Wildhorses power steering pump bracket

[akaFrankCastle]

So in my never ending quest to piss myself off and keep the wife's 4Runner out of the garage, I embarked upon the hydroboost swap again 6 years ago (or so it feels like). One of my stumbling blocks was the acquisition of a power steering pump bracket. I scoured the salvage yard and THOUGHT on several occasions that I had found the elusive pieces needed to mount the dual return Saginaw. But much to my frustration I came up short every time. Finally at wits end, I bit the bullet and ordered a new bracket from Wildhorses.

Things have been a little hectic the last few weeks between work and home so I chucked the box in the garage when it arrived without a second thought. Tonight (well, last night now) I finally got around to opening it up. On attempting to mount the saggy I immediately noticed something was wrong. While all the bolt holes appeared to be correct, the pump would simply not fit in the bracket. Thinking I'd had an odd ball pump, I grabbed the two other saggys I have in the garage and found the same problem with them. The issue, I soon discovered, lie in the top of the bracket where the sleeve for the pivot bolt and the square hole for belt tensioning were located.

Apparently my bracket had a clearance issue at the top, with too much material preventing the pump from fully seating.

Picture time. Sorry for the quality. iPhone and my trying to get the work done so I could get back home.

Here you can see the pump resting against the top of the bracket. No bolts are holding the pump and bracket together.



Here the pump is still resting on the ledge at the top of the bracket. You can start to see the issue with the bolt holes not lining up.



Using several thin rods (also known as "screwdrivers") I lined up the bolt holes on the bracket with the mounting holes in the pump. Here you can see just how much material there appears to be in excess preventing the pump from fully seating.



I took a drive to work, grabbed the cordless grinder and went to town. I wound up removing close to an inch of material from the bracket to gain the clearance I needed. And here is the end result. Two bolts in...

Short pause while I grab my AR from under the bed. Don't usually hear gunshots in this neighborhood.

Any how, two bolts in to the pump through the bracket. Presto. I'm back in bidness.



Normally I'm not a big fan of modifying such a clean looking piece of hardware. But it's Saturday now and I know WH won't be open again until Monday. I will be giving them a call to let them know about the fitment issues. Did a little Internet research tonight and didn't find any other mention of this type of problem. So I'm thinking I got the part made the morning after the Super Bowl.

And the hydroboost install continues.

Update: found one thread over a CB.com stating the same issue. Apparently the pump guts can be rotated if you loosen the fitting retainer. Guess that's what I get for rushing things.

And now there is a helicopter circling the neighborhood. When did I move to Compton?

[plumbdoctor]

mine must have been rotated, no issues when I had that bracket, now lining everything up w/ their 5.0 bracket was a bit tricky

[ZOSO]

I thought you said somewhere that the 75 lincoln saggy was a bolt in to the stock bracket? am I wrong in my thinking?

[akaFrankCastle]

I don't recall saying it was a direct bolt in, but I have been known to be wrong in the past.

[ZOSO]

I must have my thinking backwards.

[Shawns Fords]

I don't know if I am going to make an observation here or not. From my past experience with both PS pumps and some alternators I have found some models need to be "Clocked" inside the housing to fit a variety of different brackets. Some pumps fit a large quantity of vehicles in one position then a small number of others in another. I can not tell from the pictures if it is the actual pump case that's causing the issue or the bracket.

[akaFrankCastle]

It turned out to be the pump case that needed to be clocked. I made a snap decision to cut the bracket because I was trying to get everything bolted up quickly. Had I exercised a bit more patience I would have found the one thread on cb.com that would have helped me.

[Justin]

I appreciate your posting up the info! I'm in the process of getting all my power steering parts together and probably would have done the same thing you did.

[sbolt19]

Oh, good, now that I know you have done this, you can come over and help me do mine. That pump you gave me is still sitting in the box right next to the WH bracket I ordered a year ago....

[akaFrankCastle]

Let me put the Dewalt battery on charge so we can "make it fit".

Could have used you today to correct my stupidity and save me three days on the hydroboost wrap up. Wound up breaking the piston in the brand new hydro unit I bought. Kind of sorta forgot/overlooked the rod that is supposed to go between the hydro piston and the MC piston.

[Justin]

Ouch. Bet that was swear inducing.

[akaFrankCastle]

Very much so. But then I called advanced and one of the guys I know there said they would just cover it as a warranty thing.

[Justin]

Nice! I've had exceptional luck with parts guys taking care of me. Glad to hear it'll work out. Those things aren't cheap new.