SCORE Journal

score-journal-april-2020

SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing

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HITTING THE BOILING POINT How A Cooler Can Increase The Life Of Your Off-Road Vehicle’s Power Steering System By Dan Sanchez Photos by Dan Sanchez It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but when off-road enthusiasts add larger diameter tires, make quick turns in the sand, and crawl over very rocky terrain, they are putting an added strain on their vehicle’s power steering. According to Mike Murphy, who has 25 years of experience in automotive cooling products and is currently the Performance Division Product Manager at US Motor Works, power steering systems can quickly overheat and boil the fluid, causing damage to the pump and other components. While some vehicles come with a small two pass tube and fin style cooler, it usually isn’t enough for off-road vehicles that have been modified for improved off-road performance. One of the easiest ways to dramatically improve steering performance is to add a cooler to the system. We installed a Derale Performance (a division of US Motor Works) 9-row 8000 series cooler. The 11”x5-3/4” plate & fin style cooler is the most efficient style that can easily be mounted to the front of any vehicle’s radiator and comes with all of the necessary hose, installation hardware and clamps. In addition to providing substantial cooling from this nine-row design the extra 2.5 oz. capacity will keep fluid from boiling and damaging the power steering pump. SJ 1 We installed this Derale Series 8000 15500 GVW rated cooler that’s slim but very efficient 2 The cooler is made to install in front of the radiator of any vehicle and requires removing the front grille 3 Foam tabs stick to the back side of the cooler to insulate it against the radiator or A/C condenser 4 Shown here from under the vehicle at the steering box, we routed the new hose first before disconnecting the old hose, draining the fluid, and attaching the new hose 5 We did the same with the return line that goes back into the pump reservoir shown here. 6 With all the proper hose measurements made, we attached the inlet hose 7 Using a small funnel, we filled the cooler with 2.5 oz of high-quality power steering fluid and attached the return hose 8 Insert the four plastic rod mounts through the radiator or A/C condenser and cut off the excess length. Refill the power steering reservoir and the installation is complete Derale Performance US Motorworks www.derale.com 323 266-3850

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