My Mini-truck Power Steering Install

[Jackson Hanes]

Why are you trying so hard to make this work? Multiple people with experience have pretty much answered your question.
IMHO, it’s a SAFETY risk to run anything bigger than a 33x10.50. I’ve seen my share of bent relay rods and TREs.
There’s a better ( MUCH BETTER ) alternative for guys running larger tires and we all know what that is ….. SAG. It’s stronger , less complicated, less components snd parts are readily available.
Ultimately, it’s your cruiser and you can do whatever you want. I’m just being brutally honest.

I mean all I was asking if it would be ok to run 35's. Clearly not a smart idea.
That was all I was asking, thanks for the feedback.

 

[orangefj45]

I mean all I was asking if it would be ok to run 35's. Clearly not a smart idea.
That was all I was asking, thanks for the feedback.

No worries. Sorry if I was harsh ……

Sure the mini conversion is easy but the Sag setup is a much better bet for larger tires.

You’ll thank us later.

 

[yannrg]

I have about a 1" body lift on my 40, I used a peice of plate steel as a spacer between the steering box and the bracket to get everything aligned, worked well.
View attachment 42006

Hi gus!, can you please take a photo of your setup?

 

[Gus]

I’m sorry I can’t be of much help as I sold that Cruiser quite a few years ago. If you have any questions feel free to start a conversation, I’ll see what I can remember about that particular Cruiser build.

 

[rugbyrules05]

Writing an update to this thread as i recently installed the Bill Dorry PS pump bracket as supplied by @orangefj45 at Valley Hybrids. PO had already done the Saginaw box and pump conversion using the Man-a-fre setup circa 2009. While the PS worked pretty good, i was experiencing some leakage from the pump. Upon further inspection i noticed that the pump was within a 1/4 inch of the exhaust manifold. The PS pump bracket was the style that mounted to the head bolts and while it lined up with the pulley properly i think it was just getting too much heat transfer.

In the first photo you can see oil residue on the bottom of the PS bracket that was my first indication of a leak. Well once i pulled it all apart sure enough i found a leak in the bottom bracket mount bolt of the pump as fluid started pouring out when i removed the bolt. So I ended up ordering a new PS pump from autozone and a new pulley from Georg.

 

[rugbyrules05]

I removed the old bracket from the head and re torqued the head bolts down. Supported the engine on the driver side to remove the stock motor mount bolts. The kit from Valley was great as it includes longer bolts for the motor mount so the whole project was pretty turn key. I decided to mount the bracket on the outside of the engine mount for two reasons: 1) i feel there would be less heat transfer on the outside of the mount vs between the mount and the engine block and 2) i didn't want to change the angle of the engine in relation to the mount and thought it would just be easier to do it on the outside (maybe that is 3 reasons but who is counting).

As previous posters have mentioned, i did need to modify the bracket as it was in fact bumping into the exhaust manifold. i did a quick cut with the metal cutting wheel and repainted it with a few coats Por 15 chassis black. after modification it fit perfectly.

Here is a photo of the bracket kit as it comes from Valley Hybrids. as you can see the top of the bracket below is a bit wider and that is the portion i cut off to fit around the exhaust manifold.

Here are some photos of the finished product. Am very happy with the look and placement of the PS pump now. Just need to get my radiator back in and hoses hooked back up and test it out while running. Will post an update on results once there.

 

[rugbyrules05]

a few final pics of the front. i like the the aluminum pulley with the bolt on key vs the spindle style on my old setup. gives it a whole new look.

a few comments as to why i went this route. my 78 FJ40 is desmogged and so i couldn't move the man-a-fre bracket forward on the head to run the PS pump with the alternator pulley as i think this setup was originally intended. doing so would likely have mitigated my heat transfer concerns. but then i would need to install an idler pulley to run the water pump which would have been a viable option. that being said, i like having two belts to run the water pump pulley and the overall look of the bill dorry bracket vs the large bracket mounted to the head. lastly i bought a PS pump cooler and will install that when i re-install the radiator that will help extend the life of the pump.