EPAS Update…

Things have run into a snag on the EPAS.

The background here is that I am putting a Vauxhall Corsa electric power steering (EPAS) unit into my Peugeot 106. The connection between the end of the EPAS and the pinion on the rack is tight for space (about 5″). I have tested things out by welding together the two chopped ends of the different parts from the two columns.

The resultant joint uses a single UJ, but the problem with it (and which has only recently become apparent as I near the end of a lot of work) is that as it rotates through 360 degrees there is movement in the EPAS column. I believe that this suggest a single UJ doesn’t offer enough freedom of movement for the joint and that the solution is that it needs a double UJ solution (which is what the Vauxhall originally had).

I did contemplate cutting it all out and going back to the non PAS setup, but having come this far I have decided to press on a bit further and so I have looked into possible solutions. What I have come up with is using a Borgeson joint. These seen to be ideal due to being so compact. However none of the available combos suit my needs.

As such my idea is to use a 3/4″ DD / 1″ DD double UJ. I’ll then fabricate up an shim for the Peugeot pinion end which is about 1/2″ single D to go into the 3/4 DD and modify the female portion of the Vauxhall splined UJ to fit into the 1″ DD. In my mind it should all work and in the limited space available. Eliminating the movement in the steering column with the double UJ setup and being much stronger than a welded combo.