Power Steering Return line

[steveO]

My line from the rack to the cooler is starting to leak in two places.
Since its only connected to the cooler with a hose clamp I assume the pressure is not that high
so I don't have to mess with the end going into the rack which is not leaking.

I intend to use a 3/8 brake line and "power steering hose" along with a compression fitting and a a couple of gear clamps.

I noticed this was tried before I'm wondering how it worked out and if they had to eventually replace the line anyway.

Thanks!

 

[Sparky]

About 75% of my power steering return line is now 3/8" fuel hose with a hose clamp holding it to the remaining metal part of the line. I did one part (cooler to pump) almost 2 years ago, and then cooler over top of shock tower last fall. Never had a leak yet.

I would just use that and not bother with the compression fittings and brake line.

(My PS cooler has also been bypassed for at least 6 years, previous owner did that and I never bothered messing with it.)

 

[steveO]

About 75% of my power steering return line is now 3/8" fuel hose with a hose clamp holding it to the remaining metal part of the line. I did one part (cooler to pump) almost 2 years ago, and then cooler over top of shock tower last fall. Never had a leak yet.

I would just use that and not bother with the compression fittings and brake line.

(My PS cooler has also been bypassed for at least 6 years, previous owner did that and I never bothered messing with it.)

So you have rubber hose all the way up to the steel line connected to the rack?
And its just clamped... correct.

Attached are some pretty ratty looking photos of the area.

The leak is minimal, not enough to add fluid...yet

 

[Sparky]

Correct. Rubber almost all the way to that factory fitting from metal to rubber, I have it clamped right before the elbow.

Thing is, it looks like your leak is from that factory rubber to metal fitting so running hose won't fix that.

And just a reminder that a simple bit of fuel hose and clamp won't work on the high pressure line, only the low pressure return line.

 

[steveO]

Thanks.

Your right about the location of that leak. I was thinking of making a coupling there with a piece of metal line if I have to.
I just cleaned it up and there is no rust there at all. I'll dive it a bit to see if its oozing out of the top of the connection. The master cylinder is above, it maybe it got little spillage when I was doing the brakes.

I wouldn't think of doing this on the pressure side, would have to bite the bullet and replace it back to the rack.

I love this truck but a some point it's going to have to be replaced.. hope to get a couple more years out of it.

 

[Sparky]

If that fitting is bad then yeah you could cut the hose right before it, use a double ended barb with clamps and use a short piece of 3/8" fuel line to then connect between that barb and the good spot of metal line.

The second pic looks like another spot is all wet though, where is that at?

 

[steveO]

Yea that's the part that's heading down to the cooler.
That section would become rubber hose all the way to the other end.
I'd just start new at the cooler with the hose bypassing all that rusted stuff.

 

[Gerbil21]

Yea that's the part that's heading down to the cooler.
That section would become rubber hose all the way to the other end.
I'd just start new at the cooler with the hose bypassing all that rusted stuff.

Hey I know this threads is super old but I'm looking to do basically the same thing by cutting the rubber return hose coming from the rack right before the crimp and use a barb to a hose that would go straight to the cooler, how did this work out for you?

 

[coolride]

If my line looked that good, I'd leaver be.

My rubber lines had a steel core. They are not just rubber. Or maybe that was only the pressure side.

 

[vipergg]

About 75% of my power steering return line is now 3/8" fuel hose with a hose clamp holding it to the remaining metal part of the line. I did one part (cooler to pump) almost 2 years ago, and then cooler over top of shock tower last fall. Never had a leak yet.

I would just use that and not bother with the compression fittings and brake line.

(My PS cooler has also been bypassed for at least 6 years, previous owner did that and I never bothered messing with it.)

Did the same thing had the cooler bypassed a couple years ago and so far so good . The guy said it looked liked the cooler was about shot so we bypassed it as it would have been a big job replacing it and the car isnt worth that much to have that done at this point .

 

[SoundBass]

I replaced my PS pressure line on my oooold '04 Rainier, and what a pain it was. It cost$200, I think, and I did the work myself. If I were you, I would coat that line, at the hold-down clamps, with something like Fluid Film or Honey Goo or some such. That would delay the repair for a bit.
A couple of months ago, I made a "cooler" out of 3/8" tubing because the cooler rusted out on my '06 Rainier. I used hose suitable for ATF to make the connections. I also used two gear clamps at each connection, but had them rotated 180 degrees from each other.
A year ago, I bypassed the cooler on my newer '04 Rainier using hose again, since I only use it locally, and I usually only turn the wheel when I am moving (reduces strain on gear and hoses/lines.