Routing Power Steering Hydraulics without getting Hosed

For a fabricated pressure hose, you're really looking at having it as hose from end fitting to end fitting vs. factory style with sections of hardline at each end and a foot of hose between the hardline. About 6" of slack should be sufficient. The return line would just be bulk hose with hose clamps.

Man, I hope you're wrong on that -- I've had a hose place recommended to me, and I'm going to see if they can make up one with some hardline. The reason being that the hose needs to have a sharp bend and pass under an inner fender. The space is both tight and sharp-edged, so if they can give me a few inches of 'stinger' then I'll be a happy camper.

Plan 'A' is to mock it up, take it to the cooperative guys at the parts store and see if there's a stock hose that'll work. Plan 'B' _was_ to get one made up -- I guess plan 'C' is to get one made up, and bang on that edge on the inner fender. Sigh.

I've never had to make custom ones but have replaced enough stock ones. The ones I've had have had steel tube on the ends with the most abrupt bends in those, usually about 6" or so long on either end, then crimped-on hydraulic hose that at most makes swooping bends. Some have had figure-8 clips to keep the hoses together and out of moving bits. Return hoses have usually been attached with regular hose clamps, little or no pressure there. Usually formed steel tubing with fittings for either end on those, too. if you've got a U-Pull-It handy, you might scrounge up some used stuff and use that for mocking up what you want. Then haul that over to NAPA or whoever and have them build you a set of hoses. Usually those hoses are pretty cheap from a U-Pull-It. Spare fittings and related hardware are always handy, too. As far as how much slack, it depends on what you've got to route the hoses around. The van has about a foot slack on both hoses, loops around the steering column and coupler. One reason to make a mockup first.

Stan

If you have a good place that does this sort of work, you should be able to get hardline. The typical FLAPS just has the Parker hose ends, hose and crimper to make simple hoses, but usually not much else.

I have have rigid/flexible lines made up by Classic Tube.

Tim Wescott wrote in rec.crafts.metalworking on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 10:04:26 -0800:

Could you use two hoses and an elbow fitting to turn the corner?

You need at least some swooping bends to accommodate the engine movement, I know that -- just not how much.

Hey -- how often does the hose go down below the pump? It's looking like the way to get this to fit is to have the "swoop" go underneath the pump, then back up from behind. I wouldn't have thunk of it except that the cut-off piece of high pressure hose that came with the box does that.

I'm getting there -- I've got the box ends of the hoses tweaked to go through the opening between the inner fender and the frame rail, and I've got the cut-off piece of high pressure hose loose from the pump*, ready to turn down to go under. I think I've got enough stuff here to mock it up, then it's off to the auto parts store, and if that doesn't work then the custom hose place.

• With a detour to weld up the broken bracket, which I didn't realize was broken until I degreased it! Bad me for not being clean _early_!

The bends are so the lines don't flex and break the connection fittings mainly. How much you will need will depend on how stiff the lines are and how far between the connections. I would try to route them so the bends are close to parallel with the frame, that way they don't flex much.

You can route the pressure and return lines pretty much any way you like. Look at most newer trucks and you will see the return line comes out of the box and runs forward, connects to a cooler loop in front of the A/C and than back to the pump. (If you want the same thing the loop is usually nothing more than a few S bends of steel tubing)