Hydro steering reservoir placement

ProbablyBroke

ProbablyBroke

does not torque to spec
Joined
Nov 7, 2012
Location
Reidsville
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i got a fancy Howe reservoir/filter for my Toyota thing. I'm running a single ended ram, radiator mounted cooler, drilled Toyota pump and an orbital. Stock reservoir ain't cutting it anymore. Space in the engine bay is limited and I want to keep new reservoir away from the tubing for fear it will get ripped off or smashed. I'm ok with cutting the hood in order to make it work. My real concern is that I'm getting it too close to my exhaust manifold and will heat the fluid. Opinions. Let's hear em.

Pictured is my most feasible spot.
 
Any room in the front corners of the bay closer to the radiator? That's usually the best place in most vehicles because there's a dead corner on one side or the other, especially if the stock reservoir was already there.

The filter looks like it's going to end up pretty close to the manifold, yeah. Would it be possible to relocate the coil to a different spot nearby and place the reservoir there? I'm having a hard time with spatial relationships without seeing the rest of the engine bay.

A slightly different fitting configuration might make packaging a little easier too, like maybe a straight fitting and a 180 degree sweep fitting.
 
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The factory res looks to be under the master there.

I would say in front of the master would be a good place. You want to get it as close to the pump as you can, with as strait a hose as possible.

I like putting them near the rad, if possible, as to let gravity work for me as much as possible.
 
The closer I get to the rad, the narrower my front clip is. The factory res is actually level/ below the feed line for the pump which is what prompted this upgrade. In the picture above I mounted my brackets and ziptied it on for pic purposes.

@Fabrik8 @paradisePWoffrd
 
If it were me, I'd find somewhere else to mount it. I'd see if @Chase will post a picture of wherespect it's mounted of his buggy. Same place you are talking. Everytine it puked it hit the manifold and lit up. I nearly burned the buggy down 2x because of it. Now it had dual steering and the puke only happened at double stuff. May never be am issue. But my next hydro rig will have the resi away from the exhaust
 
If that's as much bodywork as you usually run (no fenders, etc) I think you'll be okay there with a radiant heat shield to wrap from high up on the engine side down (above the hose fitting, etc) to down under the filter. You won't have problems with heat from the outboard side if you don't have a fender there, and that will help keep the reservoir/filter side of the heat shield area cool. It's all about differential temperature. With a little thought you can likely find a good way to attach the heat shield to the bracket assembly. That will also deflect dripping fluid away from the manifold.

I still think there's likely a better spot for packaging though.

I think your bracket is going to break at the bend close to the firewall if you actually run that. I'm assuming that whole deal is for mockup and the firewall bracket is going to completely change?
 
I appreciate everyone's input. Hoping to get this figured out this weekend. My stock reservoir puked and smoked the engine bay past month. It was a bit of an eye opener. I was actually feeling pretty good about that bracket, but the radiant heat is still my main concern. I would rather chop the hood than risk a bandaid fix with the heat shield. The closer i mount it to the outermost tube seems to be just a matter of time before I roll it over and break it ( stranded) . I imagine that is better than super heating my fluid everytime I drive it. I'm starting to think, maybe mount it where my coil is, trim the hood and weld a hoop over top. But I've been drinking. Thanks a lot for all the help so far guys.
 
What do I risk by mounting it in the cab? My friend with zero street cred suggested this. We're talking at least three more feet of each hose and possibly burning the shit out of myself. My cab is barebones and I don't ride with passengers anymore.
 
im going to do some more figuring tomorrow and maybe finalize something. The roller over damage is what kept me from mounting outboard. But I think you guys are right about moving it forward. I'd hate to fry my fluid or add ANOTHER fire hazard. I'm planning on doing a full system bleed while I'm at it. Any suggestions on fluid? I'm currently running r&o hydrualic oil from Napa (it's cheap). Trying to get this right so I'm not THAT guy.
 
Swepco 715 is what PSC endorses right now. It is listed as an automobile hydraulic oil/power steering fluid. That is what was in my SE ram and full hydro and it's good stuff. I got it off of ebay. That being said I switched to AmsOil after I recently killed a pump (high RPM beatdowns and about a year) and the Swepco was harder to find and more expensive than the AmsOil.

Sent from my SM-S820L using Tapatalk
 
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As close to the pump as you can get it while keeping a good straight'ish feed. Wrap lines and even the resi in DEI ReflectaGold or similar heat wrap. I mounted mine in that same spot near the master in my last Yota rig. Lots of heat right there from the engine. It worked much better once I heat shielded some stuff and mounted it closer to the pump.
 
StretchASU said:
As close to the pump as you can get it while keeping a good straight'ish feed. Wrap lines and even the resi in DEI ReflectaGold or similar heat wrap. I mounted mine in that same spot near the master in my last Yota rig. Lots of heat right there from the engine. It worked much better once I heat shielded some stuff and mounted it closer to the pump.
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Slip on heat sleeve is a lot easier to use than wrapping lines with anything.
 
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Thanks for everyone's help.. Y'all were certainly right. Feed hose to the pump is about 5 inches. And seems to work well. Didn't have time to do the flush or cut the hood. Finding jic fittings on the 4th of July is a chore.
 
Howe swears by GM non synthetic PS fluid. PSC currently says swepco. I've used all kinds of off the shelf PS fluid and hydraulic fluid. I don't think it makes a difference unless you have some kind of bad ass pump.
 
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