Hydro ram placement, quickie

[K85 Octane]

Quick one. When setting up the hydro ram, should I just put the tierod mount inside the ram's stroke? Meaning, it is completely collapsed right now, from shipping. Mounting it this way is probably a no no, center of the stroke is probably best right?

My engine is not running, so getting the ram to extend via hydraulics isn't an option. If I mount my old steering stabilizer bracket to the tierod, then the ram to it, will it be strong enough to pull the rod out of the ram? Just wondering, need to center the TR mount.

any tips or tricks, advice, etc?

Almost there, I can taste it, and it tastes goooooooood

stabilizer mount

 

[NorCal_Chris]

you can pull the ram out by hand. It may take some force but it will come out.

I mounted mine at full lock with it fully extended. No issues with throw or binding.

 

[waybad1]

I spun the shaft on mine when I was pulling it out
Do you have the system full of fluid? It might create
some suction if so, might be easier with the hoses off

 

[K85 Octane]

everything is new, no fluid anywhere

I will tinker with placement tomorrow, I'll go ahead and use the mount to pull it out and test placement.

 

[4X4HIGH]

With the way you have the cylinder mounted you could just crank the wheels full right and then mount the shaft side to your tie rod, or you could extend the cylinder half way and have the wheels straight and mount the shaft side, OR you could extent the cylinder fully and crank the wheels full left and mount the shaft side.

 

[jt512]

Do you have an air compressor ? If so, disconnect your ram lines and use a blow nozzle and use air to extend or collapse the ram.

 

[MNorby]

I would use something a little beefier than that stabilizer shock tierod mount. Either weld some tabs to the tierod or get an OD tube clamp and weld tabs to that and weld stopper on tierod to keep it from sliding. IMO the best way to setup cylinder is to make sure you have the same amount of stroke and tierod movement before the steering stops hit. If your stops hit first and you still have stoke it could potentially cause a problem. Lots of people get away with just having steering at full lock and cylinder full collapse to install but then turn full lock other way and see if cylinder stroke still matches up.

 

[K85 Octane]

no no, I just used the mount to figure out where the weld in tabs are going to go. I centered the tierod mount inside the stroke. I'm actually losing turning radius as there is not enough stroke to hit the knuckle's stops. 8" stroke. It is very close anyway and I'm sure it will still turn tighter than my DD S10.

The tabs ended up facing different ways, which is fine too. I ground one down to fit the angle of the tierod tubing, threw it in a bucket of water to cool, looked at it to figure out which side to grind on the next tab, and started grinding away. Well, looking through water plays tricks on yeah, ended up grinding both tabs the same. O well, it works and now has Royal Purple synthetic in the system. I haven't started it yet though, but I've put 6 bottles (72 ounces), turned the wheels a bunch, bubble bubble bubble, and now the level doesn't move. Will resume bleeding once the engine is fire-able.

 

[MNorby]

I'd now adjust your steering stops so they hit when the cylinder is at max travel each way.

 

[K85 Octane]

somebody welded them I'll have to cut them out at some point, for now, on to the rest of my to-do list

 

[MNorby]

how close are they to hitting at full turn?

 

[K85 Octane]

3/16 maybe

 

[4X4HIGH]

somebody welded them I'll have to cut them out at some point, for now, on to the rest of my to-do list

Pretty sure GM welded the stops after they were adjusted from the factory (every axle i've owned they were welded). I was able to break the tack welds pretty easily and then I removed them and replaced them with a grade 8 bolt and jam nut and made my adjustment and tightened the jam nut.

 

[MNorby]

Put a good long wrench or ratchet on it and see if it will pop or grind it real quick and break it loose. If you can't for whatever reason build up some weld or weld a washer or 2 to the head of that bolt so it hits when the cylinder is stroked out.

 

[ChrisPerry]

I'm curious why it seems everyone has some need to adjust the steering stops. I was under the impression that they were there to keep from turning far enough to cause a bind in the front axle shafts or the tires to hit the frame. The axles were originally designed with push/pull steering in mind, as the drive side tire moves up and down the steering would be able to turn one way or the other causing binding issues. With the ram in place I would think it would eliminate the need for a stop at the knuckles, as the geometry between the tie rod and axle would stay within the same limits no mater what the axle does.

Please correct my thinking here, maybe I'm just not understanding the reason for the stops.

 

[K85 Octane]

in this case, I would be limiting the steering more than factory, I would never screw those bolts in, the U-joints wouldn't be happy with me

 

[MNorby]

It will protect your cylinder from damage. Same reason to run jump stops and limit straps for your shocks, its not good on them to top out/bottom out.

 

[ChrisPerry]

in this case, I would be limiting the steering more than factory, I would never screw those bolts in, the U-joints wouldn't be happy with me

I understand that it is limiting it more, but why bother. Wouldn't the ram do the same job without putting the additional stress on the knuckles? Or does using the stops take stress off of the knuckles?

 

[ChrisPerry]

It will protect your cylinder from damage. Same reason to run jump stops and limit straps for your shocks, its not good on them to top out/bottom out.

I was told by everyone here, when I did mine, that if you hit the stops before the ram bottomed out that it would break the knuckles. So the current thought is that if you bottom the cylinder it will damage it?

 

[MNorby]

I set mine up to hit at the same time