SLOWPOKE693
Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
I pre-ordered a Hess steering quickener a month ago in preparation for my coming MX/GNCC build. I got a tracking # on Thursday and the parts showed up Friday afternoon. This thing is a work of art! It's almost a shame that half of it is hiding under the dash. Lol
Installation was simple enough: Remove hood and cowl, remove rubber boot around steering column, unplug the paddle shifter connector and pull wiring out towards steering wheel, remove the nut holding the tilt cylinder, remove the bolt holding the steering shaft to the P/S unit, remove the two pivot bolts holding the column in, remove the tilt cylinder bolt and pull the assembly out towards the dash. The column will have to be tilted 90° for the wide part to fit through, but other than that it comes apart pretty easy. Swap the steering shaft over to the Hess unit and reinstall in reverse order. Easy peasy.
There are no provisions on this unit to install the paddle shifters. You can run the machine in auto/sport mode without the paddles, or like I'm doing, buy an aftermarket steering wheel, a couple of 1" momentary buttons and a dual push to talk button plate and wire it up yourself. Hess is working on a plug and play shifter button setup similar to what I'm going to do, but as of now it's still in the testing stages. For testing I reinstalled my stock wheel. The new steering wheel, buttons and mounting plate I ordered will be here late next week.
After installing the quickener I took it for a short ride around the shop. It's a HUGE improvement over stock! It's going to make tree dodging, tight cornering and drifting much easier. IMO, this is going to be a must for anyone racing their Talons. I attached a picture below showing the wheel at full left lock. It's just about 3/8 of a turn from center, and 3/4 lock to lock.
I'll update this thread at a later date to let everyone know if the power steering unit is still happy being turned twice as fast as stock. Hess said they have not had any problems with their test units and I don't expect any problems with mine.
Installation was simple enough: Remove hood and cowl, remove rubber boot around steering column, unplug the paddle shifter connector and pull wiring out towards steering wheel, remove the nut holding the tilt cylinder, remove the bolt holding the steering shaft to the P/S unit, remove the two pivot bolts holding the column in, remove the tilt cylinder bolt and pull the assembly out towards the dash. The column will have to be tilted 90° for the wide part to fit through, but other than that it comes apart pretty easy. Swap the steering shaft over to the Hess unit and reinstall in reverse order. Easy peasy.
There are no provisions on this unit to install the paddle shifters. You can run the machine in auto/sport mode without the paddles, or like I'm doing, buy an aftermarket steering wheel, a couple of 1" momentary buttons and a dual push to talk button plate and wire it up yourself. Hess is working on a plug and play shifter button setup similar to what I'm going to do, but as of now it's still in the testing stages. For testing I reinstalled my stock wheel. The new steering wheel, buttons and mounting plate I ordered will be here late next week.
After installing the quickener I took it for a short ride around the shop. It's a HUGE improvement over stock! It's going to make tree dodging, tight cornering and drifting much easier. IMO, this is going to be a must for anyone racing their Talons. I attached a picture below showing the wheel at full left lock. It's just about 3/8 of a turn from center, and 3/4 lock to lock.
I'll update this thread at a later date to let everyone know if the power steering unit is still happy being turned twice as fast as stock. Hess said they have not had any problems with their test units and I don't expect any problems with mine.
