Powerless steering. :(
 

Hey everyone. So I have managed to blow 3 power steering pressure lines on my 1972 c10 in the last month. First time was due to it touching #1 header tube, 2nd time was due to it touching my fan belt, 3rd time (which was about 10 minutes ago) was due to it touching my header tube. Yeah yeah yeah I know about what happens when hot things touch other things that are not supposed to be hot. Lol
Just a little back story, I havent blown a power steering line since 2014 (same damn reason-header.) What i did back then was get one of my old radiator hoses( I think the lower one) cut about a 6" piece off, split it on one side and wrapped it around both power steering lines and zip tied it. Held up like this all the way until last month.
When I was swapping out my 882 heads for a set of 041's that I got from a buddy and had the machine shop go through, I had to take the top end of my engine off, obviously, and I noticed my ole radiator hose heat shield for my power steering lines had taken a beating over the last 5 years. It had a hole burned right through it and was just a matter of time before the power steering line was next. So instead of just making another one out of radiator hose I decided to change things up. You know, for no damn reason. So I put some of that velcro fiberglass heat wrap shield tubing sleeve stuff over the lines and felt like the labels claim of being able to withstand 2000° temps for a short period and survive in a indirect high heat environment was good enough to convince me. Well, it did exactly as it stated. It survived 2000° heat for a short period. About 40 miles. Just enough time to lose all my fluid in the parking lot at the grocery store the next morning while grabbing some stuff for breakfast. It came out fast and I was given a strength test at 8 a.m. performing what should have been a effortless palm swipe 2 point turn to exit the parking lot, but instead became a panicked hand over first tug of war 5 point turn with a horrible screeching smoking vehicle. From what I hear, having to maneuver a power steering equipped vehicle without the aid of power steering is actually tougher than a Non power steering vehicle. And I believe that, now.
Anyways, I had it fixed by evening. Glad to say it was directed down and out of the engine bay.
Now the 2nd time I blew a power steering line was this past monday. Yes as in the day before yesterday. This time I was about 2 blocks from work and managed to make it. This time I was not so fortunate. The alternator belt basically sawed right through the line, causing it to spray directly into my fan. Well, as you can imagine, IT MADE A HUGE F***ING MESS OF MY ENGINE BAY. top to bottom, left to right, over and under everything. Plus, I managed to leave my wallet at home. :) ( see definition of "Mondays")
Luckily my coworker is cool, he spotted me the cash for the new line and whatnot to fix it, took me about an hour and I was one my way. The second hose lasted about 48 hours. LMAO.
This time it was my header again. And I had been checking it and making sure all was good. I do have my headers wrapped, except the one spot where the line is. Isnt that great? Also, because I hadn't noticed it rubbing ANYTHING, I didnt bother wrapping it. Well, I guess we all know what that means... I need to go dig out one of my old radiator hoses and fab up a 5 year heat shield.
On a positive note, at least this time my truck is at my house where I have all my tools, my 3 new flare wrenches I bought in the last couple of weeks, all the same size, and about 3 partial bottles of fluid along with 3 full bottles of fluid, and I think 4 partial rolls of shop towels. I am getting faster at doing this job. Maybe I should do a write up for all the rest of the fellas. Shoot it would take me longer to type it all out than to do the job. Lol.
Anybody heard of any other ways of preventing this from happening again besides the ole, take off the headers, or wrap the headers, or wrap the lines, etc. Maybe an aftermarket heat shield of some sorts or even your own tricks?
Thanks all.

Re: Powerless steering. :(
 

Not sure how to help since I don't have headers. A picture of that area would help though by showing what kind of clearance you have. Here's how the factory did it with manifolds on a 350. If you have a small block, it looks like it might give enough clearance depending on your headers.

Re: Powerless steering. :(
 

I have found over the years that headers cause more problems than they are worth.

I run both in different vehicles but headers are always a pain in the a**.

Re: Powerless steering. :(
 

Is it possible to reroute the hoses a better way to get them out of the way, or is there not enough hose or room?

Headers are no more trouble than stock manifolds are...as long as you buy quality. If you buy cheap, mediocre headers then you'll have nothing but problems.

Re: Powerless steering. :(
 

Firstowner69, two comments for ya. First, damn that is one nice setup you posted. If it's yours, very nice. :)
Secondly, that setup appears to have the hoses bent at a "flatter" angle relative to the alternator/generator and exhaust manifold. Which is giving me some ideas and insight into my issue. Thanks for posting that picture it truly is helpful. I'm reminded that the pressure line is just tubing prebent by the manufacturer and can be modified accordingly if necessary. I do have various benders to use. Much appreciated.

Sheep dip, your opinion is acknowledged. The reason I have headers is because when I bought the truck it had both factory manifolds cracked. Very large cracks. And at the time I was 18 working part time while going to college and compared the price of my hedman headers Vs. Replacement stock manifolds. At the time, budget dictated the choice and it came with it's consequences. Basically it took me about 12 years to get it all worked out and situated, or so I thought. Lol.

68P.O.S. yes there is some room to work with I'll post a few pics.

All of these comments have been helpful in one way or another and I think I have a better idea of how to approach the problem.

Re: Powerless steering. :(
 

It is mine. Thanks for the kind words.

Here is a picture from a different angle after the front clip was on. If I recall correctly, the pressure hose is an Edelmann as seen in this Rock Auto link.
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...sure+hose,7320
It almost looks like you may have the wrong end of yours attached to the gearbox.

Re: Powerless steering. :(
 

I hear ya firstowner69, but the power steering line has 2 different sized tube nuts. The gear side has an 11/16" tube nut and the pump side has a 5/8" tube nut.
It took me a lot longer than I expected to replace the line. I ended up wrapping the #1 cylinder exhaust tube with some moroso exhaust header wrap. It came out pretty nice considering that I didnt do the "easy way" of taking the header out of the truck. I also wrapped both lines with a piece of radiator hose. And made a sleeve type shield out of a beer can and secured it with stainless locking ties. Lo tech but should work better than the other things I've tried. I also put in a small bottle of Lucas power steering conditioner. Being that I have run the pump dry twice in the last week. It drove great today after I had issues with the fluid foaming and having to keep adding fluid to the reservoir for the first few minutes. After about 10 minutes of idling and turning the front wheels stop-to-stop a whole bunch. It drives and sounds like it never happened. :) so thank you all for your comments on my issue.