[Lil'John]

I've done a search.... and I've read most of the recent posts on hydraulic assist steering but didn't find what I was looking for.

How should the steering travel be limited when doing a hydraulic assist? Should the steering stops be used or should the hydraulic cylinder be used?

I've heard both answers in the past but am curious what the general concensus was.

The problem I am looking at is my steering box will give me over 9 inches of travel when I use the full 4.25 turns of the steering box(using a "short" pitman arm) but I am only using about 6.5 inches of it for full turning.

Most hydraulic cylinders are 8 inches long with a few being 6 inches long.

My concern with the 8 inch cylinder is it will assist the steering enough to pop the knuckle off the axle(Toyota mini truck)

Thanks in advance for any useful information,
John

 

[brector]

Get spacers for your cylinder. That way you can use an 8 - but make it a 7 or whatever you need. I would think the hydro cyl. would rip your stops off.

[ 10-10-2001: Message edited by: brector ]

 

[RoCkSkuLLz]

where can you get these spacers for the cylinder? Im going to be running a 2x8 cylinder and I am having the same concerns with my hydro steering setup... Thanks for any info!

 

[TheLakeRat]

It's good that ya'll are trying to get all of your geometry correct but ya'll are overthinking this one. All you need to do is to center the ram in the steering arc and forget abou it. The pump is designed to bypass pressure when it bottoms out. Just like it does stock. I've been running my setup for over a year now with no problems. The only thing that I can warn you about is if it does start to bind as you turn, DON'T FORCE IT!!! You have to remember that you have twice as much force applied to the steeing U-joints as before. Every joint that I've broke, I've felt it bind right before it broke. I havn't broke a single one since I started paying attention to this.
Hope I helped.

 

[Lil'John]

True, Matt... probably over thinking this one a bit.

But, I've heard of a few cases of minitrucks shearing studs <IMG SRC="smilies/frown.gif" border="0">

As I said originally, my biggest concern is that of the 9+ inches I measured of potential travel at the pitman arm, I'm only using 6.5 inches of it at the steering arms. If it was a little less of a difference(1-2 inches as opposed to 3 inches), I wouldn't worry about it too much.

BTW, any comment on whether to use a welded or tie rod style hydraulic cylinder? The welded give a cleaner look but cost about twice as much as the tie rod <IMG SRC="smilies/frown.gif" border="0"> But the tie rod style look like there could be problems with mounting <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">

 

[TheLakeRat]

Let me get this straight. you have 9 inches of travel from left to right at your pitman arm when the pitman arm is disconnected from the TRE. and you only have 6.5 inches of measured travel in your knuckle to knucle tie rod. Is this correct? If it is then your setup is fine as long as you were happy with it before. Most systems should be set up this way. That way the knuckles bottom out before the steering box does. If you bottom out the box then it will start screwing things up. It's even ok if they bottom out at the same time. I agree that you have more than normal but that's ok. don't worry about it.
As far as the cylinders go. It really doesn't matter which style you go with. They will both fine for what you are doing. I usually send out the tie rod cyliders with my kits but only because they are easier to find in case you ruin one and they rebuildable.
Hope I helped.

 

[Lil'John]

Matt,
Thanks again for some great advice <IMG SRC="smilies/eyemouth.gif" border="0">

I'm probably going to put a slightly shorter pitman arm on so I use more turns <IMG SRC="smilies/tongue.gif" border="0"> That or get some longer steering arms when I go hi-steer.

 

[JEEPRZ]

I got an adjustable 8" cyl. The rod side is threaded on. It would not adjust short enough for the 6 or so inches i needed, so i welded a short piece of left over 1.75" tube onto the inside of the threaded end. I too was worried about breaking a knuckle

 

[Ant]

I set them up so the Ram is the limiting factor. This totally eliminates the chance of breaking anything. If you engineer your steering arms correctly you can have the ram run out of travel just before the knuckle hits its stops.
<IMG SRC="smilies/smokin.gif" border="0">

 

[Lance]

My rock ram bottoms out right as the steering stops touch. works perfect.

 

[taradon]

Is there a way to run a stock steering box and modify it to let me use ram assist, I hve heard of someone being able to do it to a chevy box before.

 

[woody]

I've got a writeup and some posts from the PBB linked on my site....one of a few methods to do it at home.

I sent my Scout box into LakeRat for the conversion and a rebuild. $150...cheaper than a rebuilt from the parts houses! Not installed yet, but preparing for it...

 

[Brandon]

Originally posted by woody:
<STRONG>I've got a writeup and some posts from the PBB linked on my site....one of a few methods to do it at home.

I sent my Scout box into LakeRat for the conversion and a rebuild. $150...cheaper than a rebuilt from the parts houses! Not installed yet, but preparing for it...</STRONG>

Mine will be going soon with full write up <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">

I just need to figure out a new pump for my 5.0