AN fittings for rack and pinion??

I have an 04' Colorado in which I am doing an LS1 swap currently, the stock power steering lines are no where near the right fit for the new setup. I saw that RUSSELL has power steering lines braided that hold up to 2500 psi, and they also have a bunch of fittings for power steering setups. My question is my rack and pinion setup does not have threaded fittings, they are smooth metal lines that go into the rack and pinion and are held in place with a single bolt between the two lines. Can I tap these to have metric threads, and then I can buy the appropriate fittings and braided hose ?? Has anyone ever done this??

Do you have enough material around the hole to tap it to something common like a pipe thread ? Then perhaps use an adapter that has male pipe in one end and male an on the other?

Yeah there is quite a bit of room around the holes, I priced a new rack and pinion in case I screwed it up and it runs $249.00 new. I saw the male to male adapters and it just had me thinking It's something I can make up myself, well that gives me hope since I didn't get a reply calling me crazy!! I will check tomorrow to see if it's aluminum or steel, If it's aluminum I probably won't do it just from experience with this LS1 block and the threads.

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Originally Posted by TRPLXL2

Yeah there is quite a bit of room around the holes, I priced a new rack and pinion in case I screwed it up and it runs $249.00 new. I saw the male to male adapters and it just had me thinking It's something I can make up myself, well that gives me hope since I didn't get a reply calling me crazy!! I will check tomorrow to see if it's aluminum or steel, If it's aluminum I probably won't do it just from experience with this LS1 block and the threads.

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Ya definitely got to be gentle with aluminum. I been doing hydraulic work for almost 10 years and have access to free hydraulic hoses and all sorts of adaptors. Any time I see something I could convert to a standard thread and use hydraulic line instead I go for it! Here's a pic of my return line fitting I used on my Turbo set up. Removed the oil level sensor and screwed it into its place .

Depending on the size of the tubing coming out of the rack you may be able to pick up a AN tub nut and sleeve and then pick up a 45 degree flare tool for AN fittings. You would just slid the tube nut on, then the sleeve then flare and connect your braided line.

GUS that made my day!!! The light bulb went off in my head as soon as I read your post, I am going to go that route and find some fittings now. I will update this thread with what I end up doing...

i used all fbody style lines on my truck for my swap. look into modularturbo on ls1tech.com or ebay. they sell a PS line kit that is all custome braided for 120 bucks or so. its worth it

Russel makes stainless braided hose special for power steering.

I am going to buy that line from Russell, It's rated at 2500 psi. This project has been put on the back burner for now, as I am dealing with passlock/vats problems....