Quote:
Originally Posted by cigar-
mechanicalman,
The hose I bought was for a 1971 C10 with a 350 V-8. The hose fits fine, even under the inner fender. I am not sure if its' a natural thing or not but the hose seems to be a bit stiff to fit in the contorted shape it needs to be running from the back of the pump to the steering box. But, it fits.
The truck was originally a six cylinder. Sometime before I got it, there was a motor change. It had a 350 V-8 with a bad rod knock so I changed it out with a new crate motor and used the power steering pump and bracket that was on the truck. I also bought a used pump off of a 1971 truck and had that rebuilt just in case. Other than the one port being located in a different spot it looks the same and fits the same. The rebuilt one is still in the box under the bench. I had that one rebuilt because all the rebuilts I saw in the parts stores had all kinds of port locations and they wouldn't fit the bracket I have.
A couple of nights ago when I took the hose out of the steering box, I took a good look into the female fitting on the box. The surface looks like it's machines flat.....not for a flared fitting. The hose on the other hand has a flared fitting. Tonight after work I will look again....real good. If the box has no accommodation for a flared fitting that would have to be the cause of the leak in my opinion.
If anyone else has any ideas, suggestions, etc....please send them along. Photos are ALWAYS a good thing for me !!
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Look at the old hose and compare it to the new one, if you still have it.
Well, if it's a 71 pump, 71 hose, and it leaks at the gear, I think you are on the right track you might have a later model gear.
Something to consider: If that is a "faster" "variable ratio" steering gear, you might want to leave it on there and put a later model hose on there with a later model flow valve on the pump to match the later model hose. It's just the fitting that screws into the pump that the hose screws into. It takes a 1" wrench or socket if I remember correctly. Just take a 5/8" line wrench and a 1" wrench to the u pull it to get that.
Check how many turns lock to lock, I think my 72 is 4 1/2 turns, and it's standard. If you have like 3 1/8 turns that's a whole lot better than 4 1/2 (tiresome).
If you do have a u pull it, try to find a truck with the same lock to lock ratio as yours and take the flow valve AND the spring. You may need a new O ring, or just use the one off the old flow valve.
And something else to consider IF you have a later model steering gear: Does the drag link sit parallel to the engine cross-member? Just in case someone put the wrong pitman arm on it if they upgraded the gear (easy mistake to make). Since I've been reading this forum I've learned there is a lot of different parts on these front ends that I had always wrongly assumed were pretty much all the same.