Hi All!! Im putting in a universl power steering, I have to get the adapters for the two ports on the column box thingy. Does it matter which port recieves the fluid and which port is the return back into the canister? If so which is which? Theres a hose that run from the remote exterior canister that holds the fluid to the pump, then a hose from the pump to the coulmn, I have that hose in the port closest to the front of the car, then on the port that is behind it, closer to the cab, i have a hose from that port back to the canister, is this correct? Do I have to swap the hoses? Or does it matter?

If I recall correctly, the input at the very front of the steering box is the supply to the power steering pump cooler, which attaches to the bottom of your radiator support. The fluid then travels back and get dumped into the power steering pump reservoir via a rubber hose connection. You have another line that routes directly from the back of the power steering pump to the upper most port of the steering box which is your feed.

Both ports on your power steering box are saginaw fittings but I am unsure of the size. I want to say one is 16mm and the other is 14mm.

Hope this helps.

ok, I have the fittings for the ports already, so Im good there, the port in the front towards the front of the car connects to that long metal line that ran under the radiator then? That was the main feed right? That that should be the line from the pump itself to that port, then the back port is the line that sends the fluid back into the reservoir?

No, the long metal tube at the bottom of the radiator is the cooler. So, after it gets pumped into the steering box it then gets cooled and returned to the reservoir.

Your pressure line is the one that goes directly from your pump to the port in the back of the steering box.

Does that make sense?

By the way, I got a brand new pressure line and cooler for $31 at Advance Auto parts.

Cool, thanks, that does make sence and is what I needed to know, the custom power steering I got just has a short line to send fluid back to the reservior, how crutial is it to cool the fluid? If the custom kit just came with this short line then it's them who figured it didnt need to be cooled huh?

Cooling the fluid is critical, so I would not delete it out unless you are just racing the car short distances or something.

Attached is a diagram that may help.

I have bypassed by cooler on many cars with no problems. Some where daily drivers that saw 250+ miles a week.

When I changed my box out I reconnected the high pressure line to the port closest to the radiator, which I call the front. Is this wrong? Due to the different fitting sizes there didn't seem to be another option. Did I do this backwards somehow?

The fitting closest to the front of the vehicle, farthest from the input shaft, is the high pressure line. The fittings shouldn't fit any other way.

Although the cooler certainly isn't necessary (my 85 TA came without one, my 87 LG4 had one from the factory) I'd certainly retain it. It adds little weight, the extra volume is negligible and everyone knows the benefits to cooler hydraulic oil.

Any time one works on the power steering hydraulic system I'd recommend installing a fluid filter in the return line. A filter that installs inside the line can be had for only a few $ (looks like an AC metering valve). Cheap insurance against having little pieces of stuff zooming around looking for an orifice to clog in your box.

double post, weird.