I've got a '89 Burb 1/2 ton to which I'm swapping my 1 ton drivetrain and 39.5 TSL's. Turning the tires on my K30 was straining the stock pump (K30 had the factory hydro-boost brakes - which will also go into the Burb).

Anyways, to help with steering, I am thinking of getting a PSC pump with boosted psi and boosted flow. I don't want to run hydro-assist if not necessary. I am going to use ORD's ps box frame bracket to help prevent the Burb's frame from cracking. I think this should be enough. I know hydro-assist would help take pressure of the frame near the ps box, but I don't want to go this route unless REALLY necessary. I mostly do mud,snow, dd. No rock.

My questions are.....
I should be ok with just the PSC pump upgrade to turn those tires?
http://www.pscmotorsports.com/index.php?cPath=138&osCsid=074604bf6903e4c6d35fee7 6a5e18ce8
The 1/2 ton frame should be ok with just the ORD brace?
http://www.offroaddesign.com/catalog/steeringkit.htm

You can boost your pressure in the stock pump to help, there are lot's of write up's out there on this and it's not that hard to do.
Cross over steering will help turn the big tires. The stock setup really does not give you enough leverage compared to crossover.
In the end I think you are going to find that hydro assist is the better way to go.
The frame kit that ord offers is a great help, and you should also install the repair kit even if the frame is not broken, it will thicken up the mounting surface and make it alot stronger..

definately put the frane brace on before it breaks. I can post pics of my frame when it finally broke and ripped and bent the front end down and the steering box flipped around and ripped the petcok off my radiator. It was a mess. I just modified my pump as explained on west texas offroads web site and it works great.

I forgot about the DIY pump mods. THanks for reminding me. I'll try that first. I agree 100% - you have to run that ps frame brace. Thanks guys.

i tried a psc pump with no hydro-assist first on my 84 k30 with 39.5's, with hydro boost brakes and it was hard to turn. ordered their ram and now have hydro-assist. a 1000 times better. it's the way to go. hope this helps..

I owuldn't even try and use 40's without hydroassist. My tires just went wherever they chose to with 38's when Id get crossed up.

Hmm...ok. Sounds like I should do hydro-assist also then. I do have the crossover steering components already. THanks guys.

On the PS pump mods, i just increased flow and not the pressure. I did the pressure mod two different times and split the pump in half both times after about an hours use. Just increasing the flow worked great when i needed to turn 39.5 tsl's. if you do the pressure mods, do them a little at a time.