I got mine :-DEDIT: Update! They picked it up finally!
DHL ****ed up and didn't pick up packages last weekThey promised to pick up today!
View attachment 1096232
Now I need a circuit breaker and some fiddlybits!
Volvo Electric power steering conversion (Full write up)
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Now I need a circuit breaker and some fiddlybits!
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That fits absolutely perfectly! How this should have been from factory!
Yeah, its where the jack and chock are normally located in the NAS D1 [1994-1998]. Normally guys put the second battery here when installing a dual battery setup.
As we discussed, I was going to yank the ABS and put it there but.. this worked out perfectly.
I am looking for non-Chinese/cheapo wiring bits.. Regarding the use of circuit breakers rather than fuses, just for others here, 100amp [2x50a parallel] is typical and given the nature of breakers (and their sensitivity to high temperatures) the approximate suggestion is in the ~120amp range.
Do you happen to know what the full load curremt draw is for these Durango pumps?
as a side note 100 amps is a majority of a normal alternator capacity. I guess its time for some chatbot/google'ing to wrap my brain around that
It turns out that the Durango pump's high pressure line is a standard 3/8" OD. It has a pretty thick plastic-like black paint coating that bumps the OD to ~ 0.381 [ish].
After removing the coating, the OD comes in right at 3/8" [0.375"].
This means a standard hydraulic compression fitting will work fine. I am going with/ recommend a 3/8" Parker A-Lok [or Superlok] to 37° JIC/SAE AN #6 fitting will present to hydraulic lines perfectly.
*FYI, for those curious:
37° JIC /SAE hydraulic fittings are 100% compatible with AN fittings.
Technically speaking, AN fittings are manufactured to MIL-F-5509, and industrial 37-degree flare fittings are manufactured to meet SAE J514/ISO-8434-2.
The most notable difference between these standards are in the threads:
AN fittings use an increased root radius thread ("J" thread) and a tighter tolerance (Class 3) to achieve a 40% increase in fatigue strength and 10% increase in shear strength. Material requirements also differ greatly.
Otherwise, these fittings all function the same, they look the same, AND the industrial version is much less expensive.
*Almost ALL AN fittings on Amazon are bullshit, and [imo] if made of aluminum, possibly dangerous for pressures above ~100psi. If you use aluminum AN fittings then buy them from a reputable company. I highly recommend Pegasus Auto Racing (Plumbing Technical Information & How-To | Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies) for this stuff. They actually pick up the phone and they really know what they are doing. I am not affiliated with them in any way beyond being a retail Customer.
Oh, one more thing (for now):
In my case, the stock remote reservoir receives the return (low pressure) line from the steering box and also has a small fitting that feeds the belt driven pump.
However, the Durango pump has a small reservoir built in and has a large nipple and a small one (both dumping directly i to the low-pressure reservoir).
So, I need to sort the best configuration:
(1) directly to the pump
(2) steering box return going to the remote reservoir
----
(1) If i pipe the steering box return line directly to the pump then i only need to connect the small "fill line" fitting to the remote reservoir/fill-tank (to keep the tank topped off). This ensures the bulk flow goes directly back to the pump...but it does mean the remote (fill) reservoir does not have circulation (only the single small fill line going down to the pump tank to manage the level).
----
(2) If however, I plumb the return line to the fill tank (the stock, pre-electric config, btw) then the small fitting will connect the remote "fill tank" to the pump reservoir; the potential problem i see here is a possible lack of volume/flow from the fill tank down to the pump reservoir. On the plus side, this configuration allows for full circulation.
I am heavily leaning toward solution (1).
In my case, the stock remote reservoir receives the return (low pressure) line from the steering box and also has a small fitting that feeds the belt driven pump.
However, the Durango pump has a small reservoir built in and has a large nipple and a small one (both dumping directly i to the low-pressure reservoir).
So, I need to sort the best configuration:
(1) directly to the pump
(2) steering box return going to the remote reservoir
----
(1) If i pipe the steering box return line directly to the pump then i only need to connect the small "fill line" fitting to the remote reservoir/fill-tank (to keep the tank topped off). This ensures the bulk flow goes directly back to the pump...but it does mean the remote (fill) reservoir does not have circulation (only the single small fill line going down to the pump tank to manage the level).
----
(2) If however, I plumb the return line to the fill tank (the stock, pre-electric config, btw) then the small fitting will connect the remote "fill tank" to the pump reservoir; the potential problem i see here is a possible lack of volume/flow from the fill tank down to the pump reservoir. On the plus side, this configuration allows for full circulation.
I am heavily leaning toward solution (1).
By the way, I found this video howto incredibly insightful for this project and I highly recommend watching it if you are looking into the electric conversion. It is a remarkably well done howto by a clearly brilliant camaro drifting gearhead-geek girl. The quality of the howto more than accommodates the [cough, cough] choice of vehicle
Even though I am going the proven NMStech route, this was a great "familiarization" walkthru.
Even though I am going the proven NMStech route, this was a great "familiarization" walkthru.
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10,502 Posts
That's actually one hell of a great video. Lots of time and effort went into that one.
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