jeep.kevin

Its been quite a while since I've looked into this but with tax time and 35's being in my future I'm lookin' to get the best steering I can without hydro assist. I know this may have been covered many times before but I am running into a bunch of conflicting information.

Q #1: does anybody know what exact P/N Durango box works without limiting steering travel? Or does the box require rebuild/modification no matter what?

Q #2: What year range/engine size Grand Cherokee has the upgraded power steering pump (or a part number)? Also, what changes need to be made in order to make it fit up and operate correctly?

In case it helps I'll be doing this upgrade to my 96 XJ with an HO engine. It also has the 97+ bracketry on the PS pump since it was a late year 96. I'm going to be finished building my dana 44s soon and will be ready to swap them in along with 35's. I know from running 33s with no steering upgrades off-road that this upgrade is going to be a bit more of a need than a want.

Thanks in advance.

Demonoid369

Or just use a standard xj pump and either Durango box(same as a xj) or YJ box(higher ratio/fixed/4mounting bolts)

A standard pump will be fine with hydro assist. If your having troubles now, it's because your pump is crapping on you.

Remember k.i.s.s.

jeep.kevin

I'm not having issues with my steering now, since I'm on stock tires. At one time I did have 33s on an XJ and sometimes offroad the steering was lacking.

Also, I dont want hydro assist. Its more than I want to deal with. I was looking for info on the Durango box and grand cherokee PS pump swap. Sorry to be blunt, just wanna stay on topic. Thanks for the advice tho.

tinytrax78

98 and 99 durango box works fine on our 3 jeeps(2 xjs and 1 4cyl tj) with that being said i had a hard time getting a reman box off flebay because everybody sends there xj core in and you end up with a xj box and not a durango box so ended up getting them used from pull a part and they work great they take about a full turn out of the wheel and still go just as far as the stock box did just a tip if you go to pull a part take a pittman arm puller and remove it or they charge you extra for iy and it wont work on a jeep without changing the drag link

tinytrax78

after 1999 the durango went to rack and pinion fyi

jeep.kevin

A buddy of mine has a Durango box and said I could have it. But I've been wondering, does anybody know what makes it stronger or better? I'm gonna open it up and pull the spacer and grind down the blocks on the front cap (read that it helps get full turning radius out of it).

6135

Jeep.Kevin have you installed the WJ power steering on your jeep. I am currently doing this and have ran into an issue of the pressure line not matching up with the pump. (It does not want to fit around the WJ res) I have not modified anything. I bolted the WJ pump to the old mount points (bolted to the intake manifold with the stock bolts) Please let me know if you had to make any changes to the mounting bracket. Also the pump seems to be alittle off center for the line mounting point. 96 XJ Sport.

6135

[QUOTE=

Q #2: What year range/engine size Grand Cherokee has the upgraded power steering pump (or a part number)? Also, what changes need to be made in order to make it fit up and operate correctly?

[/QUOTE]

Hey there,

I have completed the upgrade power steering pump on my 96 sport (XJ) this weekend and it works great.

Here is what I did.

Pulled from the JY out of a 2002 Grand Cherokee power steering pump w/pulley and return lines. (you dont need the return lines but I got the cooler also. Not installed yet)

Remove stock XJ pump
Remove stock XJ PS pulley
Remove WJ reservoir
Then removed the WJ high pressure line fitting. (on top of pump)
Removed stock high pressure line fitting and swapped them
Reinstalled WJ reservoir
Used a stock 1997 Jeep Cherokee high pressure line. (new from parts store)
Installed WJ ps pump in stock location
Hooked up lines and bleed

I bleed the system and took it for a spin about 10 miles. No sound what so ever. After about another 15 miles a slight moan was present, so I bleed it again. Went to Big Bear the next day with no issues, about 200 miles. Seems fine so far. I will update if any issues arise. Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks

Wiggleworm

I have not done either of the upgrade at this point. I went to 35s 2 years ago and immediately noticed my pump was having trouble keeping up especially in the trails. I intended to do those upgrades but found an article by West Texas Off-road showing how to increase the pump pressure and volume. Found here http://westtexasoffroad.homestead.co...rsteering.html
So far so good but if I have any more trouble I'll be upgrading. Another writeup I referenced for the Durango box is here. http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=915103 I believe it's from Frank at Serious Offroad

Paul Standaert

I found the original power steering pump in my Jeep to have a sticking pressure relief valve, so the housing is iffy at best, so it is time for a new pump. Climbing Ike at 4,500 rpm for a minute straight causes my power steering to quit, for example.

From what I can tell, regardless of the engine, the internals from the XJ/TJ pump are almost exactly the same ones that are in the WJ. The difference being the valving and possibly relief valve spring pressure. There's a lot of talk about drilling out the XJ/TJ orifice to the size of the WJ, but I do not see any mentioning of relief valve spring pressures.

So, umm.... Can a person literally take an XJ pump, utilize a WJ relief valve and output valving and have a WJ pump? When the moving components inside of the pump are virtually identical...

Remember, when allowing a pump to output more, it will also need to be able to return fluid faster. Going hog wild on drilling the XJ/TJ valve sounds like a recipe for a noisy pump that sucks air from wherever it can.

robsjeep

https://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/...box-xj-733702/

see above link folks are saying 1999 works, some say also,1998 works too. I recall you want the NON snowplow type.

I got mine at wrecker, pretty sure it was a 99 direct fit in my 1990 xj. using stock xj pump. added a fluid cooler and an inline magnafine filter. always mount filter and cooler below the fluid level in reservoir, else you wont get the air out, very bad!
I push 33x 12.5 tires with it, rock crawling, off roading. nicer than stock. Consider reinforcment on the mounting, your pushing harder, so beef up what you can to resist.

robsjeep

video on durrango and cooler install I used same kind of cooler on mine

https://magnefinefilters.com/main.sc

and the filter

EvanM

I run the stock pump and turn 35s pretty well

I don't think there is a difference in pumps only internal stuff.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f67/so...itting-261471/