The ram assist is in and working.
I have to Thank Dean, who with all of his fancy shop tools, and high power welder, makes everything seem way too easy.
We had everything ready to go on Sunday, but i failed to check the fittings to see if they fit, and didnt notice the pump had O ring fittings instead of SAE fittings. A quick trip Fluid Tech in Rocklin produced the needed fittings. The final hookup today took all of about 15 minutes, and a 1/2 quart of steering fluid.
It did shear off my ARB fitting on the 1st trip to the gas station though:eek:
I cant wait to try it on the trail.
Thanks again for the help

So how much did it end up costing you? Looks good.......

Originally posted by Dingo
So how much did it end up costing you? Looks good.......

You need to have a strong PS pump and should have a cooler installed on the low pressure line.
I used a Sgainaw pump for an 80 GM 1 ton diesel, with hydro boost brakes,(the hydroboost side is ran to the low pressure side before the cooler), I also use a 1 1/2 quart, aluminum remote reservoir.
I believe Dean is converting the steering boxes for $250
The hydraulic ram is about $80 at northerntool.com
You need about $20 in fittings
and about $15 in hoses

It was all going so smooth and then Bamm. Cheif changes the ram from 3/8npt to o-ring. Same part# as the ram I bought a few months earlyer. Send me a PM if this is something you are interrested in as far as prices go. LakeRat has very good prices so you might want to check with him also.
I hope my little contribution helps out for CalRocks there Jeff. I had a good time and look forward to helping out in whatever way I can in the future.

I want one :(

What size meats you running h8?

do you have a part number or specs on the ram itself? and can you explain in detail the modifications you made(if any) to the hydroboost setup.

I run the AGR rockram, and the AGR pump is simply a "standard" gm style pump, the box has the same modifications (i suspect ) that dean does to a factory box.. im gonna open it up someday and find out... and the ram is pretty standard. all in all NOT worth the $900 they want for it.. unless you cannot fabricate yourself.

Dean, have you attempted to do this to a Ford p/s box?? I've got a couple extra boxes layin' around and have been meaning to tear one apart. Do you tap the fittings into about the same spots as a saginaw box?

I would have to look at one but don't think it will be a problem. The ram is just a 2" dia.X8" stroke double acting ram.

Originally posted by ChrisPy

I run the AGR rockram, and the AGR pump is simply a "standard" gm style pump,

Anyone happen know the PSI of the AGR pump?

Paul

up to 1200.
standard saginaw pumps are usually around 900+
with the #4 washer trick you can get them to run the same as the AGR pump.

Interesting... I'm 90% sure the TJ pump is 1100 psi. I'll have to check the manual. I just want to make sure I don't need anything more than a ram at this point.

Paul

I was thinking of mounting my ram on the spring plate as you did.

I am concerned though about excess force applied to the centerpin and Ubolts.

I'm thinking that this can possibly be a problem in some situations.

Also how much clearance is left between the frame when the suspension is cycled to full stuff on the ram side?

Originally posted by Rocktoad
I was thinking of mounting my ram on the spring plate as you did.

I am concerned though about excess force applied to the centerpin and Ubolts.

I'm thinking that this can possibly be a problem in some situations.

Also how much clearance is left between the frame when the suspension is cycled to full stuff on the ram side?

I would just mount it to the top of the diff.

Off the diff is where I put mine.

If anyone is interested, I have already put up a tech article on how to do the mods to the pump on my website. If anyone does them please let me know how they worked for you.

H8Monday: I would be VERY careful about your ram mount. I had my hydrolic ram mounted in much the same way and it not only loosened the crap out of the u-bolt nuts, but it actually ended up stretching the U-Bolts as well.......and just about everybody knows that I BARELY ran my CJ all summer.

I would seriously consider mounting the ram off the housing instead. In the interest of having a more reliable setup, I dropped my tie rod back under the springs (while adding a 1.5" DOM tie rod with a .5" wall) and mounted the ram off the housing instead. The geometry looks MUCH better and I feel more comfortable about my steering AND suspension.

Here's a pic of the new tie rod. You can see the ram in its old location above:

http://www.sierrarockcrawlers.com/community/rocktoy/Beefy%20Tie%20Rod.jpg

Just my $.02

Originally posted by Rock Toy
and just about everybody knows that I BARELY ran my CJ all summer.


:flipoff2:

jeff consider what rock toy is saying. i looked closly at your setup in the pic and have some concerns about mounting it to you leaf spring plate. the forces that ram generates are going to cause havic with your u bolts.

I mounted my rock ram on my springplate. it worked fine..... for about 2 runs.. then I noticed the ubolts were all lose.. so i tightened them.. and 2 weeks later they were loose again...



time to re-think the engineering, i guess....

I am going hysteer on my D60 and am thinking about doing ram assist as well, would mount ram to housing somewhere, my question is, do you guys think that the 4 studs holding each steering arm is going to be strong enough to handle a ram? If no, should I weld some braces on to the side of the arm or something? ideas?