focus: Toyota “IFS” Power Steering Box on a Suzuki Samurai

Our story will focus on the installation of a Toyota “IFS” power steering box on a Suzuki Samurai. The Toyota box will be adapted to a Howe Performance High Flow TC pump and reservoir with a Flex-A-Lite power steering cooler and electric fan. Each of these components was carefully chosen for our particular application. The decision to use a Toyota power steering box was primarily due to the success of other people we had observed with this setup. The Toyota power steering box is a common upgrade for Samurais. There are many people at hand that can answer questions and numerous examples on the trail. Toyota power steering boxes come in an assortment of flavors, but we chose the Toyota “IFS” box, found on 1986-’95 Toyota 4×4 pickup trucks. This particular box is a popular choice for Samurais and can be outfitted for hydraulic ram assist later if need be. We used a brand new power steering box from All Pro Off-road. All Pro sees many of their Toyota “IFS” boxes go onto early model Toyotas, upgrading to the beefier box, with a side-to-side operating pitman arm movement. This box works perfectly with the high-steer setup we have on our Toyota axles. We were also fortunate enough to find that All Pro had a spare steering shaft to match the “IFS” box. These can be modified to replace the stock Samurai shaft.

Choosing the Right Power Steering Pump

Next on the decision block was the choice of power steering pumps. The obvious choice would be to use the pump that came factory with our box. We didn’t want obvious, so we looked to Spidertrax Off-Road for some help. Seems they have a power steering pump bracket made specifically for the Samurai to use a Howe Performance High Flow TC pump. Spidertrax was very instrumental in the matching of components in our project. Tom Kingston and Eddie Casanueva know Suzukis inside, out, and upside down. They recommended using Howe Performance’s power steering reservoir as well as a power steering cooler. The problem was that the Howe system required using AN 8 size fittings and power steering coolers with fittings this size are few and far between. The guys at Spidertrax suggested we contact Flex-A-Lite as they were the only ones who could make one for them. A quick call to Flex-A-Lite and we had a custom cooler on the way.

Powering the TC Pump

Everything was coming together at this point. One particular stumbling block was how to power the TC pump. Once again Spidertrax had a solution. They suggested using a Calmini power steering crank pulley. They had seen this setup before. This pulley is a jewel of a component. Calmini has essentially designed a blue-anodized billet crank pulley for the 1.3L Samurai engine that incorporates an extra belt groove to run a power steering pump.

Installation Process

With all of the components on the way, it was time to get to work. We began by removing the old box, stripping down the frame, and reinforcing it with 1/4-inch plates. The “IFS” box was mounted and the pump, pulleys, cooler, reservoir, and plumbing were all installed. The new setup was very close to the radiator fan, so we used a Flex-A-Lite electric fan to save space and reduce parasitic drag on the engine. With everything installed, it was time to measure for a new, longer drag link as the Toyota Box was mounted further away on the outside of the frame rail. With a quick measurement and a call to All Pro Off-Road, we had the right length drag link on the way as well as a steering damper that would work with our new setup.

Testing the New System

After some final assembly, it was time to fill’er up with power steering fluid and bleed the system. This drill can be quite tiresome but must be done. The bubbles were gone from our system in no time and we were done just in time for our Rubicon trail run. It was the test of all tests, and the new power steering system proved to be a night-and-day difference from our tired old manual setup. The 35-inch tires could be turned through boulders with only one finger. The system worked flawlessly the entire trip.