I couldn’t get both ends of that hose to seat in any other direction. Guess I’ll try again next weekend.
Yeah, it’s a pain in the backside to get it all hooked up correctly and not leaking.
I drove the car to work today. It’s about 50 miles round trip with a mix of freeways and stop and go. I pulled into my driveway, got out and saw a trail of fluid that started in the road just in front of my house, leading up the driveway to the car. I looked underneath, and there was a giant puddle of tranny fluid under the power steering system.
The remanufactured hydraulic ram has crapped the bed. Glad it did it here and not at the office, but what a pain.
Is there anything to check in my system that could be causing the rams to blow out or is this purely a case of bad quality parts?
These repops have this issue. Try and find and original & reseal if its good. Or use the repop & don’t make u-turns! LOL
Also the Cougar ones are longer than the mostang ones…
I see you have headers installed as I do on my car. I installed the “drop down” bracket for the slave cylinder that came with the headers, but I still have clearance issues. Whenever I turn to full lock (whichever way moves the centre link to the driver’s side), my power steering valve crashes on the bracket. Which bracket did you use? Did you relocate it? Have I done something foolish? Other than install headers in the first place, of course… 
Here is what I used: https://secure.cougarpartscatalog.com/e5h21.html?attribs=87
Expensive but it truly is the only way to go for something that won’t break or rip the nutserts out of your frame…
Now, why your control valve would move enough to contact the bracket, I dunno. Bent or incorrect drag link?
Unsure about the drag link, so I’m going to have a mechanic friend look at it. I think I’ll pick up that bracket either way though. Thanks for your response, I appreciate it.
Glad to help! 
Would worn out coil springs have any impact on the hydraulic steering ram? I have a warranty replacement for the ram on the way, but I know I also need to replace my coil springs. Would worn out springs create excessive travel on the steering system or would it make any difference at all?
Weak springs can produce more suspension travel but not more than the suspension itself limits travel to. So, more, yes. To much, I don’t think so.