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Hydraulic cylinders

R

RIPPEDK5

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Does anyone know the dimensions of what the hydraulic cylinder should be for hydraulic steering?

(ie: overall length, bore size, shaft size, stroke length, cylinder pressure, closed pin center distance)

this is so I cant buy the proper hydraulic cylinder for my 1982 chevy k20
 
If this is going to be used on the tie rod in the stock location and see lots of street duty then you want a 1.5" bore x 8" stroke ram. PSC motorsports sells a nice ram and mounting kit.
 
I used a Tractor supply co (grizzlly brand) 2X8 ram, I drive my truck on the street quite often and haven't had any problems. I do have a 1.5" tierod and 1" thick mounting tabs on the axle and TR.
 
I run the 1.75 X8 ram from PSC on the street with no issues.

If you want Full Hydraulic Steering (as your post leads me to believe) then I would recommend a 2.5" by 8 double ended ram. PSC makes as well as POS (Station on Pirate)

Dik
 
what is the benefit of the double ended versus the single ended....Wouldnt the single ended be easier to install?

How do people have there cylinders attached? can you use a spherical rod end at the same point your old steering dampener was?
 
RIPPEDK5 said:
what is the benefit of the double ended versus the single ended....Wouldnt the single ended be easier to install?

How do people have there cylinders attached? can you use a spherical rod end at the same point your old steering dampener was?
Click to expand...


Double ended are for use on full hydro systems.

Single ends are generally used on hydro assist systems, but can be used for full hydro setups also.

The spherical bearing style mount on the stabilizer mount may work, but wouldn't (IMO) last if the steering got bound. Most people use a double shear mount.

ram end1.jpg

ram end.jpg

ram end2.jpg
 
RIPPEDK5 said:
How do people have there cylinders attached? can you use a spherical rod end at the same point your old steering dampener was?
Click to expand...

No, the steering damper isn't mounted in the right place and its in single shear which would fail very quickly with a hydro ram attached to it.

Will this be used on the street at all? Are you going to full hydro?
 
This is going to be what im assuming is full hydraulic.. Using a rotary valve on the steering shaft, a steering pump, hoses, and a ram..

I would like to stay with the single ended ram.

This truck will see minimal street, but it will be on the street non the less.. Also note: it WILL NOT see many rocks, if any at all.. Truck is NOT a flexy truck by any means (built for mud and NEW ENGLAND woodsy trails--NOT the RUBICON)

seeing street : YES

rocks : NO

mud : YES

full hydraulic : most likely

also I got an ear full from my buddy about welding to the steering tie rod link(lack of better word -its the morning-) in front of the axle. He told me not to do it and it wont work. Does it work for you ?
 
that helps out alot, it seems you have cross-over steering.. I DO NOT.. you also went through your power steering box.. I will not be doing that either. I will be using a rotary valve (or orbital vale) to direct the fluid. I will also be getting rid of any mechanical connection for the steering..

So for speed of steering a 1.75" ram is big enough for street use with 40" tires?

Why does 8" of stroke seem so short? wouldn't a 10" stroke be better?

How would you determine the best spot to put the ram on your axle?

Inst a factory diff cover not strong enough to take the force of the steering ram?
 
Here is the ram I used on mine.
http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=2007120808464279&item=9-7258-8&catname=hydraulic

I have hi-steer and X-over both so I mounted mine like this.
pics410.jpg

pics411.jpg

pics502.jpg




Somebody on here(dont remember who,Greg72 I think)used a rigid coupler to connect it to the tierod.I wanted to do mine that way but I have hi-steer and it would have hit the draglink on my x-over.

DSCF0043.jpg
 
RIPPEDK5 said:
that helps out alot, it seems you have cross-over steering.. I DO NOT.. you also went through your power steering box.. I will not be doing that either. I will be using a rotary valve (or orbital vale) to direct the fluid. I will also be getting rid of any mechanical connection for the steering..

So for speed of steering a 1.75" ram is big enough for street use with 40" tires?

