While we were assessing the Power Steering Pulley, we took a good look at the cast magnesium OEM power steering pump bracket. These are known to fail and it is a really good idea to replace these with a far stronger Billet Aluminum bracket from IPSCO.
Compared to the cast magnesium OEM bracket (right), the Billet Aluminum IPSCO Bracket (left) is quite a bit thicker and does not have the recessed pockets machined out that the OEM bracket has.
The IPSCO bracket is notably heavier, with larger radiused edges, which is a small price to pay for peace of mind of not failing and losing power steering in the middle of a corner on track or the street, which could end up catastrophically.
We installed the new IPSCO Billet Aluminum Power Steering Pump Bracket and turned our attention to the idler pulley.
Other than the power steering pulley, the idler pulley is also plastic on the Gen-2 Viper.
These pulleys are less known to fail, but for the price, it is a great idea to replace them with a new pulley that has a new bearing for further peace of mind.
6 comments
Wow, it is unbelievable that such a critical part is made of plastic! This is a must-have for any Viper broken or not.
Not that big of a surprise given that this is a Chrysler product.
Thanks for the update, Billy. What other plans do you have for this beast? It is your personal street car?
Have you pinned the crank pulley yet?
Suddenly I’m glad none of my 30+ year old project cars have power steering!
Wow they were REALLY desperate to shed weight on these cars, huh?