Anyone install a power steering cooler on your 460? (1 Viewer)

[LostLexus]

A few weeks ago I was venturing though Death Valley, California, and it was on the warm side. The trail I was on was very rocky, high in altitude, at a steady incline, and slow-going, monitoring my transmission temps they were getting up there even with my little Hayden oil cooler. I'm upgrading my cooler to a more efficient unit with a fan to get the CFM I need at slower speeds. While I have my front end apart, I was pondering about getting rid of that cross over tube and installing a finned power steering cooler (Derale 13223) in front of the trans cooler or even a larger unit if need be. Living in So Cal I do a lot of wheeling in warmer areas and want to keep everything cool and happy while pushing around a heavy GX on 33s. How efficient is the GX's OEM PS system in heat management, and would a PS cooler install be worth the trouble?

 

[r2m]

Humm... Never heard of adding a PS cooler. Usually the hard core guys replace the steering with hydraulic ram.
Considering I too live in So.Cal, where 'bouts are you wheeling?
Our club usually does the deserts in the winter and the high country in the summers. More comfortable for the (mostly) Jeepers in the club that only have bikini tops, partial tops or topless. (okay guys... I'm referring to the covers of Jeeps... Shesh! Let's keep it clean on this forum!!)

 

[LostLexus]

Humm... Never heard of adding a PS cooler. Usually the hard core guys replace the steering with hydraulic ram.
Considering I too live in So.Cal, where 'bouts are you wheeling?
Our club usually does the deserts in the winter and the high country in the summers. More comfortable for the (mostly) Jeepers in the club that only have bikini tops, partial tops or topless. (okay guys... I'm referring to the covers of Jeeps... Shesh! Let's keep it clean on this forum!!)

The Los Padres NF is practically my backyard, so I'll do a day trip to hit some OHV trails sporadically. I'm a huge desert nerd especially when it comes to mining, train, or native history. The majority of my logged desert miles are in the Mojave area north of the 40 and east of the 395. Death Valley is my favorite National Park and now that I have my GX and not a huge pickup truck I have tons of trails mapped that I'm itching to explore now that I have a rig that'll do it. These places tend to get warm pretty warm so I want to keep my GX cool and happy.

 

[r2m]

These places tend to get warm pretty warm so I want to keep my GX cool and happy.

Yeah, I joke with my Jeep buddies in our 4x4 club about how comfortable my wife and I will be with our air cooled seats and 3 climate zones while they're getting caked in trail dust and roasting in their open air Jeeps.

 

[llm]

also curious about this. the PS reservoir on my mostly stock GX had burnt fluid on the walls. I had to scrape the fluid off and did a full drain/fill. It had a strong acrid smell. 50k miles