Another power steering thread

[purplewg]

Well, I bit the bullet and ordered a Unisteer for the Gator. Unisteer and Electra-Steer by Wicked Built are one in the same. For what it is worth, I paid nowhere near the normal asking price of $949. If anyone is interested PM me and I can tell you how to save some money on this unit. I mainly decided to go with power steering after my last real mudding ride where there was a lot of close tight turning involved. BTW, Unisteer has been making power steering units for hot rods for many years.

[Deputy347k9]

Purplewg, have you installed the kit as of yet? If so any difficulty as well as time involved? Any modifications needed? Sorry for all the questions.

Larry in NC

[purplewg]

No Larry, I just ordered it. I saved over $200 on this unit compared to what I could find elsewhere. I plan to take a lot of pics and maybe do a how-to on it.

[Deputy347k9]

Sounds great, I look forward to your posts.

Larry in NC

[DIXIEDOG]

Sounds great, I'll be watching for it.....I'm interested in adding power steering mysellf.:Thmup:

[Destiny creek]

Thanks purplewg going to order tomorrow.looking foward to your installation threads as I am sure you will get yours before I get mine
Thanks again

[purplewg]

Ok,I received my Power Steering unit yesterday. It has Electra-Steer plastered all over it. I am not sure when I will get started on it as I have a pinched nerve in my back. Maybe next week/weekend. I will try to put together a how-to on how I did it.

[825joe]

feel better man. I feel your pain. That sucks.

[purplewg]

No progress made yet. I hope to get started on the install this weekend.

[purplewg]

Ok, I got the Electasteer installed over the weekend. Works fine. Went from two arm steering to one arm steering. Not too tight and not too loose.

Here is the story.

First step is to remove the steering wheel. Not an easy task. I had to use a 3 arm puller. The method they suggest did not work and I smacked the devil out of the steering shaft nut. The puller did out three little depressions under the wheel that will not be seen and it popped right off.

Next was remove the dash. Well, I had added some stuff so just disconnecting all the connectors took a bit more time but it is pretty easy.

Next was to remove the steering shaft at the pinion rack. This was a real pain. No room to get down into it between the fan shroud and other stuff. It is an allen head bolt and boy was it tight. I got just enough bite and with the aid of pipe extender on my ratchet I managed to get it broke loose. After the bolt is removed they say pull the knuckle off. Well it was crimped on so I had to drive a screw driver down between the u-clamp to spread it some and then it was loose but would not come off as they said. I had already removed the snap ring ( you need really good snap ring pliers) on top of the wheel. There not enough slack to get the steering knuckle off the pinion and I noticed a snap ring under the shroud where the steering shaft goes through. I was able to get it out of the groove and slide it down the shaft giving me just enough room to get the knuckle off the pinion shaft. After having fought this for a while and getting the whole shaft out I looked at the next instruction in the manual and it was remove the lower snap ring. Well, if they had this step in order I could have saved 15 minutes. So, the old steering shaft is out now. Keep the two snap rings removed from the original shaft to put on the new steering shaft.

Next step is to install the new lower steering shaft on the pinion. This is pretty easy but note while there is nothing on the pinion rack shaft there is a grove. Your bolt will only go through if the knuckle is in the right position.

Next is install the motor/bracket assembly up under the dash. It is predrilled and the Gator is predrilled. Mine did not line exactly. It was about 1/8 inch off but I finally managed to get it in without doing drilling or modifying.

Next install both shafts back on the motor assembly making sure you get the pre-marked alignments correct. On the lower shaft going to the pinion rack you need to have your bolt out to get enough slide to get both ends on. Once both ends are on you can put the bolts in.

The instructions that come with the assembly are ok and I am not trying to rewrite them here. I am only trying to point out areas I had problems with. The supplied instructions do not give you set by step wiring instructions. They provide a drawing showing what all the wires are for and it really isn’t too hard to figure it out. One LED gets mounted in the dash to indicate any trouble codes that might pop up.

Note, when cleaning up your wiring and strapping them, make sure to pay close attention to the little plastic dashboard that goes back in under the hood. I tied all my wiring up nice and neat forgot the dash thing had to fit down inside where I just put all my wring. I had to cut my tie wraps and redo them make the dash panel fit back in.

I will post some of the pics I took but the ones in the instructions are much better than mine.

My GF and installed this in around 4-5 hours. It is good to have an extra set of hands for a couple steps.

looks like more room here than there really is. Looking down on steering rack and shaft.
2003

What a mess. Gator with dash off. It isn't that awful hard.
2004

Shaft out. Lower snap ring you need to slide down to get enough play to remove the steering shaft.
2005

Motor assembly mounted up under the dash. Note the big bolt right at the top of the blue wiring harness. This is one of the mounting bolts.
2006

Top looking down onto the motor assembly. Plenty of room for this unit even though it looks tight.
2007

All in all not a terribly difficult task. Then again I am old gear head from way back. You will need a good set of snap ring pliers. Mine are adjustable for angles. That helped. You need an allen head socket. Not sure I would have ever got the shaft off with just an allen head wrench.

[purplewg]

The night before I had removed the steering wheel center cap and left it sitting on the Gator seat. Well during the night my lab decided he was hungry I guess.:mad:

2008

[GATORDONE]

That's one way to get your fiber. :yum:

[catalyst]

First ,let me say i am sorry for your loss
second, i know JD will be glad to replace it
third,is your dog jealous or does he hold some type of grudge
lastly (maybe) i have seen horses absolutely eat a truck steering
wheel up,and i wondered if it was the salt from your hands they were
really after.

[purplewg]

First ,let me say i am sorry for your loss
second, i know JD will be glad to replace it
third,is your dog jealous or does he hold some type of grudge
lastly (maybe) i have seen horses absolutely eat a truck steering
wheel up,and i wondered if it was the salt from your hands they were
really after.

He gets mad at me when I don't give him enough attention. That day I had worked most of the day on the winch install and pretty much ignored him. He got even.

[DIXIEDOG]

So was all the work worth it? Is the steering a lot nicer now with a lot less feedback at the wheel?

[purplewg]

So was all the work worth it? Is the steering a lot nicer now with a lot less feedback at the wheel?

Much better. If you find my video I posted yesterday you will see it really came in handy and I gave it a good workout. I was filming in one hand and steering with the other. I could not have done that before. Also in tight areas it was nice. At speed I did not use my suicide knob as I had a tendency to over-steer with it.

[93SVT]

Do you have a link to the video thanks

[purplewg]

Do you have a link to the video thanks

Here ya go.
http://www.johndeeregatorforum.com/forum/showthread.php?13409-Gator-ride-in-Florida

[93SVT]

Awesome thanks