its time to do a major rebuild on my front end. its going to get all new ball joints and tie rod ends. Ive always had a hell of a time turning my 35's so im looking for an upgrade. it was a suggestion from a friend about a High pressure steering box and pump. has anyone went this route? I'd imagine i could probably get the system from any parts store but id like to know which product is going to do the best job for me. i did search other threads but i didnt find what i was looking for. thanks!

 

My suggestion would be to pull 1 shim our of the pressure releif valve and try that. If there are no shims, there will be a gap. Gauge the gap, and tighten the nut down another 15 thou. Dont forget to re loctite if there is no shims.

You access the valve by pulling the hp hose, then removing the flow valve (1" nut on most pumps), followed by the relief valve, and finally a spring. On the end of a valve is a nut. Thats the one that needs tightening. (edited that, I was backwards on 1 thing)

Only tighten about 15 thou to start. More then that can cause to high of pressure and burn out the pump, or blow the box.

Run that and listen for whining. If it gets hot, and starts whining/bubbling/cavitating, install hi flow a cooler in the return line. Currie offroad sells good steering coolers.

Really, thats all you should need for a little boost to steering. You can drill out the oriface valve for speed, but if you dont have a large inlet resevoir, the pump will draw fluid to fast and case serious whining and cavitation.

I'd try a little pressure boost and see how you like that.

There really isnt such a thing as a "high pressure box". All saginaw style boxes, after market or OEM typically max out around 1400psi. After market guys do things like tap boxes, install larger pistions, and change ratio's, but they dont do anything to increase pressure capacity.

Lastly, if the pressure boost does nothing for your steering, you might just be in need of a new pump.

Hope that helps.

I have some pictures coming to help

 

Heres a few pics to explain my previous post. I figured you might have read that thinking, "what the heck is he talking about". So I hit the garage and snapped a few shots to explain a bit better.

This is a PSC (performance steering components) pump for jeep. Essentially its just a stock pump, hot rodded up, and designed for a hi flow external resevoir.

I have some stock stuff here to show you the difference.

Pump

Pressure side at the top



Hi flow inlet at the side. You can see how big it is. Most stock pumps have a small res attached to them. The inlet isnt always so much the problem, as the small size of the return to the inlet is. Causing the res to run dry a lot.



The pressure side flow valve removed, sitting beside a stocker. The hex head stocker is what the one on the back of your pump should look like.



With the valve out, you can see the top of the piston. I held a stocker in place to illustrate whats in there





Relief valvle comes out, and there is a spring underneath. Some claim to stretch, or install a stiffer spring for optimum results, but for minor modification it isnt neccesary.



This is a caliper measurement of the stock relief valve. Hard to read, but its right around 1.255"



The after market, higher pressure valve @ 1.235". A difference of about .020



Looking close at either pic, you can see the nut on the end of the valve, and a very small gap in there. There are actually shims in the PSC one, and a blank gap in the stocker. The blank gap in the stocker is just an indication of a reman pump. They are cheap and just loctite the nut at a spec'd gap instead using shims. Shims on your pump valve are signs of an OEM pump.

Most shims are 15 thou, and removing one will tend to produce an increase of about 100-150psi.

Most stock systems range from 1050-1200psi to my knowledge. Pulling both shims can push your pump very close to 1400 psi depending on the existing stock specs. 1400 is right around the limit of any saginaw steering box, and that is why I recommend just pulling one shim to be safe.

This type of pump hot rodding is really effective, and definately cost effective. You just have to be aware that is you push it, you need to be prepared to address return flow restrictions, and increased steering temps due to the pressure and flow increase.

If you drill out your flow valve, do not drill it by more 1/64 larger. Stock is usually about 5/32's, and drilling to 9/64's is a significant increase in speed.

Stock specs on your pump might vary from my numbers. Mine apply to jeeps and chevs, but I've never had a Ford pump apart. The principle will be the same though.

Good luck, and I hope that helps a little more the the initial onslaught to text.

 

wow bnine, that was way more than i thought i was going to hear. thanks so much for the information. Im going to go ahead and get a new steering box since from what i can tell its the original with over 206K miles on it. But I have printed out your directions and will be working on that on my next day off. your pictures were awesome and hopefully this post will benifit more than just me.
thanks
andy

 

Awsome job bnine!!! I'm very impressed! Rep sent.

 

Glad to help.

I get a lot of helpfull of advice here, so figured I'd try and return the favor when I can.

 

i tried doing this to my truck and there was no way to make an adjustment (no nut to turn). so i tried drilling out the hole a bit and no help there either. my pump must be getting worn out. rather than buying a new one, are there any companys that make a kit to put a saginaw pump in there? or maybe something better than a stock pump? i need more turning power without paying 1300 for an assist kit

 

AGR steering company makes a pump and gear box for up to a 97 I believe, don't have one on my stroke but installed their setup on my 79 that has 38's and works great the gear box was 400 and the pump another 120, but it made a world of difference on my 79. Summit Racing sells their products.Welcome to AGR Perfomance, Inc. hope that helps they offer a few different options.

 

I had never looked closely at the PS pump on my truck, but from the pictures posted in this thread that is a TC pump, the same pump used on all kinds of vehicles, including our Jeeps. That pump can be modified for better performance, it's done regularly. There are a good number of places that sell high performance modified pumps, and gear boxes. I have dealt mostly with Tommy Lee, Lee Manufacturing in Sunland CA, and have also used PSC. You can check out PSC Motorsports, Tom there is also very knowledgeable and he has good products. Also Howe Performance Power Steering and AGR Performance, all four of these places are well known and know what they're doing.

Most likely, new parts would cure your problem, but if you're going to spend the money, the performance parts aren't much more. Here's links to the various websites. Tommy Lee doesn't have a website, but here's their phone number, sometimes more expensive than the others but they really know what they're doing.

Lee Manufacturing 818-768-0371

PSC Motorsports, Off-Road Steering Experts

Welcome to AGR Perfomance, Inc.

Howe Performance Power Steering

 

thanks for the links. AGR seems to be highly recomended but i had never heard of the others. im looking into them now as my PS pump now is getting worse by the minute.