jleidel

I'm about to embark on buying parts to rebuild the power steering plumbing. I have a new reservoir laying about, but I'm curious whether its better to rebuild or buy new hoses for the high pressure lines. The low pressure lines are inexpensive, so I'll just buy new ones.

Thoughts?

westija

The high pressure ones are pretty expensive

PHIL928

I had mine rebuilt for $20 at a local hydraulic hose shop

kaelix

I had my high pressure hose rebuilt (with swivel connectors for easier install). For the low pressure lines i used bulk hydraulic hose and clamps. No leaks so far.

redpathtribe

I had my high pressure line rebuilt at a local shop for about $60 and recommend them a lot. They replaced the rubber hose part and reused the hard end fittings, making sure that the orientation of the fittings stayed the same in relation to each other. This is really important, if they don't do this, it will be very difficult, if not impossible to install.

CardinalCar

You will of course need to find a hydraulic shop who can work with the metric components in the high pressure line. If you have one readily at hand then it's a fine option. Surprisingly my local agricultural town didn't seem to have one and the time required for me to find one somewhere in the northern virginia area rapidly became too much bother, so I ordered a PET #17 hose from Roger. Not cheap but factory new and it Just Worked.

What you don't want is a shop with the wrong arbors for their crimping tools, or who doesn't take the time (per above guidance) to get the orientation just right, and you end up with leaks or weird fatigue-related strains on the line once it's reinstalled.

Also, a quick trick for reinstallation. The aft end of the PET #17 hose (the high pressure feed from the pump to the rack) has to be navigated around a narrow opening before it can find its intended home on the rack. You want to put that end in position first, before bending the line, so it can be easily turned back and forth as a straight piece to get the 90-degree end in position. Once that's done, bend the pump end back into the engine bay and feed it into position.

SteveG

I just went through this. My experience is w/ '91-'95 lines. I tried having the hose re-built. The shop did not follow my instructions and I ended up wasting $90.00. So attempt this only if you trust them to understand and follow instructions. It is very tight at the rack; and know also that the return line (18) at the front connects to a larger diameter cooling tube. If you use hose and clamps only how do you anchor said hose to engine bay and prevent rubbing of lines? This also assumes it doesn't kink at the 90 degree bend (in the original) at the rack. YMMV.

Anybody want my rebuilt hose? $75 includes USPS to your door. Oh, and did I mention there is a nick in the new banjo?

SteveG

delete

jleidel

I just looked and there appears to be a Pirtek shop just down the road. I'll give them a shout and see if they'll do proper metric hose rebuilds.

IcemanG17

rebuilt at a local hydraulic shop is the way to go.............. Much cheaper and at least the same quality...I had ALL the lines rebuilt on my 1979 for $180 INSTALLED!!!!