Topic: Needing some help with hydraulic assist

[matholland]

Hey guys.  I have what started off as an 81 toyota truck.  It has a 22RE swap out of a 94, and it has dana 60 one ton axles.  Right now it has no hydraulic assist OR hydraulic steering.  I am unsure as to which route that I need to go with.  I have spools front and rear, with lockouts for the front and 42" super swampers.  I believe I want to go with hydraulic assist, but I do know where an orbital valve is at for 150 that is new, so if I decided to go full hydraulic, that's a fair price on one.

I am new to all of this.  My drag link hits my track bar, and there is not much room in there with all 3 bars.  I am not sure how to set this up with that I have to work with.  Here are a few pics for reference...please ignore the fact its still primer underneath lol





I do have some questions.  Since I have 1 tons as opposed to toyota axles, I am unsure as to what size ram that I need to go with.  Also, is everyone using transmission coolers, or are they using the bigger resivore for power steering fluid?  Or in my case, do I need to go with both to get the extra volume?

I am trying to get all the parts that I need and order them.  I am just unsure as to what I need to be sure on things.  Hopefully someone can help a newbie out lol

[pumkin toy]

I'm assuming your drag link is not supposed to be bent like that?  Its looks like if it wasn't bent, then it wouldn't hit the track bar.  Its hard to tell from the pics. 

 considering the fact that you have 2 spools and 42" tires, I would suggest just going with the full hydro setup. Plus if you go full hydro, you can ditch that shady lookin drag link! You already have a good deal on a steering valve, so you need to buy ram, pump, reservoir, cooler, hoses and fittings.  I'm pretty positive you will need a 2 1/2" ram with 8" travel.  If you get a single ended ram it will cost a lot less.  Typically you want to run both a cooler and the oversized reservoir.  The reservoir is for volume of fluid only, it doesn't help with cooling so you want to run a cooler also.  Check out PSC's website. It will help you figure out all the parts and pieces you need.

[matholland [OP]]

To be honest, I don't know why the drag link is bent like that....there is a bracket underneath it and I don't know what its purpose is.  So you recommend going the full hydraulic route then?  How do you fab that up exactly and ditch the drag link?  How much do the pumps run?

[twistedtoy92]

pumkintoy is 100% correct! go full hydro and youll be a happy camper!

[matholland [OP]]

I don't think that I am wanting to go full hydro.  I don't really have all the knowledge and the tools to do it.  I believe that I can accomplish the hydraulic assist myself.  I am not a hardcore wheeler, so I believe that the assist will meet my needs.  I just need something to take all the stress from turning, and something that I can turn on the trails, and make it easier on the PS pump.

I took the time today to pull the drag link and the tie rod off, and straighten things out the best that I could. It isn't 100% straight, but that's pretty tough to get something 100% straight again.  This fixed my issue with me being able to turn one way more than the other, and stopped the drag link from colliding with the track bar.  I am very happy with the results, and am no longer worried about everything that was bent under there.  The tie rod was bent, along with the drag link obviously.  Here is an after picture, and looks much better than before!

https://plus.google.com/photos/116424294864098183298/albums/5871284572784230817/5913300055907691090?banner=pwa&authkey=CNOvo_Xj2Z6TMw&pid=5913300055907691090&oid=116424294864098183298

I guess now I just need to figure out what size ram that I need, what fittings and hoses, along with what I need to do for a bigger resivore, and what cooler that I need to go with.

Can someone assist me on getting some parts lined up please?

[pumkin toy]

it looks way better now that everything is straightened out!  you asked what is involved for setting up the full hydro steering compared to the hydro assist... the only extra amount of work you will have to do for full hydro is to mount the steering valve, which is really easy. PSC makes weld on brackets for those.  everything else will literally be the exact same amount of work.  If you get a single ended full hydro ram it will mount with two pairs of tabs just like a hydro assist ram.  one set of tabs goes on the axle housing and the other set goes on the tie rod.  With full hydro you will have to make and run the same amount of hydraulic lines as hydro assist.  If you do the very small amount of extra work finding a spot to mount the steering valve for a full hydro setup, you will be glad you did it!

[matholland [OP]]

With full hydro, don't I have to get a different power steering pump, or do I still use my pump?  I thought that I had to get a different pump as well which would be much more expensive.

I was going to go with this ram stuff, but I wasn't sure about a cooler.  I was thinking that I would need additional lines/fittings, and I wasn't sure what to go with...Here is what I had picked out minus the cooler and extra fittings because I wasn't for sure on that part..

All from surpluscenter:
9-4410-08- Ram
916-1436- 2 lines
9-1938-2 3/8 to 1/4 adapters
9-1922- 4 1/4 fittings

With fully hydraulic, do I need to go with a bigger ram or anything?  If the only thing extra that I need for fully hydraulic, if you can help me with finding everything that I need, that would be great!  I can talk with my neighbor as well, and he will help..he has just been busy, just got married and bought a house and stuff.

Sorry for all the questions, I just want to be sure on things.  I don't care to spend the extra $150 on the valve if that's the only things extra I am going to need if it means getting away from the drag link and being a better setup.  I just thought there was a lot more to it than that both setup and parts.

[pumkin toy]

yeah you will have to buy a new pump also. I was thinking that I saw you post above that you were going to get one anyways.  I think the "TC" style pump that would work for you is about 250 bucks.  Also the ram you need will still be an 8" travel ram, but you would probly need to step up to a 2 1/2" round instead of 2".  Again idk 100% for sure. Like I said before, call PSC and explain your setup. They can tell you which ram is best for you.

[CCM Runner]

yeah you will have to buy a new pump also. I was thinking that I saw you post above that you were going to get one anyways.  I think the "TC" style pump that would work for you is about 250 bucks.  Also the ram you need will still be an 8" travel ram, but you would probly need to step up to a 2 1/2" round instead of 2".  Again idk 100% for sure. Like I said before, call PSC and explain your setup. They can tell you which ram is best for you.

You will need the 2 1/2 in ram with full hydro. I had a 2 in ram in mine with the same axle setup as you and could only steer on the out stroke of the ram. I got a 2 1/2 in ram and fixed the steering. I love it