Alright, here's the deal: I just put a 5.2 (Magnum) in my '89 4WD Dak and the motor is sitting in the normal/stock position on the mounts. I have the magnum drive belt accessories and I started bolting them on, but when I put the power steering pump on, the bracket was resting on top of the steering box? WTF, is there a different PS bracket on 4WD Dakotas, or maybe I grabbed a Ram bracket when I was at the JY (I don't remember, it's been too long ago, I just know some pieces did come off a Ram)? Anyone run into this before?

 

 

Sorry I was pulled away (never tell wife to wait a minute when she's anxious) - and wasn't able to get pictures up last night.

Here's the visual stuff:



I thought maybe the rear of the trans was too far right, shifting the front of the engine to the driver's side too much, but if anything it needs to go more to the right at the rear mount:


Here's the engine's general position from above:


...And from the front you can see it sits relatively level:

 

What year truck is the engine/brackets out of? I wonder if the later models had different brackets when they switched over to rack and pinion steering.

I just looked at mine (second gen 5.2) and my p/s pump sits up much higher, like 3-4" above the steering box.

 

It's a '92 engine, left and right mounts are the original '89 mounts for the V6 that was in the truck. I actually ordered a set of '94 V8 mounts thinking it'd be a good idea with the engine's extra weight. They didn't work because they were wider in the fore-aft direction and wouldn't drop into the frame brackets. I ended up using the original mounts and beefed them up by filling the voids with pour-in urethane. It looks like Dodge gave the V8's extra support by widening the mounts where they anchor to the frame, that way they didn't alter the engine position in the frame and have to change a bunch of other stuff (my guess anyway). This is a 4WD truck by the way, and I believe they kept the recirculating-ball steering through '96, if not longer.

Here's a pic comparing the original V6 mounts to the V8 mounts. All dimensions are the same, except the fore-aft width:

 

Well, mine is not as easy to see as yours (I have lots of stuff in the way), but it's not even close to hitting the steering box. I'll see if I can get a picture in a little bit.

 

So your '97 is 4WD? Wow, 3 to 4 inches, that's way different than mine. Does your PS bracket look like mine? I don't remember now which vehicle I pulled it from, could have been a Ram 1500, or even a van. I've done a lot of JY roaming...

 

I can't get very good pics, but you can kinda see it here:



And from the front (even worse pic):

 

The pictures help. . .


I've been thinking about this a bit today. You know, of course, that Dodge stretched the engine compartment a little to accommodate the extra length of the V8. From Allpar: "The big change for 1991 was a V8 engine, the 318, producing 165 horsepower and 250 lb-ft of torque for 1991, via a single fuel injector. The Club Cab was available with four wheel drive; the hood was extended to fit the V8 engine, and the front appearance was upgraded somewhat."

I have a 96, and I'll see if I can get a picture of the relationship between the pump and the steering box tomorrow. You're right, the 4wd wasn't rack & pinion.

Right off hand, I think you're right tho. You are going to need to relieve it of a bunch of metal to get it to clear. Probably the bracket could lose some metal, and you could grind down the top of the bolt on the steering box too. Where that bolt sticks up, maybe you could grind that part of the box down 1/4 inch or so--so that the bolt doesn't stick up so far. Whether this will be enough is hard to predict.

Shelby shoehorned an LA into the space, putting a Magnum in can be done, but you're gonna have to figure it out and do some adjusting and improvising. Is there anyway you can raise the engine mounts just a little, 1/4 or 1/2 inch would help, I think.

 

Thanks much Tom for taking the time & effort to get those pictures. Looking at those, & some others pics, I'm thinking there's at least one other PS bracket out there for Magnums. I'm going to do some looking around at the JY when I get a chance. I'll let you know what I find.