The pulley is one of core mechanical elements in the power steering system for vehicles. The pulley operates under both the compressive loading and the torque. Therefore, to assure the safety of the power steering system, it is very important to investigate the durability and the optimization of the pulley. In this study, the applied stress distribution of the pulley under high tension and torsion loads was obtained by using finite element analysis. Based on these results the fatigue life of the pulley with the variation of the fatigue strength was evaluated by a durability analysis simulator. The results at 50% and 1% for the failure probability were compared with respect to the fatigue life. In addition to the optimum design for the fatigue life is obtained by the response surface method. The response function utilizes the function of the life and weight factors. Within range for design life condition the minimization of the weight, one of the formulation, is obtained by the optimal design. Moreover the optimum design by considering its durability and validity is verified by the durability test.