My AWD express van HATES washboard roads. Power steering gets hot and whines.

[Scotty D]

Did 50 miles of Baja dirt road yesterday , and my power steering boiled over.
I have noticed since I got it that it starts to whine after only a few miles of washboard.
Anyone else dealing with this? What are my options?
Yes I feel bad about pushing her so hard.

 

[LRNAD90]

Could add a cooler to the return line. I'd be more concerned about shocks boiling over and dying after washboard surface runs at speed, is there a lot o steering correction going on? Curious what is leading to the buildup in the first place..

 

[Scotty D]

Yes my new Bilsteins got good and hot also but the power steering becomes a problem much sooner.

 

[Teacher88]

I'm heading to baja in about 3 weeks. Think I should throw a cooler on the power steering before I go?

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[Len.Barron]

I'm heading to baja in about 3 weeks. Think I should throw a cooler on the power steering before I go?

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

ACDELCO 26063304

https://www.rockauto.com/info/336/26063304_Primary__ra_p.jpg

 

[Scotty D]

I'm heading to baja in about 3 weeks. Think I should throw a cooler on the power steering before I go?

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Are you planning on driving many miles of dirt road? I will probably put one in for next year but I have done without for years now. You just have to go slower.

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

Reduce tyre pressures and slow down.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

 

[luthj]

Reduce tyre pressures and slow down.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

Yep!


What tire pressure you running? That makes a big difference.

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

20% reduction from highway pressures and a MAX of 65kph makes a huge difference.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

 

[Scotty D]

I carry a valve stem torque wrench and a compressor for just that purpose. Went from 50 PSI down to 33 but might have to go down further still.
For sand I go down to 15 or 20 but that feels pretty lucy goosey at any speed.

Slowing down is so very hard to do when you have such a long distance to cover...

 

[LRNAD90]

So many factors here. What is the weight of the van? What is the load range of the tires? I suspect 33 is still far too high and that you probably want to be in the 18-20 PSI range, but again, I'd think you'd run into problems with the shocks overheating long before the PS system, so I'm still confused as to what is going on.

A PS cooler maybe a workable band aid, but what is going to fail next in the chain, since you haven't addressed the reason for the issue..