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Tapping the end cap on steering box

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Mudstud

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I know about the end cap being really thin walled. I also know that JKW sells tapped end caps for $55. I have a friend who has been running a tapped stock end cap for quite awhile now without problems. I'm wondering if I could weld or braze a small square piece of 1/4" steel on the out side of this cap to add some strength. Thoughts.
 
The end cap is not as thin as some people believe it to be. No, you can't weld a small square piece of steel to the cap as the cap is aluminum you could weld a small piece of aluminum to the cap though but people have reported that it doesn't weld very good since the P/S fluid contaminates the aluminum cap and it's very hard to get it clean enough to weld onto.
 
I would estimate the cap to be about 1/4" thick. IMO, tapping the cap isn't that big of a deal. You just need to keep in mind it's aluminum and you need to be careful not to over tighten the fitting because it will be easy to crack the aluminum cap with an NPT fitting.
 
I took the stock cap and JB welded a fender washer on it, then drilled and tapped through the middle of the washer and cap. Been running it for awhile now with no issues.
 
Yea, JB weld jumped into my mind as soon as I read that it was aluminum. Why a fender washer though- that doesn't seem to offer much strength.
 
My concern was cracking the cap. Since the cap is convex putting the flat washer on it gives you an increasing thickness of JB Weld as soon as you leave the very center. There is a layer of JB Weld on the cap, then a big glob to fill in the area between the flat washer and convex cap, then another layer over the whole thing.

I'm not saying its the best by any means, but I was stuck between just using the stock cap or spending the money on a premade one, so thought I would try this out since it only cost a few $$.
 
How much room is behind the cap?

Could you run a bulk head
 
No room on the inside for any protrusion at all. The rack nut almost touches the end cap when turned to the left.
 
I got a chunk of thick aluminum I think I'll just JB weld that sum b!tch to the end cap and drill and tap the whole shebang!

Waiting on the dern 37/64 bit to get here- back ordered GRRRRR!:mad:
 
Mudstud said:
I got a chunk of thick aluminum I think I'll just JB weld that sum b!tch to the end cap and drill and tap the whole shebang!

Waiting on the dern 37/64 bit to get here- back ordered GRRRRR!:mad:
Click to expand...

What the hell size fitting do you plan to install? 1/4" NPT to -6 AN is what most people use and that only requires a 7/16" drill bit. It doesn't do any good to go any larger than 1/4" NPT since that is the same size ID as the passage in the steering box. And also the same size as a -6 AN fitting.
 
After talking to Kelvin at PSC (heard him refered to as a steering god) he highly recommended 3/8 hose and ports. He said i will notice a sluggishnish or drag while turning if I don't go that large.
You are right, many people run the 1/4" stuff and that is what I tapped my first box with (never ran it hooked to a ram). Anyways, I'm starting out with a 'new' junkyard box that hasn't been beat to death as this one has. I'm going to tap the end cap and sector cap instead of the side as I previously did. I'm tapping with a 3/8-18 NPT. The fitting on the PSC ram is #6 37* JIC. #6 = 3/8

I checked around and even started a thread about this a year or two ago about what to tap my box with and had several people try to convince me back then to go 3/8".
 
The ID of a 1/4" NPT/-6AN fitting is .285" and -6AN is used with 3/8" hose. I'm not sure if the ID becomes any larger if you were to go with 3/8" NPT/-6AN. FWIW i run the 1/4" NPT/-6AN fitting in my sytstem for the last several years with no problems at all.

Also, Kelvin is who i talked with (bought my ram and mounting from him) and told me to run the 1/4" NPT/-6AN fittings with the 3/8" hose. :dunno:
 
ive got it both ways, on one truck I have the factory cap with a piece of aluminum welded on, the second one I bought the cap for 55.00.. 1/4 inch hole, 3/8 lines
 
Mudstud said:
I emailed JKW who makes those caps and he said his are tapped with 3/8-18 npt.
Click to expand...
True. I found that out the hard way as I already had 1/4"NPT for the install and they were too small for the fitting in the JKW cap. :doah:
 
I think it may have something to do with where you tap the box. If it's side by side like PSC does or the top and end caps then the 3/8 holes would allow more flow as the fluid is NOT coming out of a small vien like it does (at least the bottom one) when ported in the up and down locations. Sounds reasonable.

In other words, if there's a fluid filled 'chamber' where the ports are then there is a little more reserve for pushing the fluid thru the hose and into the ram. I know the side by side doesn't really have a 'chamber' behind them but it does have the circumference of the inner guts to flow around between the O rings so that could act as a 'chamber'.
 
It doesn't matter where you tap because there is still the restriction of the oil passage. If the oil passage size could be increased as well then it would make a difference.
 
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