Is that a factory part of an aftermarket thing somebody came up with?

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

Supposedly factory. I saw a picture of one and it went between the area around the steering box and angled over toward the radiator. That space it open on my truck. Here's what I was talking about:http://m.dodgeconnection.com/catalog/item/2901766/4541374.htm

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If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.

when I spoke with the folks at DirectConnect they said the brace was a used on 80's D series truck chassis that were destined for severe service use,, tow trucks, ambulance,....

back in my pick a part days, I must have looked at 50+ 80's Dodge trucks. Combination of D 150's, D 250's , D 350's when I was rounding up parts... , saw some with sway bars and heavy duty rear ends,,,, never saw one with the power steering brace.
I did see one that had a cracked frame at the power steering mount.

I added the brace as I already had the 83 D150 apart down to the frame rails, at that point in time would be very ez to install and I was wanting to add frame stiffness as I intend to tow with it.

Since the only thing I will be towing is a small camper and a ski boat, and never plan to go offroad except to wash it, I will assume I'm safe not adding the brace. The most "severe duty" my truck might experience is the occasional trip to the dump.

I am going to add the brace AND a sway bar to the front end of my D100.

Mine is a 84 and has the sway bar. I would hate to see what it would handle like without one. It's a handful with one.

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If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.

I did not find this to be true when I got rid of power and went to manual steering in my 85. I had to find a pitman arm off a manual steering truck in the JY.

YMMV.

sb