Power Steering Pump boost

[ChevyKev]

Well, seeing as I didn't have power steering anymore, and I have been going through PS pumps every 3 months, I thought I'd try some upgrades I found on Redneck Ram's website under the tech section. They drilled and made adjustments to the PS pump to increase pressure and volume.


First, I took a good Power Steering pump apart to make adjustments rather than try to do this to a PS pump that I knew wasn't in good working condition.

Here's what their website said, I will put my comments in bold as to exactly what I did.

[SIZE=3]Power Steering Pump Adjustments[/SIZE]

Step One: Disassembly
These are the 3 main pieces that you should get out of your pump.
#1 is the main fitting. You'll have to remove the high pressure line from this in before you
remove it.
#2 is the flow piston. It doubles as the housing for the high pressure bypass. If it doesn't
fall out then use a magnet to remove it.
#3 is the piston spring. It also can be removed with a magnet or a pic.

Step two: The fitting.(I don't feel that this is necessary for stock steering.)
Drill out this fitting a few sizes larger than it was.
I drill them 1/16-1/8" larger than is comes stock but this may vary from pump to pump.
I recommend that you don't go larger than 5/32.
The purpose of this is to increase flow from idle to low RPM's.


[B]I drilled mine out 1/16 inch

Step three: Piston shims
[/B]Place the piston in a vise and remove the end cap. You will find the piston housing, a spring, a limiting stud, a BB, a shim, and the end cap.
WARNING: I highly recommend doing these mods a little at a time until you've reached a level that you are happy with. But remember, that if you go too far then you could blow the seals out of your box. I've actually built so much pressure that I blew a section of the top of the steering box about 40 feet across the shop. OOPS!
First off, some pumps don't have any shims. Some have one or two. If it does have a shim remove it and try that. I don't recommend doing anymore than that if you are going to run hydro assist but if you are just trying to get more power out of a stock system and that does not give you enough then you can place a small washer in the bottom of the piston housing beneth the spring. A #4 machine washer fits perfect but can be a little too thick. A 3mm washer also works and is slightly thiner. Remember little steps. These mods increase the blow-by pressure. You will also need to grind off some of the limiting stud so that It will still have room to travel. This is so that it doesn't block off all the pressure.

Mine had 2 washers, I removed one and ground the limiting stud.

Step four: Piston Spring
I have no hard evidence that this works but it does seem to help keep the pressure longer at higher RPM's. Just grab each end of the spring and stretch. I usually try to go between 2 to 2 ½ inches. This not a precise mod as the spring rate does not change. I've also seen a piece of wire wound around the piston housing a couple of times on the area where the spring seats. This will also work.

I stretched the spring to 2 1/4 inch

Source: Redneck Ram website - Tech section. If you visit their site it has pictures with everything labled.

http://westtexasoffroad.homestead.com/powersteering.htm

I pre bled my system and PS cooler - by leaving lines loose and using gravity plus turning the engine over a bit - this made a huge mess, but was effective in getting minimal bubbles trapped in the fluid system.

I have NEVER had this good of power steering - not in stock form with 31's, not with 2 steering stabalizers and 35's, and now with the 39.5x18 boggers I turn it, sitting still in the driveway, with one finger on the wheel! Now hopefully I won't blow lines!


At idle it was very immpressive to feel the in side of the PS cooler being warm to the touch and the other side cool! I am, so far without a test drive, extremely happy with these mods.