My 2 cent's worth on Hydro-Assist

[Non Urban]

There have been numerous threads on putting hydro-assist steering on so I'm not going to get into mine. Here are a few of those links for those interested. These are the ones I read to do mine.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showt...ighlight=hydro
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showt...ighlight=hydro
http://board.marlincrawler.com/index.php?topic=10579.0
http://board.marlincrawler.com/index...d&topic=4699.0

Here's how I increased my P/S capacity.

Started by cutting the Celica Res.


Got a piece of scrap 3 1/2 exhaust pipe from a local muffler shop (free) and cut it to 3 1/2 inches long


The exhaust pipe actually fits inside (tightly) the P/S Res. I slide it in about a 1/4 inch each end.


TIG welded it. This more than doubles the capacity by adding 3 inches.


And mount it. I work at a liquid plant so I have access to things like Uni Strut so I just used that.


A couple things I discovered with this project:

When you pull the input shaft, don't let the piston spin off the shaft else you will have fun putting all the ball bearings back in one by one. Can't give you alot of detail.... Just don't let it happen.

A 1.5 X 6 ram is ideal for a Samurai. I have the 8 from Surplus Center and there wasn't much room to work with. Since I only have 4 inches of movement on my tie rod, an 8 inch stroke is overkill. The only reason I didn't send it back for a 6 inch was price. The 8 inch seems to be the least expensive.

Another thing I realized is that Hydro-Assist is just that, ASSIST. Seems to me, atleast in my case, the ram does not actully move until the steering box can't. At that time the fluid is forced into the ram to help. I did increase the fluid output from the pump but with the front end off the ground and the ram disconnected from the tie rod it didn't move (much) until the full lock. I noticed a little difference while driving but won't know for sure how much of an improvment until I get it on the rocks.

Input?

[tdavis]

Originally Posted by Non Urban

Input?

Nice job.

I had my toy reservoir increased in size too - just be careful, there is a rubber washer/gasket in the top sealing it.

Make sure your knuckles hit the stops on both front and rear. Most people also reinforce those stops - I replaced mine with solid steel.

[GeoB]

Hey! Nice post. Thanks. Pics are great too.

[GeoB]

But if yer clumsy like me you'll wanna smooth the edges on that bracket or somebody's gonna get sliced!

[Elusive1]

Please be sure to let us know how it works once you hit the rocks. I plan to assist my Carola setup using the Surplus center ram as well.

[Non Urban]

I'll get some pics posted of the ram on the rig this weekend to show how tight it is.

[LittleBlackSambo]

good post. i've got my surplus center parts sitting in the box, waiting for me to hang them...
are you still using the celica pump? any plans to upgrade?
how does it feel on the road? does the system still return-to-center?
can't wait to hear how it works in the rocks. stock steering will rip your elbows from their sockets...

[Cap'n Ron]

Nice work man! You're making me feel guilty about not having my Sidewinder project 1/2 done by now... The Pathfinder is repainted...I just bought another car...I'll get to the Samurai, I swear sometime before Moab! : )

I like the TIG work...did you pull that off?

[Non Urban]

Originally Posted by LittleBlackSambo

good post. i've got my surplus center parts sitting in the box, waiting for me to hang them...
are you still using the celica pump? any plans to upgrade?
how does it feel on the road? does the system still return-to-center?
can't wait to hear how it works in the rocks. stock steering will rip your elbows from their sockets...

I am going to use the Celica pump as long as it holds out. I've replaced 3 of them (rebuilt's) due to leaking. I read on a Toyota board recently that Toyota says to use ATF in them and P/S fluid cause leaks. Well if thats true I know why they haven't lasted. I'm going to run ATF in this one and we'll see. If it goes out I will replace it with a Howe.

It does not return to center with this setup. That changes the "On the road" feeling. I personally would not do this to a DD. I am actually going to disconnect the ram from the tie rod whenever I have any good amount of highway driving to do. It will be simple and quick since I'm using a pin instead of a nut and bolt setup on the tie rod end.

[Non Urban]

Originally Posted by Cap'n Ron

Nice work man! You're making me feel guilty about not having my Sidewinder project 1/2 done by now... The Pathfinder is repainted...I just bought another car...I'll get to the Samurai, I swear sometime before Moab! : )

I like the TIG work...did you pull that off?

I did not. I had my Maintenance Supervisor do it for me. Being the Boss is cool. I have been fooling around with it but didn't want to do something that needs to actually hold fluids.

[LittleBlackSambo]

Originally Posted by Non Urban

I am going to use the Celica pump as long as it holds out. I've replaced 3 of them (rebuilt's) due to leaking. I read on a Toyota board recently that Toyota says to use ATF in them and P/S fluid cause leaks. Well if thats true I know why they haven't lasted. I'm going to run ATF in this one and we'll see. If it goes out I will replace it with a Howe.

It does not return to center with this setup. That changes the "On the road" feeling. I personally would not do this to a DD. I am actually going to disconnect the ram from the tie rod whenever I have any good amount of highway driving to do. It will be simple and quick since I'm using a pin instead of a nut and bolt setup on the tie rod end.

hey, if you are going to use pins on the rod ends, then why not use hydraulic quick disconnects on the hose, so you can drop the whole thing for street use? hmmm...

let us know how the atf works out. in the army, all of our steering systems were spec'd for atf. cherry juice takes longer to bleed, and really foams up under cavitation, but all in all it worked well. plus, i'd rather have my hands covered in atf than ps-flux. i was initially thinking of running straight hydraulic oil in mine, or possibly 10 wt. if toyo says atf is okay, than i'll go that route. only problem would depend on the type of o-rings in the cylinder. atf can eat neoprene rubber.

[LittleBlackSambo]

any updates over the last year?