Silent Panda
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Jason
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2019
- Threads
- 22
- Messages
- 130
- Reaction score
- 229
- Location
- Salt Lake City
- Vehicle(s)
- 2018 JL Rubicon
- Thread starter
- #1
This is my 8th or 9th update to my 2 door Rubicon build...I was putting all of the build links in these updates. If that is value added, please let me know and I'll add them here and continue the practice.
I am not sure how many of my fellow JL/JT owners have experienced the power steering pump shutting off while riding trails but is isn't fun. Loosing power steering while working Jeep hard presents like the tires are jammed in one position with limited or no ability to turn them...on or off the throttle. Even less fun is loosing boost at speed like when running a wash.
The loss of power steering is due to the system getting hot enough for the pump to turn off, saving itself and the fluid from getting too hot.
I got the Apex Power Steering Cooler to eliminate/reduce the number of pump shut downs. Not only will the cooler help to dissipate heat, the added volume of fluid will be harder to heat soak. I am not sure about the stock capacity but this cooler easily doubles and maybe triples it. It took almost a full liter of new fluid to fill the system.
Now the pictures (and less words!):
Unboxing the cooler was gratifying. It sucks to buy a mod and box it to find something that feels unsubstantial. The cooler has a nice mass, the hardware is carefully packed, the brackets feel solid and the anno is deep. The part has a lux feel to it.
The install instructions were thorough and suggested mounting the cooler between the frame rails, just under the grill. I chose to mount the cooler in my bumper. I've rotated my sway bar disconnect and had a perfect spot or mount the cooler...the only questions was to hang it from the top of the bumper:
or mount it to the angled lower face of the bumper (Where Ace is cut out):
I went with the later. I liked the routing of the inlet and outlet ports more with this way. I did have to trim an unused frame bracket off to keep the hose routing free of hard touches to prevent rubbing:
Mounting here was simple. I did have to use my own hardware to mount it here but I have enough spare 10.9 flange head bolts to make it easy.
A couple pics of the angle of the input and output ports:
If I am adding a cooler to an existing system, I like to mount the cooler then resolve the connections. So now that the cooler is mounted I started disconnecting the stock low pressure return line. The pump side is easy...remove the air box, disconnect the spring clamp and pull the hose off of the nipple. Use an new clamp, new hose and make the pump to cooler connection.
On the steering box side, I cut the existing hose toward the end of its length, insert the supplied double ended nipple (huh, huh) and clamp the connections. I had to use a screw clamp as the provided spring clamp didn't make a connection that was tight enough for me. I did give this feedback to Apex.
then I made the connection to the cooler.
I used Pentosin CHF11S to fill the system. It took most of the liter can.
Here is the final mounting location of my new cooler. I will add some abrasion protection to hoses for extra protection but my routing were free of sharp bends and hard contact to the adjacent surfaces. I am heading to Windrock Park next weekend and will give feedback on the performance when I return.
To remove the stock low pressure return line, I removed the screws attaching it to the the left and right frame rails, cut it on the right and cut it on the left per my pic and the pieces basically fell to the ground.
I am not sure how many of my fellow JL/JT owners have experienced the power steering pump shutting off while riding trails but is isn't fun. Loosing power steering while working Jeep hard presents like the tires are jammed in one position with limited or no ability to turn them...on or off the throttle. Even less fun is loosing boost at speed like when running a wash.
The loss of power steering is due to the system getting hot enough for the pump to turn off, saving itself and the fluid from getting too hot.
I got the Apex Power Steering Cooler to eliminate/reduce the number of pump shut downs. Not only will the cooler help to dissipate heat, the added volume of fluid will be harder to heat soak. I am not sure about the stock capacity but this cooler easily doubles and maybe triples it. It took almost a full liter of new fluid to fill the system.
Now the pictures (and less words!):
Unboxing the cooler was gratifying. It sucks to buy a mod and box it to find something that feels unsubstantial. The cooler has a nice mass, the hardware is carefully packed, the brackets feel solid and the anno is deep. The part has a lux feel to it.
The install instructions were thorough and suggested mounting the cooler between the frame rails, just under the grill. I chose to mount the cooler in my bumper. I've rotated my sway bar disconnect and had a perfect spot or mount the cooler...the only questions was to hang it from the top of the bumper:
or mount it to the angled lower face of the bumper (Where Ace is cut out):
I went with the later. I liked the routing of the inlet and outlet ports more with this way. I did have to trim an unused frame bracket off to keep the hose routing free of hard touches to prevent rubbing:
Mounting here was simple. I did have to use my own hardware to mount it here but I have enough spare 10.9 flange head bolts to make it easy.
A couple pics of the angle of the input and output ports:
If I am adding a cooler to an existing system, I like to mount the cooler then resolve the connections. So now that the cooler is mounted I started disconnecting the stock low pressure return line. The pump side is easy...remove the air box, disconnect the spring clamp and pull the hose off of the nipple. Use an new clamp, new hose and make the pump to cooler connection.
On the steering box side, I cut the existing hose toward the end of its length, insert the supplied double ended nipple (huh, huh) and clamp the connections. I had to use a screw clamp as the provided spring clamp didn't make a connection that was tight enough for me. I did give this feedback to Apex.
then I made the connection to the cooler.
I used Pentosin CHF11S to fill the system. It took most of the liter can.
Here is the final mounting location of my new cooler. I will add some abrasion protection to hoses for extra protection but my routing were free of sharp bends and hard contact to the adjacent surfaces. I am heading to Windrock Park next weekend and will give feedback on the performance when I return.
To remove the stock low pressure return line, I removed the screws attaching it to the the left and right frame rails, cut it on the right and cut it on the left per my pic and the pieces basically fell to the ground.
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