I am curious to hear what you are running for a tire on the truck. I have done three crown vic swaps and working on my 4th and none of them have had any struggle turning the tires. The front on my current truck are super sticky 295/40/18 on an 11" wheel and I have nothing hooked to the solenoid.

Are other people struggling with their power steering setups as well?

Sean

 

It was by no means a struggle. 255/30/20 on a 9" wheel. My wife complained when she drove but she's not a big girl.
I'd say the steering was stiff at a stop, but it did indeed have power steering. With the PWM sending a signal at 100. At a stop there is no resistance at all. Anyone could turn the wheel with one finger from stop to stop. At 58 it seems about right maybe alittle easier than a std passenger car but not much. With no signal at all my 2007 crown vic rack steers like an old truck good while its moving stiff in the driveway or in tight parking. But maybe I expected to much. I can't remember the last time I drove a crown vic.
I do have a 14" steering wheel in my truck. I don't think they are that uncommon but who knows. I thought it was a simple inexpensive solution so I figured I'd post it up.

 

This is interesting I researched this when I first put my crown vic in and wanted to get rid of the solenoid it was in the way of my original oil filter. Might have to give it a try for $15. I do have a signal coming from my tranny a 98 cobra t-45 to my elect speedo and to the speed dial so the coyote know the truck is moving and doesn't stall. Right now without going back I cant remember if the tranny puts out a vvs signal and the speeddial changes it to oss or the other way around. As the crown vic is newer think it would need the newer signal. So looked it up before 99 vss signal after 99 oss signal.

 

Guess it was back in 2013 when I was looking into this. power steering crown vic - The FORDification.com Forums

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This is what I put in the truck. I didn't need the display. Going into it I wanted to see what was going on, but its really straight forward. I put the pot up in the top of the glove box in case I need to get to it. Works like a champ. With this and the hydroboost the wife wants to drive the truck all the time now.

 

Thats really cool mhrmike, so do you just set the pot in the middle or do you adjust it when you need more assist?

 

I just set mine where I have enough assist to turn the wheel easily at a stop or while parking and it drives well at cruise. In my truck that was about 58%. With the controller you can get alot more assist than that but at highway speed it doesn't really feel right. But my 14" steering wheel has to take away leverage versus larger wheels. A friend of mine drove the truck to lunch today the last time he was in it was 5 months ago when I had just bought it. He liked it then but wants it now. I told him that I only let him drive it now with the 390 because I didn't want him driving it with the 428.
At lunch we were talking about the truck and I told him I figured by putting the crown vic front on it and not using a coyote motor I was avoiding spending alot of money on suspension, brakes and forced induction. I was amazed when he said I went in the right direction. He has had several track cars and now he wants an old F100.
I'm glad the info was helpful to someone.

 

Thanks mhrmike I may give it a try only really notice it when im backing up, you are right about the coyote and$$$ lol. My friend has a 428 in a 68 galaxie wagon, I've had enough of the FE motors wanted something newer and with overdrive for the highway. I bet i could wire your controller into the reverse lights as a relay trigger to send it power.

 

Mike, could you build me one of your VAPS controllers? What would you charge?

 

 

What hydro-boost and pump did you use? I am looking to do the same and was thinking of getting a unit from a superduty truck or an Astro van

 

I have a 1953 Ford f 100 panel truck I am working on. I have installed the rack and pinion steering out of a 2005 crown Vic. I also install a 2011 f 150 engine 5.0. If you not familiar with the newer truck steering it is electric. I don't know this when I started his build. So I have had made my conversion brackets and pulley system to running the crown Vic pump. It ran off of he water pump pulley but it pulled on it to much from the side and would make the bearing go out. The system worked but it was a little hard to steer. So when he bearing went out of he water pump I bought go t one of the conversion kits for he coyote engine. It replaced the Ford pump with a type 2 gm pump and replaces the AC compressor also. It is harder to steer to an it was with the e system that I made. So far the teck lines can,t ell me what to do to resolve this hard steering. They did tell me that their system worked on a mustang 2 rack and pinion. I am wondering about he electric going to he crown Vic rack. It has one I think is a pressure sensor and another that looks like an electric motor . Is this my problem do I need to have this electric motor running some how. And what is the
hydo boost for

 

I clicked your link to Amazon. Bought it and installed it on a 2000 Lincoln Town Car Cartier. It fixed the high speed steering issues. The front suspension was aligned and everything double checked. The steering was too sensitive at speeds above 40mph. Impossible and unsafe for my wife to drive in the rain at night. Long trips were tiring because you constantly had to maintain your lane. I determined that there was a problem with the signal to the steering pressure switch. This signal is a low voltage pulse and without the signal, the pressure switch defaults to 100% pump pressure. I cut both signal wires from the control module (ECM) and connected the potentiometer to the pressure switch. This fixed the high speed steering instability issue. It is like a whole new car now. I know this is a truck forum but the tread had the link to Amazon so I am letting you know that this worked. It was cheap, easy to install and it worked. .I have a 1994 F250 and a 1967 F600 so I will use that as an excuse to post here. BTW Thanks for the link and the great information. I have had numerous very qualified mechanics evaluate this and we all came to the same conclusion. Some earlier year models default to low pressure when unplugged but my pressure switch defaulted to high pressure unplugged or when it was connected to the Ford original factory wiring harness. I believe it was the ECM that was sending a bad signal.

 

Robclark, This is good to know. Thank you. I have the part off Amazon waiting for install when I get to it. If I have the same issue, this will give me a good direction.

 

I cut the two signal wires going to the pressure switch. I spliced both wires together at the pressure switch and connected them to the positive"motor" output of the potentiometer. The negative "motor" wire simply connects to ground and does not connect to the pressure switch. The signal wires that were cut coming from the ECM should be terminated so that they do not short or ground out on anything but they are no longer going to be connected to anything. This actually works quite well. I thought I would have to adjust it up and down depending on my driving speed but I am basically leaving it at 75 and it solved a serious steering stability problem that this vehicle has had for years.Earlier year models defaulted to low pressure all the time but my year model defaulted to high pressure all the time and at highway speeds or even around 40 mph or above the car had full time power assist making the car 'jerky". It was hard to relax while driving and if you were not going in exactly in a straight line then the steering was over reacting and dangerous. My wife hated driving at night in the rain. Now, it is smooth as glass. The pressure switch needs a pulse and it needs low voltage (lower than 12 volts). The new Amazon controller and potentiometer supplys both pulse and low voltage. I wired the controller to a circuit at the fuse box that is off when the car is not running. I routed and tucked my wires and I am very pleased with the installation and the product. I hope this helps you.