Flourman's Hydro Assist

9005 Views 37 Replies 17 Participants Last post by reptillikus, Dec 13, 2008

flourman

Discussion Starter · Mar 4, 2008

12

I knew that I wanted a welded front and that I wanted hydro assist. I didn't come up with anything new, just gathered info from other posts on this site and used a few different vendors.

First I followed Bronkzilla's drilling and tapping instructions here:

http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10413

Ordered the same parts as derrick36 here:

http://fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=98041&highlight=hydro+assist

**Borrowed from Derrick's thread**

2x8 Surplus Center Ram - Chief Brand

Fittings for steering box

Fittings for Ram

90 Degree Swivel Fittings

Hydraulic Hoses

Caps just in case something goes wrong.

Here are the other items I ordered to complete my system.

Fabricated diff cover from Great Lake Offroad

Tabs from Offroad Overstock

1.5" OD Tubing clamp from Ballistic Fabrication

I extended my Saginaw pump reservoir really cheaply by clamping a radiator hose to the pump inlet. I had tried to be neat with a toyota PS reservoir, but the saginaw did not like the set up I had.

Here is the final set-up. Sorry for the dirty/oily pictures. I didn't have time to take pictures once I completed it because I was out the door for a wheeling trip.

It functions great at slow speeds but has a little lag at high speeds. I believe the lag at high speed is from the larger bore of the cylinder. If I had went with a smaller bore cylinder, I wouldn't have the lag. Just like everyone else, I can steer effortlessly with a welded front in a very high traction/bound up environment.

Also, be sure you have your steering box centered (adjust the drag link to center). I didn't think of this until I was going down the road with it. If you are off center, the ram will want to push the tie rod making you fight it all the time. This is a small pain, but large enough for me to center my box.

The combination of knuckle under steering, the Great Lake Offroad Diff cover, the 1.5" OD tie rod and the hydro cylinder make for a very tight fit. The tie rod is fractions of an inch off the diff cover and hydro cylinder at full lock, but everything clears.

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1 - 20 of 38 Posts

Redwagon

· #2 · Mar 4, 2008

this is worthy of tech-write up...moved.

Dave's Bronc 90

· #3 · Mar 4, 2008

What size cylinder did you use?

badass1tonf100

· #4 · Mar 4, 2008

Dave's Bronc 90 said:
What size cylinder did you use?

2x8 cylinder I gave derrick36 the part numbers

flourman

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 4, 2008

Yup, 2x8. All of the sizes and part numbers are in the threads I linked to, I might as well update the first post to include everything.

First post updated with links and parts. Like I said, I did not find these myself, I used the knowledge base of FSB.

flourman

Discussion Starter · #6 · Mar 4, 2008

Another point to bring up. Before I ordered my diff cover, I talked with Sean at GLO about his covers. I originally wanted to add the 1/2" mid-plating option for additional strength and a sturdy mount for the cylinder, but with that cover, there would be no way I could have ran a 1.5" tie rod.

I asked Sean if he knew anyone running their covers without the mid-plating and using it for a hydro mount. He stated he has been running his that way for a long time with no problems. The only thing was that he was stretching the diff cover bolts and recommended to go to studs. He said once he switched to studs, he didn't have that problem anymore.

I have also been told that Dana 60's do not like to hold diff cover bolts, especially if you are hard on them - hitting them on rocks, mounting hydro cylinders to them. I cleaned out the bolt holes with Brake Cleaner and used red loctite on the bolts but they still managed to loosen up. For the time being I am going to move to a socket head cap screw (allen-head bolt) and see if that helps. If not, I will move to studs.

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badass1tonf100

· #7 · Mar 4, 2008

flourman your cover .250 or.375?

KyleQ

· #8 · Mar 4, 2008

Airbags - you bastard :goodfinge Nice setup- I'll be using this as a guide.

So you welded one of those giant tabs on the top of the diff cover for the ram mount? Got a pic of that?

flourman

Discussion Starter · #9 · Mar 4, 2008

The diff cover is 1/4" plate and the ring is 1/2". Great Lake Offroad did not see any problems with it and plus they have a lifetime warranty so I'm not too concerned. There are some very close tolerance bends in the cover and it looks to be machine welded (or a damn good welder). These two in combination provide a lot of strength.

Yes, the tab is welded to the outer ring on the diff cover. I'll see what kind of picture I can get in there.

KyleQ

· #10 · Mar 4, 2008

flourman said:
The diff cover is 1/4" plate and the ring is 1/2". Great Lake Offroad did not see any problems with it and plus they have a lifetime warranty so I'm not too concerned. There are some very close tolerance bends in the cover and it looks to be machine welded (or a damn good welder). These two in combination provide a lot of strength.

Yes, the tab is welded to the outer ring on the diff cover. I'll see what kind of picture I can get in there.

Thx - I know all about thier products, I'll have one on my D60 as well :thumbup

How much money do you think you have sunk into your hydro setup?

flourman

Discussion Starter · #11 · Mar 4, 2008

I probably have close to $400 into the whole thing and that is including a "rebuilt" steering box off ebay. I already had the saginaw pump so I didn't include that. I'm counting everything I had to buy to go from my old setup this. I've bought all of these items over the course of a year so I didn't have to pay all at once.

Going from completely stock to this setup would get you into around $600 plus or minus.

96broncoman

· #12 · Mar 10, 2008

can this be done with a stock PS pump, just curious.

flourman

Discussion Starter · #13 · Mar 10, 2008

The stock pump wines with big tires on its own. I would say you should bump up to the saginaw purely for the better quality pump.

I will also be modding my saginaw pump for more flow to help on high speed stuff.

gulfcrestinc

· #14 · Mar 11, 2008

how much faster is it to the right vs. the left?

gulfcrestinc

· #15 · Mar 11, 2008

how much faster does it turn to the right vs. the left?

flourman

Discussion Starter · #16 · Mar 11, 2008

I really don't notice a difference left to right.

flourman

Discussion Starter · #17 · Oct 3, 2008

**edit**

WhinoCaballo

· #18 · Oct 4, 2008

So how did the whole thing turn out. I'm looking for similar write ups for hydro assist but with the TTB. I know that it' not exatcly what others would think about but I'm not going to give up on the IFS just yet.

Now when your talking about high speed, does that mean that your RPM's are high as well? Or just needing to turn the wheel at a moments notice.

Where did you get your pump from? I found about 10 of them in the bone yard today but all of them are from Chrysler's, would these work or would I have to modify the pulley some to get it to fit the pump?

Aside from the mods that were posted did you do anything else?

flourman

Discussion Starter · #19 · Oct 5, 2008

I would not do hydro assist on the TTB with these parts.

I when I try to turn the wheel fast, RPM's do not matter. I end up fighting the system as the fluid return is not large enough in the stock box. I am working to correct that now. The pump is a pump from any late model E-series van and has been talked about a lot on here.

flourman

Discussion Starter · #20 · Oct 5, 2008

I would not do hydro assist on the TTB with these parts.

I when I try to turn the wheel fast, RPM's do not matter. I end up fighting the system as the fluid return is not large enough in the stock box. I am working to correct that now. The pump is a pump from any late model E-series van and has been talked about a lot on here.

1 - 20 of 38 Posts

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