Questions for hydro assist people

[carpeonnel]

Since I've been driving my 89 again and have realized that the steering is really weak since the crossover (and the 38s) and I'm not looking forward to trail riding and straining the steering. So, i've been looking into hydro assist and have some questions for you guys running it.

What size ram are you running?
Who's a good brand to go with?
Port an old box or buy a new one?
do you really need external fluid cooler and reservoir?

Any input you guys have I will greatly appreciate and would like to know what y'all are running and what works. thanks

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

What size ram are you running?

1.5" x 8", has plenty of power for me (locked w/42's, only in the rocks) 95% of the time. I sorta wonder if I'd break knuckles if I had more steering power.

IMO, most people who think they need bigger rams (or that they need to modify the pump for more pressure) actually just need a good, new power steering pump.

Who's a good brand to go with?

I made mine with parts from surplus center (there's a writeup on how to do that, search kidjethro's screen name).

I know a lot of people that run PSC stuff with success.

Port an old box or buy a new one?

As long as the old box is in good shape, no need to replace it.

do you really need external fluid cooler and reservoir?

Its even more important with hydro assist, I would add a steering cooler to any rig that sees any kind of four wheeling regardless. Use a transmission cooler; they're cheap, big and very effective.

 

[carpeonnel]

Its even more important with hydro assist, I would add a steering cooler to any rig that sees any kind of four wheeling regardless. Use a transmission cooler; they're cheap, big and very effective.

Yeah I saved the B&M cooler I had from my auto thinking it would prob work with the steering fluid.

Another question is there any downside really to running hydro assist? I'm planning on my K5 being street driven about 75% of the time and driving it to and from trails, so is there any issue with that?

Are you running an external reservoir as well?

 

[mrk5]

Since I've been driving my 89 again and have realized that the steering is really weak since the crossover (and the 38s) and I'm not looking forward to trail riding and straining the steering. So, i've been looking into hydro assist and have some questions for you guys running it.

What size ram are you running?
Who's a good brand to go with?
Port an old box or buy a new one?
do you really need external fluid cooler and reservoir?

Any input you guys have I will greatly appreciate and would like to know what y'all are running and what works. thanks

I'm running a PSC 1.75" ram.

Heard good things about both PSC and Redneck Ram and I know people running both successfully.

I ported my old box. Did the end cap from JKW and tapped sector shaft cap. IMO, new or new/rblt steering boxes cost more than they are worth.

I agree with 383, any truck seeing a lot of 4wd time should have a p/s cooler. So it's a definite requirement with assist.

I don't know if you could get away without increasing the reservoir capacity, but I'd be worried about the level dropping too low when you turn in the direction with the most piston surface area. Plus the extra capacity will help keep fluid temps down.

 

[mrk5]

Yeah I saved the B&M cooler I had from my auto thinking it would prob work with the steering fluid.

Another question is there any downside really to running hydro assist? I'm planning on my K5 being street driven about 75% of the time and driving it to and from trails, so is there any issue with that?

Are you running an external reservoir as well?

I ran a B&M stack plate cooler for a while without any problems. I read a some posts on Pirate about stacked plate coolers being bad for a power steering system; something about creating too much turbulence in the flow. None of the aftermarket steering companies recommend using them.

I swapped in a heat sink style cooler just to be safe.

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

Another question is there any downside really to running hydro assist? I'm planning on my K5 being street driven about 75% of the time and driving it to and from trails, so is there any issue with that?

It will make the maximum steering speed slower; i.e. if you're on ice and try to turn the wheel back and forth as fast as you can, the pump and/or box won't be able to keep up and the system will limit the max speed (instead of your arms limiting the maximum speed).

I daily drove mine for quite a while after I went to hydro assist including winters here and I had absolutely no complaints about hydro assist.

Are you running an external reservoir as well?

No, but I'd like to and I'd go that route if I were to do it again. I'm currently running a piece of radiator hose clamped on the top of the pump to increase the fluid capacity.

You have to realize the the fluid level will fluctuate quite a bit due to the ram, so more room for fluid will help a lot.

 

[carpeonnel]

thanks for the thread info that kid jethro posted. have you been having any problems with the surplus parts you're running? It all seems like a fairly straight forward setup. Ported box, 2 lines, ram, reservoir, and a cooler. For me porting my box will prob be the biggest problem, but I'll prob just keep an eye out for one that already is

 

[gmc4cw]

thanks for the thread info that kid jethro posted. have you been having any problems with the surplus parts you're running? It all seems like a fairly straight forward setup. Ported box, 2 lines, ram, reservoir, and a cooler. For me porting my box will prob be the biggest problem, but I'll prob just keep an eye out for one that already is

you can avoid tapping into the side of your box by tapping the top cap and buying an end cap from JKWoffroad. thats what I did.

my ram is from surplus center, I have never had a problem with it. I do know a person that complained about their redneck ram leaking and another person who bent a AGR ram. both cases were due to hard wheeling.

my ram.

a smaller bent one from AGR. locked 60 with 42's was to much for it.

 

[carpeonnel]

you can avoid tapping into the side of your box by tapping the top cap and buying an end cap from JKWoffroad. thats what I did.

I haven't seen any of the end caps like that. that's pretty nice. you got any pics of the top cap and where you ported it?

ok, this might be noob hydro question but here goes: how are the ram and your steering in sync? I mean, it seems like the ram is gonna move a lot slower than your regular steering. is it just seems, to me the noob, that the 2 would need to be moving and the same speed to work correctly. If you would please explain to me what's going on, so I can wrap my head around this correctly

 

[carpeonnel]

No, but I'd like to and I'd go that route if I were to do it again. I'm currently running a piece of radiator hose clamped on the top of the pump to increase the fluid capacity.

You have to realize the the fluid level will fluctuate quite a bit due to the ram, so more room for fluid will help a lot.

you got any pics of it, i'd like to see what you're talking about

 

[carpeonnel]

2 things:
- is the stock pump sufficient or should I be looking for a better one?
- figure i'll just change the filter on the external tranny filter/tranny cooler setup I still have on my truck and hook it inline with the pump so I'll have more fluid/filter it/cool it. Anybody see a problem with that?

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

A stock pump in good shape is all you'll need.

 

[howdiy]

you can avoid tapping into the side of your box by tapping the top cap and buying an end cap from JKWoffroad. thats what I did.




my ram is from surplus center, I have never had a problem with it. I do know a person that complained about their redneck ram leaking and another person who bent a AGR ram. both cases were due to hard wheeling.

my ram.

a smaller bent one from AGR. locked 60 with 42's was to much for it.

Is this the 1.5x8 with the 1" rod and ball ends on surplus center? I think I'm going to order it soon, along with the jkw cap. Definitely looks strong.

 

[protechk5]

Im running a PSC ram, box and pump. The ram is 1.75x8 and I drive my truck all over the place and cant even tell its there. It's crazy how well it works in the rocks. Only complaint I have is the rod on the ram is small, its slightly bent but still works fine.

 

[howdiy]

Surplus center only has 1.5 in the right size. Hopefully there isn't too much of a difference.

The one inch rod is beefy though

How is yours on the street? I'll probably end up driving mine to some local places, they are only 10-15 minutes away.