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hydro assist questions

az_762_nato

az_762_nato

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OK, just a few questions, and before anyone asks, Ive searched up a storm.

Ive had a rather nasty frame crack around a previously installed repair kit that wasnt put on correct, once this is fixed I am thining of going either full hydro or assist. The truck IS street driven, but only once a week for one mile each way. If I do go assist on it, exactly how much stress will this take off the frame at the gearbox? I dont want to chance having anything else happen to the frame, and I have access to a hydraulic shop nearby for the parts and can tap the box myself.

I am looking for a way to pretty much alleviate the majority of the stress on the frame. Second question is, with the pump configured for stock output, how much slower does the assist respond, and how is it with higher pressure modifications? What about full hydro response speeds? Since the truck is driven on the street on occasion, I have no problems inspecting lines and such for any issues before any drive, and possibly installing some kind of low pressure warning on the system that could possibly buy me a second or two of warning.

Any insight you guys have is appreciated!

Jeff
 
I prefer hydro assist. I think it is the safest deal all the way around, so that is my vote.


I read somewere that assist takes 75-80% of the load off of the frame. I couldn't tell you for sure, but I don't know of anyone locally or on this board that has cracked a frame after going to assist.

As far as the pump goes it depends on the ram & how worn the pump is. When I installed my assist i was not happy w/ the performance, so I did the pump mods shown on WTO's web site & that fixed the problem. I am running a 1.75" ram & driving on the street you can not tell it is there. Drives like it did before. On the trail though it is a nite & day difference.
 
az_762_nato said:
OK, just a few questions, and before anyone asks, Ive searched up a storm.

Ive had a rather nasty frame crack around a previously installed repair kit that wasnt put on correct, once this is fixed I am thining of going either full hydro or assist. The truck IS street driven, but only once a week for one mile each way. If I do go assist on it, exactly how much stress will this take off the frame at the gearbox? I dont want to chance having anything else happen to the frame, and I have access to a hydraulic shop nearby for the parts and can tap the box myself. I am looking for a way to pretty much alleviate the majority of the stress on the frame.
Click to expand...


It takes a lot of stress off of the frame, its tough to say exactly how much.


az_762_nato said:
Second question is, with the pump configured for stock output, how much slower does the assist respond, and how is it with higher pressure modifications? What about full hydro response speeds? Since the truck is driven on the street on occasion, I have no problems inspecting lines and such for any issues before any drive, and possibly installing some kind of low pressure warning on the system that could possibly buy me a second or two of warning.

Any insight you guys have is appreciated!

Jeff
Click to expand...


The ram doesn't make the steering too much slower IME (I'm running a 1.5" ram). The pressure mods won't make the steering faster, its the flow mods that will. I'm running a stock pump in good condition (which is stronger than my old modified pump) and it works fine for me.

As long as you still have mechanical linkage in your steering (i.e. hydro assist) you don't need to worry about a low pressure light.
 
I'm not sure how much stress it takes off the frame but I love having hydro assist. I started a few years ago with a WTO 1.5" ram and a modded stock pump. It worked well but the pump went bad so I decided to upgrade. I now run a PSC 1.75" ram, along with their high volume low rpm pump set up and it kicks ass. I am running a big cooler too so not to fry the pump.

http://www.pscmotorsports.com/product_info.php?cPath=138_174_182&products_id=520

http://www.pscmotorsports.com/product_info.php?cPath=155_68&products_id=553

It works fine on the street too. I didn't really notice it being any slower then stock. If you want to mod a stock pump you can look at this:

http://westtexasoffroad.homestead.com/powersteering.html
 
thanks for the info guys. I heard they are some orbitals that allow for steering still in case your engine dies with full hydro and they also have decent return to center without using excessive toe in to compensate, but its looking like Ill just go assist with a high flow pump and teh 1.5x8 ram.
 
so what im wondering is if yourt frame has no cracks in it and you do hydro assist and crossover at the same time could you get away with a extra 100 bucks in you pocket from not buying the ord bolt in brace...if it take that much load off then you should not have to run one...
 
twoslo4five0 said:
so what im wondering is if yourt frame has no cracks in it and you do hydro assist and crossover at the same time could you get away with a extra 100 bucks in you pocket from not buying the ord bolt in brace...if it take that much load off then you should not have to run one...
Click to expand...