Why does 8" of stroke seem so short? wouldn't a 10" stroke be better?

How would you determine the best spot to put the ram on your axle?

Inst a factory diff cover not strong enough to take the force of the steering ram?
Click to expand...

I run 37s and have no issue with steering on the street.

8" stroke is what you need for my axle with crossover. If I ran 10" then I would be breaking knuckles when they hit the stops and the ram wants to go 2 more inches.

I mounted my ram to my cover and cycled the steering. Did some measuring and some math and welded the tabs on.

The factory cover is indeed to weak to mount a ram to. Mine however is all 3/8" plate and is from Gravelmaker who is a vendor on here.

For full hydro I would really recommend a dual acting cylinder vice the kind I have to ensure equal power and turns for left and right.

The speed of turning for a full hydro system is determined by the volume of the pump, the volume of the orbital and the volume of the cylinder.

Dik
 
I am no full hydro expert but with a double ended load reactive cylinder you can get the truck to self center the wheel, correct?
 
im not worried about self centering because thats what turning the wheel is for.....if its not going straight then i turn the wheel to make it straight.
 
blazinzuk said:
I am no full hydro expert but with a double ended load reactive cylinder you can get the truck to self center the wheel, correct?
Click to expand...

Most cylinder don't return to center IIRC.



Are you planning on using the stock power steering pump? The pump will largely determine the size of the ram you will want.

IIRC 10 bolts need 6" stroke rams. As was said before, if the axle hits the steering stop and the ram wants to keep going you will break knuckles. Better lose just a little bit of steering angle.

Full hydro is REALLY squirrelly on the road especially when the fluid is cold. If you are taking short trips on the road you may be ok but beware that it will be much harder to control on the road with full hydro.
 
Yes I will be using the factory power steering pump.

since the truck wont see too much street some quirks are ok. and since I already know its not a sports car.. I wont be doing 60 down any roads
 
The stroke of the ram is also determined by how far out your crossover/hi steer arm holes are from the knuckles. Closer = not as much throw. Farther away = more throw. Since you aren't dealing with all that then I THINK you should be able to get away with a 8" stroke ram. Measure to be certain.

Turn your tires to lock. Mark the tie rod and axle. Turn to lock going the other way and mark. Measure the distance between them.
 
38377k5 said:
Most cylinder don't return to center IIRC.

Full hydro is REALLY squirrelly on the road especially when the fluid is cold. If you are taking short trips on the road you may be ok but beware that it will be much harder to control on the road with full hydro.
Click to expand...

Its not the cylinder that determines whether or not it returns to center, its the Orbitrol valve.
A hydraulic assist steering should return to center. Not as good as stock, but it still should.

"Unbalanced" Full hydro with a forklift style Orbitrol valve will cause Squirly steering, but a Balanced, matched full hydro system will feel closer to stock steering then a Hydro assist steering.
 
Blazr77400 said:
Its not the cylinder that determines whether or not it returns to center, its the Orbitrol valve.
A hydraulic assist steering should return to center. Not as good as stock, but it still should.

"Unbalanced" Full hydro with a forklift style Orbitrol valve will cause Squirly steering, but a Balanced, matched full hydro system will feel closer to stock steering then a Hydro assist steering.
Click to expand...

Yep there is a huge thread over on Pirate about Full Hydro.

Dik
 
sandawgk5 said:
Yep there is a huge thread over on Pirate about Full Hydro.

Dik
Click to expand...

On my old blue truck, I started with stock steering, then went to crossover, then Hydro assist, then finally Full Hydraulic steering.

I used the AGR kit which worked pretty well, but was a little slow, and didnt react very well.

The Performance Offroad system worked the best out of all of them. It was the easiest and simplest. It was cheaper then Hydro assist because I bought the AGR rockram kit. Equivalent assist systems can be put together much cheaper though.

I am going Hydro assist as I was able to make some of my own components.

DSC01137 (Large).JPG

DSC01149 (Large).JPG
 
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