dual rams instead of tie rod?

[jekbrown]

working on the design of a buggy with toy drivetrain... planned on being offroad only, light, and full hydro steering.

question: is there any reason why you couldnt run 2 hydro rams, each attached to the axle on one end and custom steering arms on the other... and not use any tie rod at all? I was thinking smaller rams... in the 1.5" range. Smaller rams tend to be able to turn more quickly while larger ones have more force...right? does this mean that if you had 2 small ones in that kinda setup that you'd have the best of both worlds (quick and strong)??

Ive seen plenty of pics of double ended rams mounted to the top of the diff and mini-tie rods going out to the arms... but that seems really inefficient with respect to weight. The mount for such rams has a lot of steel...the double ended ram is usually very big/heavy... and you still have some "mini" tie rods to deal with.

any thoughts on this? Only negative aspect I can think of is that the rams would have to be behind the axle, or armored... cause if one got fragged you're wheelin day is over. jury rig back to the trailer and head home unless u carry a spare.

j

[mikeswrangler]

I was looking into that question also.. but for the wrangler..
the only problem I saw was the tires can get bent out of alinment real e-z
because there is no tie rod to hold them together..
as you go up a rock on one wheel.. it will put enough force to kick the other out of line..

thats my thought tho..
I was going to get the full hydrulics from a groundskeeper mower.. for the hydrulic steering and everything complete for a good price.. including the pump and resavor..

[sceep]

i see absolutly no weight savings of going to 2 rams.

1 double ended ram + 2 mini tie rods + 4 heims + mounting and protection

compared to: 2 single rams + 4 heims + 1 extra hose + extra fluid + mounting and protection

remember, that mounting and protection in a DE ram useually ends up being one in the same, where with 2 singles you are going to have to build a structure to protect them that is twice as wide as the DE ram, and STILL have to mount them.

I think going to 2 single rams is going to end up weighing MORE than a single DE.

[mikeswrangler]

actualy.. I was thinking of 2 extra hoses..
each ram has power on both side..
like a backhoe.. bucket..
it will move both ways under pressure..
like a double sided ram only a single ram on each knuckel

[jekbrown]

i dont have them on a scale to compare them or anything... but the WTO 1.5x8" stroke ram I used to turn the big meats on my 1-ton K5 is actually pretty light weight... the DE rams I see people using here look pretty damn heavy... so i dunno. Also, most of the mounting systems I have seen here are seriously beefy for DE rams... plus the weight of the lil mini tie rods... just seems like it would be more than the weight of an extra hose (not a very long hose...) and fluid.

at any rate, I'm more interested in the feasibility of ditching the tie rod... and a comparison of a tierod + single ram vs a two single rams system.

j