Tim Wescott wrote:

Pursuant to getting "burban*" running
(http://www.ccwebster.net/robintim/Burban.jpg,
http://www.ccwebster.net/robintim/) I am in the final throes of getting
the SWMBO-mandated power steering installed. The pump is in (with a
straight pulley and a bracket that fits), the steering box is installed
(and has been for months). The only things left to do are to weld a dot
to hold the steering column together while allowing it to collapse in
the unlikely event of an object-assisted stop, and to have some hoses
made up to connect pump to box.

The truck is stuck in my garage pro tem -- it hasn't been registered for
years, and it's not drivable with the steering arrangement at the moment
anyway. So I need to make up a dummy pressure-side hose so I can take
it some place that can copy my mock-up into the real thing.

Clearly, the purpose of having flexible hoses running from one's power
steering box to one's power steering pump is to allow the engine room to
move. My question is: how much hose do I need?

Anyone know? What are the basic requirements for a power steering hose
service loop? Two inches would clearly be too little; two feet would
clearly be too much. The answer lies somewhere in the middle.

Any opinions? What would you do, and why?

* We got the thing home, and our then-two-year-old youngest decided that
he loved it. At one point I was in the driveway grimly carrying a child
under my arm, who was screaming at the top of his lungs "'burban!
'burban!". I can only imagine the folks at the Southern Baptist church
across the street thinking "my, but those sinners start young these days".

For a fabricated pressure hose, you're really looking at having it as
hose from end fitting to end fitting vs. factory style with sections of
hardline at each end and a foot of hose between the hardline. About 6"
of slack should be sufficient. The return line would just be bulk hose
with hose clamps.