My frame cracked a long time ago and it has the ORD weld on repair.

I still don't have a brace, no more cracks and I don't plan on adding any additional bracing (I have crossover and hydro assist).
 
I have hydro-assist using a 1.5 ram and a new unmodified Hydro-boost pump,with hydro-boost brakes and a cooler.It works good on the street but took a litle getting use to.

I also have hi-steer with crossover,ORD brace and frame patch kit.I should about have the steering covered.
 
1-tonmudder said:
I have hydro-assist using a 1.5 ram and a new unmodified Hydro-boost pump,with hydro-boost brakes and a cooler.It works good on the street but took a litle getting use to.

I also have hi-steer with crossover,ORD brace and frame patch kit.I should about have the steering covered.
Click to expand...

Can you turn and brake at the same time? I haven't heard of too many success stories with hydro assist and hydroboost (unmodified) on a single pump.
 
Yeah believe it or not I can.I was worried about that when I put it together since I had heard it was a 50/50 deal at best.I figure as the new pump starts to wear I won't be able to.

We went to Harlan KY back in Oct and rode for four days,120 miles each way,plus the trails without a problem.I broke the gear box off of it over there the summer before.That's why I went with hydro-assist.
 
1-tonmudder said:
Yeah believe it or not I can.I was worried about that when I put it together since I had heard it was a 50/50 deal at best.I figure as the new pump starts to wear I won't be able to.

We went to Harlan KY back in Oct and rode for four days,120 miles each way,plus the trails without a problem.I broke the gear box off of it over there the summer before.That's why I went with hydro-assist.
Click to expand...

Sweet, give hope to the people wanting to run hydroboost and hydro assist with the same pump. Might be worth trying for those folks :thumb:
 
Dont know if it makes two cent's worth of difference but I am running a stock Chevy serp belt set-up and the pump is for a 94 3500 with the 350 and hydro-boost.I don't know if they(the pump) are a little better than the V-belt pumps or not.
 
Sweet, give hope to the people wanting to run hydroboost and hydro assist with the same pump. Might be worth trying for those folks :thumb:
Click to expand...

I got the assist done 9 days before we left for Harlan.I was out of time and money.If it had'nt of worked I would have had to stay at the house.Got lucky I guess.

We rode with a guy that had a 03 Wrangler spooled 60's both ends,Stak 3 speed,42inch Iroks and a PSC assist on it(high dollar rig) and while I never drove it,mine seemed to worked just as good as his without having to listen to the pump whine all day.
 
reddog64 said:
What happens with hydroboost, and hydro-assist if you run outta gas / motor dies etc going down the hwy at 65???
Click to expand...

You still have mechanical linkage with the steering and the brakes still work, but neither will have power assist. Pretty much the same thing that would happen to a stock truck if the motor died.
 
Well, I dont think I am going to bother with questionable street characteristics of full hydro, so Im set on the assist. Now, one last question for everyone. Since Im still on D44/12b and plan on going to 1 tons near the end of this summer, will I absolutely need to go high steer or crossover to run assist? It seems like everyone on hydro has converted their steering, but I dont want to spend the cash on that if I dont have to. I realize I would have to swap rams after the axle swap, but I can get the correct rams a lot cheaper than steering conversions run.
 
You wont have to go to hi-steer to use assist,and I dont think you would have to X-over either,but I would at least do the X-over due to the fact that it will help alot on the trail.I already had that stuff before I did my assist.

The main problem with putting assist on with hi-steer is ram placement.The ram has to be mounted high to be able to get to the tierod.This is how we had to do mine.
pics410.jpg

pics411.jpg



Search for Boz42 he has some pictures of how he mounted his while using both.If you leave the tierod in stock location it simplifies thing's alot.Kurt make's a good looking cover the ram will mount to and their is a post by Greg72 floating around about using a rigid coulper on the other end.The coupler was what I was going to use but didnt have the clearence for it.
 
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