Gen III power steering

[Pat Cotter]

Hey guys/ ladies,

I have a hose leak in the power steering area. So, naturally with the Gen I/II steering issues I am contemplating upgrades due to threads stating these are weak areas. I can’t find anyone who remans the pulley and bracket system for this assembly. I called IPSCO directly and they said they do not. I have a friend that can machine the pulley….. need to find out about the bracket.

Does anyone have a market resource for this? Also interested in changing out the belt since I’ll be in there. Thanks for any help.

 

[GTS Dean]

Pump/pulley/bracket issues are not 'a thing' for Gen 3s, but leaking hoses definitely are. Dan Lesser with VSP sells top-notch upgraded hoses.

 

[Pat Cotter]

Ok. Thanks much - I’ll check it out. I appreciate the info.

 

[intense5.5]

Pump/pulley/bracket issues are not 'a thing' for Gen 3s, but leaking hoses definitely are. Dan Lesser with VSP sells top-notch upgraded hoses.

Dan no longer sells them. I had an email conversation with him not long ago. He actually discourages the use of ss replacement lines and told me to get oem. Op if ss power steering lines are what you want try JTS Vemon.

 

[MoparMap]

Is there a reason he discouraged the replacement lines? I have my own reasons for not liking them, but ended up going a hybrid route. I bought the full JTSVP kit originally, but in the end the only thing I actually used is the adapter for the pump to convert the output to AN. I think I got the truck kit instead of the car kit because the routing just didn't seem to work well. I also saw no reason to replace the lines between the fan and the rack as they had no issues. I had a local hydraulic shop braze an AN fitting to the end of the factory line so that it would mate up with the pump output adapter and have been happy with that setup. It keeps the stock line routing and flex points, but gives me a more secure connection at the pump where the problem usually happens.

So all of that said, I guess what I'm getting at is you might see if you can buy just the adapter somewhere. You'd still have to modify the original hose, but don't think that would be too hard.

 

[TexasViper35]

RSI Racing has the hoses on their website. I have them on my car, 40K miles later and no issues.

Freaking weird that anyone would recommend the OEM hoses because they all fail! Dumb.

 

[MoparMap]

The power steering hoses themselves I've never heard of leaking, it was only the fitting at the pump itself that seemed to be a problem. I greatly preferred the partial hard line / partial flex hose setup of the original as it routed much better in my case, but then again I really do think I got the wrong hose in my kit as I had to wrap it around the upper radiator hose and it just really looked wrong.

I'll have to take a picture of my setup some day when I have the airbox off if I can remember.

 

[intense5.5]

Is there a reason he discouraged the replacement lines?

He said they chafe. He wasn't specific as to where and I wasn't going to argue with him, he's the expert.

 

[MoparMap]

In that case I would likely agree with him. That was one reason I was happy I could make the stock lines work with some mods. The factory setup is clamped and routed nicely.

 

[Viper Specialty]

OK... I think I need to clean this thread up!

First, I NEVER sold Braided PS hoses. I distribute replacement Oil COOLER lines, and sell tons of them, from standard to Quick Disconnect styles... but never exposed SS braid. They are of course always recommended for Gen-3/4/5, as OEM lines are horrible.

On Power Steering for Gen-3, I DO NOT recommend the Braided lines. I have seen numerous braided aftermarket lines fail, from blowouts, to bad fittings, to lines coming out of crimp, to the simple fact that they are abrasive as **** and destroy any finishes, plastics and wiring that they touch over time.

The OEM PS lines have a bad rap, because of what techs who are clueless and vendors who want to sell you product WANT YOU TO THINK. Come on guys, use your noggin. A single problematic O-ring in a 75$ fitting goes bad every 12-15 years, and as a result you rip the whole line out, make a huge mess, install a new set of problems, and pay 5x the price of just replacing the upper fitting that can be removed in under 30 minutes if you know what you are doing? It makes no sense, and that's why I am so salty and annoyed over the entire thing.

All that said, if you DONT know what you are doing, a virtually guarantee you are going to ruin your OEM line and/or have catastrophic disconnect issues later. There is an inherent defect in literally every fitting available aside from the original factory installed fittings from 2003-2006, and a very short run in the aftermarket after that. If you junked your old line or cut the fitting off incorrectly, you effectively ******* yourself. CALL ME before doing anything! I have fittings on hand, and am working to get the defective clips remanufactured so that there are easier solutions to this, but as it stands I can still help out those people who havent ******* themselves yet! LOL

 

[Sickspeed40]

The OEM PS lines have a bad rap, because of what techs who are clueless and vendors who want to sell you product WANT YOU TO THINK. Come on guys, use your noggin. A single problematic O-ring in a 75$ fitting goes bad every 12-15 years, and as a result you rip the whole line out, make a huge mess, install a new set of problems, and pay 5x the price of just replacing the upper fitting that can be removed in under 30 minutes if you know what you are doing? It makes no sense, and that's why I am so salty and annoyed over the entire thing.

Pretty sure this is happening right now to my friend. He insisted on taking his gen 3 with 17,000 miles on it to the dealership for a clutch replacement against my advice.. well, six weeks later they’re saying there’s a power steering leak and that the rack and pinion needs to be rebuilt. I havent even picked it up from the dealership yet for him but there is no way it needs rack and pinion rebuilt? Right??
$7000 for clutch and rebuilt rack and pinion.. insane. I told them do not fix the rack, but not sure exactly where to go from here. Suggestions?

 

[Viper Specialty]

Pretty sure this is happening right now to my friend. He insisted on taking his gen 3 with 17,000 miles on it to the dealership for a clutch replacement against my advice.. well, six weeks later they’re saying there’s a power steering leak and that the rack and pinion needs to be rebuilt. I havent even picked it up from the dealership yet for him but there is no way it needs rack and pinion rebuilt? Right??
$7000 for clutch and rebuilt rack and pinion.. insane. I told them do not fix the rack, but not sure exactly where to go from here. Suggestions?

If you start at "theres a 95% chance the dealer is full of shit" and go from there, you will probably be better off, ha. Also, they are NOT the people you want fixing anything like that either... they will create new problems.

While its not impossible, rack failures are very, very rare. I would set eyes on the problem, and go from there. Everything else is a guess.