Power Steering Beware!

Hey all,

Just wanted to write a quick post to share my recent experiences with my power steering conversion on my 73 cj5 amc 304. Im doing a complete frame up restore/mod and one of the things I wanted to add like we all do is power steering. I've looked all over the Internet and junk yards to find all the parts necessary. I found the original power steering bracket from someone on this site, which was much appreciated, but finding the pump, pulley, box around my area was nearly impossible. So I went to the Internet. Before I go on, I would just like to say I am not trying to bash the company I bought my parts from, only wanted to inform all of you what my experience was, so hopefully no one else spends the money and receives the complete wrong parts.
So I purchased a power steering conversion kit from PowerSteeringPros.com. Received it in a somewhat timely fashion. The box was a 3hole saginaw which fit perfect, it came with high pressure flared line that matched to box, pitman arm, box coupling, pulley, pump and reservoir. The pump and reservoir was where I began to have problems. The return line on the reservoir was out of place and would not fit through the stock bracket. The tension-er stud was also about an inch short. Frustrated I called the companies cust. svc dept. Spoke to a young guy who didn't seem to familiar with he parts he was selling. I explained the situation, reservoir being wrong for this application. I asked if it was indeed the correct part number. He said he was not sure, and that he also could not tell me if the pump and reservoir was even for a 6 or 8cyl. Frustrated I asked if I could just send back the pump and pulley and this is where the fun began. I was informed that because I bought this in a kit that these parts were already discounted and that if returned I would only receive a portion of the discounted price back. I was beyond fired up and ended the conversation with the the guy. After feeling like I had been I had been cheated I called back a couple hours later to speak with the cust svc manager. I explained the situation. His response was that I should either fabricate a new bracket to fit his improper part, or to pull the pump out of the reservoir and find a new reservoir that would fit my bracket. He then went on to inform me that these "manual to power steering kits" were not vehicle specific and more of a universal kit for many different applications. I told him they may want to put a disclaimer about this on their website, because having known this I would have never bought this kit. He said he would look into it and did confirm that this is not specified on his website when you purchase his product. So I asked again if I could just return the whole kit, he said sure but he would have to charge me 15% restocking fee($90) plus shipping($40). So after spending $600 I would only be getting $470 back. Sure doesn't seem fair does it!
So all that said, I gave up and I am keeping the kit. I will have to pull the pump out of the current reservoir and find a new one that matches the bracket. It shouldn't be that difficult but its the principal of the whole thing. As a customer we always want to get what we pay for, right?'
I know there are many people on this site who have already or are planning on converting their manual steering to power steering. Just beware of what you are buying. If this can help someone not make the mistake that I made this post is well worth it!

 

Post a picture of the pump and what the problem is..........The return line is low pressure and on some we remove the tubing type fitting that gets a rubber hose and a clamp and put a fitting directly into the pump reservoir...then you can pretty much do anything with the return line.............sounds like the high pressure line is OK?

 

wow that is a bummer just goes to show ya you cant trust a flashy web page. i had a similar experience with my son and an rc car after the purchase no returns or cust service...uggh

 

Not saying you should have to after paying $600, but the return line is easy to fabricate yourself.

 

Ask your credit card company if they can help you.

A 15% restocking fee for a kit that does not fit is not acceptable. You need to document why it does not fit, and any efforts by the seller to make good on the sale. You may have to absorb some or all of the shipping ... ask your credit card company.