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Type of power steering, electric or hydraulic? Adjustable with AlphaOBD?

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DrTron

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I'm just wondering whether the power steering in our HD trucks (2022 PW, specifically) is hydraulic or electric?
If it is electric, might there be a way to adjust its behavior with AlphaOBD?

The reason I'm asking is that I think the steering (which is play-free) is a little bit "soft", i.e. easy to turn. This is fine when parking, but at higher speeds it could be a little bit "tighter".
My 1500, which AFAIK had an electric power steering, did that, but the PW steering is very soft in general. Makes it more difficult to keep lane at highway speeds than would be necessary.

Edit: I have the adaptive steering, but it's not adapting as much as I'd like it to.

Thanks!
 
I don’t think any of the HDs have fully electric steering racks. I know my tradesman is full hydraulic. The ones with lane assist(?) get some sort of electric motor to correct if the driver beers into another lane or something like that. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong. I understand some alignment settings (adding caster) can give you a heavier steering wheel feel, maybe look into that route. Or a dual steering stabilizer..
 
Mine has the lane assist, so yes, there has to be some kind of electric motor to both do the lane assist nudging and likely also plays a part in the adaptive steering.
I guess I'll have to connect my AlphaOBD and look through the settings. I just don't want to change something I don't understand or am not able to find out what it does.
 
I've gone digging through the settings in AlfaOBD and can't find anything useful. I tried searching for "lane", "steer", "wheel", "assist", and "torque", and also did a scroll through all the settings to see if anything jumped out at me.

I'm not saying it's impossible, just that I haven't been able to find anything. It also could be controlled by something other than the BCM.
 
Steering torque isn’t controlled or accessed through the BCM. It would be in the steering assist module, or generically, the electronic power steering module. It’s not in the list of modules to connect to for heavy duty rams in AlfaOBD, but you can connect to it if you tell AlfaOBD you’re working with a 1500 ram.
Either way, the steering torque values can’t be adjusted, it’s set in the firmware, and even the guys that tinker with comma.ai can’t mess with it.
 
flan said:
I don’t think any of the HDs have fully electric steering racks. I know my tradesman is full hydraulic. The ones with lane assist(?) get some sort of electric motor to correct if the driver beers into another lane or something like that. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong. I understand some alignment settings (adding caster) can give you a heavier steering wheel feel, maybe look into that route. Or a dual steering stabilizer..
Click to expand...
I see what you did there :D
 
DrTron said:
I'm just wondering whether the power steering in our HD trucks (2022 PW, specifically) is hydraulic or electric?
If it is electric, might there be a way to adjust its behavior with AlphaOBD?

The reason I'm asking is that I think the steering (which is play-free) is a little bit "soft", i.e. easy to turn. This is fine when parking, but at higher speeds it could be a little bit "tighter".
My 1500, which AFAIK had an electric power steering, did that, but the PW steering is very soft in general. Makes it more difficult to keep lane at highway speeds than would be necessary.

Edit: I have the adaptive steering, but it's not adapting as much as I'd like it to.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
The very light steering from adaptive steering does take some getting used to, no doubt. I knew that going into my purchase of a 22 Ltd Longhorn, but it still took a lot of miles to acclimate to. If I could have unchecked that box from my order, I would have. I was hoping this thread had a way to make the steering a little heavier, but I guess I'm pretty used to it now.
 
jebruns said:
The very light steering from adaptive steering does take some getting used to, no doubt. I knew that going into my purchase of a 22 Ltd Longhorn, but it still took a lot of miles to acclimate to. If I could have unchecked that box from my order, I would have. I was hoping this thread had a way to make the steering a little heavier, but I guess I'm pretty used to it now.
Click to expand...
Can only agree. I guess by now I'm also used to it, but still sometimes wish it would be more like the one in my 1500. Well, you can't have everything, I guess.
 
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