Guys,

Hoping someone here can help me.
Are there any issues with changing the power steering pump to a bigger unit.

I'm looking at the Saginaw power steering pump as I am wishing to put a hydraulic (mile marker) winch on the patrol as its cheaper and lighter than the equivilant warn. And its not electric which for me I feel more comfortable with.

are there any issues with a higher flowing / higher pressure power steering pump? will it have and adverse affects on my steering components?

Cheers,
Kirk

Most likley will put excess pressure on your gland seals and cause leaks sooner rather then later, and I'm not sure what kind of presure control valve's are involved but I can see your steering becoming dangerously light.

I don't see what the issue with an electric winch is, most people have electric ones including your extreme 4x4ers without too many issues, aslong as you don't put some wimpy little thing on it, I can't see you'll ever have issues.

Electric winches are heavy. They are S L O W unless you go high mount - which is heavier again. They get hot - thus most are unsuitable for synthetic/plasma rope. They over heat after 5 minutes winching and cut out. They draw over 400amps and can't run without the car being on any way (the main reason people go electric over hydraulic is they think they will be able to winch without the car being on).

Most hardcore 4x4ers actually have this type of setup or a PTO (power take off) setup taken from either the transfer case (nissans) or the gear box (toyotas) but Nissan no longer have an access plate on the transfercase - they dropped it when they bought out the GU (there is the option to get the GQ box as this still has it - but the later boxes dont have the gear inside this has to be retrofitted)
Other wise they use highmount warns with twin motor setups.

Also a good (TJM blueOx (mile marker rebadged), Warn etc) electric winch is around $1800 for a 9000lb unit - a 12000lb hydraulic is around that price fitted and it will pull all day every day as long as youve got power steering. Being how crutial power steering is for a vehicle its one of the most over engineered pieces of equipment on a modern vehicle.
I have a few freinds with hydraulics and one with a mechanical - all of them have previously owned electric winches and switched to hydraulic or mechanical after they were left strandard with electrics. Hydraulic units will also work under water - show me an electric that'll do that.
The only issue with the hydraulics is they slow down when you steer out of ruts because the valving gives preferance to steering. So I want a bigger pump so the winch pulls faster and pumps faster even when steering.
One of the guys from the patrol forum with a blueox fitted to his 3L suggested a dump valve as this prevents the system priortising the power steering when the winch is in use.

Gunna go speak to the steering specialist up the road tomorrow. So far most replies on other forums have suggested that a bigger pump will be fine as the restriction can be done with shims in the actual box and the higher flow will aid in steering when I fit larger tyres, especially for low speed / low range, low tyre pressure work.
Also found out some interesting stuff about hydraulic assisted braking - another option which could be investigated when i do portals.

I work in a field that involves Hydraulic systems that typically run at 3000psi, and the idea of upping the system pressure in a system designed for a set pressure just brings up so many issues, as already stated, can the gland seals hold the pressure (your rack is likely to start leaking), can the piping hold the pressure, excesively light steering since the bigger pump will require a higher relief valve pressure to actually be of any use (this could be very dangerous for driving at highway speeds), metal fatigue in piping making them alot more likely to burst if impacted against a rock etc, any scouring or slightly damaged seals that would normally be fine are most likely going to leak.

Personally if your going to the effort to upgrade the pump, why not make a custom mount and mount a seperate pump with it's own system running the winch, and put in place a run around circuit, with a manually or electrically operated valve (you could wire it up the control module for the winch) to open the run around as required. Sure it's a bit more work (really just the custom mount) and money, but you have the peace of mind of not having to worry about reliability or safety, as you know it's a totally seperate system that won't affect anything else.

Think of it as wanting to go louder, so what do most people do? Put in a bigger amp of course, but what about the power cable's, battery, speaker wiring, fuses etc...

As they say if your going to do it, do it properly and so it's safe.

Well I havent done this mod yet but it will be done.
Whilst not being so common in Australia its very common in asia (those guys are insane the things they drive up!) and NZ and to a lesser degree the states (though it appears in the states they still preffer the mechanical or high mount winches).

The pressure its self is not raised its the flow that is increased.

The reason for the flow rate from std I'm told is that it suits the std size tyres so when fitting larger tyres with a more agressive pattern the additional flow is also benefical particularly at lower speeds (where power steering works the hardest any way)