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Making steering faster with hydraulic assist

howdiy

howdiy

1/2 ton status
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This is my one of the most annoying things about my truck

Basically when I try to catch the truck out a drift or donut, the steering wheel doesn't move fast enough and basically runs into the hydro ram

I have a 1.5" ram with the caps on the box tapped

I haven't modified the valve in the rear of the power steering pump, will that help?

Will add more info as I accumulate, I should be studying right now :whistle:
 
A good quality PS pump would certainly help......

I thought that I couldn't afford a HOWE unit, but their 1450-series pump (which should work fine for simple hydro-assist) was only around $250.

Seems like a lot of guys try to cobble-together steering solutions, and never really get satisfactory results. When I spoke to Jeff @ HOWE it became clear in a hurry that there are a number of factors that are all important to synchronize the ram to the steering stops and to set up the entire system to flow enough fluid to get the job done correctly....


-G
 
I have the 1.5" and my box tapped the same way.

My pump is has the mods.. Its still slow.

I don't notice it 90% of the time, but snow or mud where I slide around when I go to correct in a skid I notice the ram is slow to catch up. I think the stock pump just doesn't have the ability to flow that much that quickly.
 
I was frying pumps with a stock setup. No hydro assist. Sand is hard on a truck. Put the Howe P-pump, reservoir and cooler on. Never an issue now. Will add assist some day.
 
I'm curious how much affect the steering box can have. Does for example a PSC box improve flow by a noticable amount? I also have the tapped caps and I've wondered if there might be better flow from drilling and tapping the box itself instead. It would be interesting to hear from someone that has maybe tried both. The hard part is we are all constantly modifying our trucks so it seems like always more than 1 variable changes and it's hard to attribute improvement or detriment to one thing.
 
I don't have a problem with street use, but swapping steering back and forth quickly can be sometimes slow. Like pulling into a gas station, right turn enter with immediate left into a stall. It can hesitate sometimes. Just sayin, it's not perfect.

PSC pump, 1.75" ram, capped OEM box, Royal Purple
 
mrk5 said:
I'm curious how much affect the steering box can have. Does for example a PSC box improve flow by a noticable amount? I also have the tapped caps and I've wondered if there might be better flow from drilling and tapping the box itself instead. It would be interesting to hear from someone that has maybe tried both. The hard part is we are all constantly modifying our trucks so it seems like always more than 1 variable changes and it's hard to attribute improvement or detriment to one thing.
Click to expand...

right there with ya Scott, wondering the same:dunno:
 
Ive done a few hydro assist set up on other peoples trucks. Taped the box at the neck. 1.5" ram. 8" stroke. Did not notice the slow steering issue on them. Stock boxes and pumps.
 
Can't really help in this thread. You folks seem to have it nailed down. Ram speed is mostly due to flow vs volume of the cylinder assuming that there is enough pressure at that flow rate.
A smaller ram would respond faster, but have less power.

However, don't forget, the critical part is how much fluid gets into the cylinder per second, not necessarily how much the pump puts out.

Hose size, fitting size, can impede flow also. The only way to tell would be to either drill and tap all the holes larger and add bigger hoses, or put some kind of high speed pressure recorder on the output of the pump to watch for pressure spikes.

My winch is hydraulic, and runs off a pump on the PTO opening. I have long wanted to come up with a different source so that I could have pressure when the transmission is in neutral.

When I saw the Mile Marker hydraulic winches that ran off the power steering pump, I looked into using it for mine.
Of course my winch takes a lot of fluid.

None of the stock pumps would put anywhere close to what I needed. Wish I still had the figures. I had pressure and flow numbers for most of the different brands of pumps.
 
I have one size larger hose than most run and i don't have any slow problems unless going from full lock in a slide to full lock the other way, when that happens it slows down just as I approach opposite lock. Modded stock pump large cooler, surplus center 1.5" ram
 
I ran a 1.5" assist ram on my truck. It was as quick as stock steering, never even noticed it was there except being able to turn where before I couldn't. I bought a P pump and just swapped the outlet guts into my stock steering box. Worked good!

I am switching to a 2" double ended balanced ram system now. We'll see how it does...
 
blazinzuk said:
I have one size larger hose than most run and i don't have any slow problems unless going from full lock in a slide to full lock the other way, when that happens it slows down just as I approach opposite lock. Modded stock pump large cooler, surplus center 1.5" ram
Click to expand...

This.

I run bigger fittings than most and don't have any issues. My truck steers better than it did open on 35s and it is now welded on 40s.
 
blazinzuk said:
I have one size larger hose than most run and i don't have any slow problems unless going from full lock in a slide to full lock the other way, when that happens it slows down just as I approach opposite lock. Modded stock pump large cooler, surplus center 1.5" ram
Click to expand...

owenst7 said:
This.

I run bigger fittings than most and don't have any issues. My truck steers better than it did open on 35s and it is now welded on 40s.
Click to expand...

Are you guys talking about the lines between steering box and ram? Or the supply lines from the pump? Or the return lines? Or all 3?
 
My pump took a dump the other day when I went wheeling, in need of a new pump, not sure if I'll get a rebuilt stock or upgrade yet

I do want to add a filter though
 
How about a smaller PS pulley to turn the pump faster? I have this same problem, but I think the key is that it only happens when the engine RPM drops while entering parking lots and such. I've actually gotten into the habit of jockeying both the throttle and the brake to keep engine RPM up and speed down (TH400 trans) just so my pump can keep up with the volume demand during that transitional period when you are bleeding off the speed you had in the roadway. My setup is the standard PSC kit. I have a 5.75 pulley which will be a huge improvement over my current 6.5 inch one, but haven't had the chance to get it installed yet. Ideally, I'd like to run a small pulley with a serp setup.
 
I considered it, but I have my rev limiter set at 6k rpm's and hit it frequently. With an under drive pulley that would like spining it 9k

I figure that when doing donuts I just can't let off the throttle all they way

Are you running the PSC pump?

I think for a cooler I'm going to use a standard sized transmission cooler, I want to go way over kill
 
If you're asking me, yes I have the PSC pump. 99% of the time it's just fine, but the situations I mentioned before have the slow symptoms. PSC recommends and sells smaller pullies for better low rpm performance. Not sure if you were being facetious, but you definitely wouldn't see a jump from 6k to 9k lol. A smaller diameter pulley isn't 2/3 the size of the original, just smaller.... FWIW. Besides, I don't think hydraulic pumps care how fast they spin within reason, but I'm no pro there so take that with a grain of salt. :)

Also running a standard tube type cooler, about 6x6 if my memory serves me correctly. Never had any problems but a bigger plate type would surely be better. Couldn't hurt at least.
 
Yeah I guess I was exaggerating quite a bit :haha:, I want to say I have different sized power steering pulleys. I'll have to check and see
 
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