Author Topic: ram assist help (Read 5298 times)

E YOTA · « **on:** Jan 03, 2011, 10:15:00 PM »

i installed my ram assist but its not working properly...not sure wats wrong, i followed the instructions but maybe did somethin wrong. its a first time thing with a ram assist...i twist the fj ends opposite and weld on the jam nuts but some how it manages to move and my ram twist my tie rod and loosens it....so dont kno wat i am doin wrong...any help located in fresno... am willing to pay to get done right....

OOPS · « **Reply #1 on:** Jan 03, 2011, 10:20:04 PM »

Post up a picture. I may be able to help you long distance.

E YOTA · « **Reply #2 on:** Jan 03, 2011, 10:50:21 PM »

i kinda made it to where i can use it on the road... i welded the ends and jam nuts so they do not move, so its kinda too late for pics

yoshaleng · « **Reply #3 on:** Jan 03, 2011, 11:50:20 PM »

why did you weld jam nuts? when I installed mine, that wasn't necessary. Don't tweek your tie rods...that way you drag link can move up and down, there's not too much you can do about all the pressure that the ram assist puts out. straighten up your tie rod ends and tighten them down, that'll keep your tie rods from breaking free.

Did you mount your ram mount top dead center of your pumpkin? If you did, that's wrong. You're gonna have to cut and remount it.....it's going to be a clearence issue on the other end of your ram assist.

It's very important that you measure the correct distance so your ram doesn't jam hit your u-bolts, and it doesn't hit your frame at max flex. Not only that but that way you have the same turn radius on both ends.

I'm located in Merced but won't in Fresno anytime soon....

E YOTA · « **Reply #4 on:** Jan 04, 2011, 07:54:06 AM »

Sorry ... My setup is a trailgear since marlin doesn't offer anything! The clearance is fine I believe and my ram is mount rite next to my ubolts on my pumkin. It has a slight angel to it to clear my ubolts on the other side. Nomatter wat I do my rods turn. Welded the jam nuts like wat it said to do and still turns. So now I welded nuts and ends for temporary use.

ninja turtle · « **Reply #5 on:** Jan 04, 2011, 08:00:09 AM »

lets see some pics of your setup. you should fix it, your going to bend your tie rod.

SloCrawler · « **Reply #6 on:** Jan 04, 2011, 08:23:47 AM »

I'm curios about this. I'm getting ready to do hydro assist. No Idea you still got a build page on here?

ninja turtle · « **Reply #7 on:** Jan 04, 2011, 08:36:29 AM »

its all in here http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=617039

superyota · « **Reply #8 on:** Jan 04, 2011, 09:09:23 AM »

I had the same problem with my setup. I put some big tack welds on the jam nuts to the tie rod ends, and also from the jam nuts to the rod. that was the only way I could get mine to stop twisting on me. don't get too crazy with it, make it to where if you have to you can grind the tacks out and replace tre's. I know i'm not the only one to do this. I've seen almost every other truck on the trail with everything tacked together to stop it from twisting and hitting up against spring plates, ubolts, and whatever else is near it. hope this helps.

superyota · « **Reply #9 on:** Jan 04, 2011, 09:11:48 AM »

Quote from: E YOTA on Jan 04, 2011, 07:54:06 AM

Sorry ... My setup is a trailgear since marlin doesn't offer anything! The clearance is fine I believe and my ram is mount rite next to my ubolts on my pumkin. It has a slight angel to it to clear my ubolts on the other side. Nomatter wat I do my rods turn. Welded the jam nuts like wat it said to do and still turns. So now I welded nuts and ends for temporary use.

i've had mine setup like this for over a year now with 10+ trail runs, including driving from Rubicon to Bakersfield, Bakersfield to Mammoth, and bako to calico. Works great on the road too.

LD · « **Reply #10 on:** Jan 04, 2011, 11:10:27 AM »

I have the a trail gear ram and i followed there instructions online that they have to install it and turned the tie rods opposite directions so that the ram wont flop around. They say to place a small tack so the nuts wont move. I did not weld mine and they never move. Id say the only thing to do it grind the tacks off
http://www.trail-gear.com/ram-assist-kits

OOPS · « **Reply #11 on:** Jan 04, 2011, 11:59:26 AM »

This is just my opinion but the way the ram ends are mounted should be with both the bolts running vertical. The tie rod moves in and out as the steering cycles. If the tie rod end of the ram bolt is vertical and the housing is mounted horizontal it does not allow enough movement of the ram to move with the tie rod, so something else has to move. The something else is the twisting of the tie rod. If the mount for the tie rod were floating then it would work fine. But most of us weld the mount to the tie rod so it end up twisting the tie rod, loosening the TRE's.

I had the same problem when I did H-A steering way back when, I changed the housing mount so the Heims were on the same plane with the bolts vertical, the problem went away.

bleakhorizon · « **Reply #12 on:** Jan 04, 2011, 12:17:13 PM »

Quote from: OOPS on Jan 04, 2011, 11:59:26 AM

I had the same problem when I did H-A steering way back when, I changed the housing mount so the Heims were on the same plane with the bolts vertical, the problem went away.

right der is the answer.... back a couple of years ago i worked on some oil field equipment, and for whatever reason they did the steering like this also..... but with WAY bigger rams, we ran had enough room (hose wise) to remount the cylinder in the same plane as the ram, and the thing never loosened up again....

E YOTA · « **Reply #13 on:** Jan 04, 2011, 09:45:41 PM »

spoke to them at tg and they said im suppose to tack weld the jam nuts to the rod and the jam nuts to the ends...i was like wat the fk....so they do need to be welded....but then i cant make any adjustments...who knows where i can get one of those clamps for the 1.25" rods.

E YOTA · « **Reply #14 on:** Jan 04, 2011, 09:47:41 PM »

and wat u mean same plane...so watever the position of one end is the other has to be the same???

Sparkplug · « **Reply #15 on:** Jan 04, 2011, 09:54:56 PM »

pics of how u did it plz OOPS, my hydro assist prob be here tomorrow, glad i found this

OOPS · « **Reply #16 on:** Jan 04, 2011, 10:28:51 PM »

Quote from: Sparkplug on Jan 04, 2011, 09:54:56 PM

pics of how u did it plz OOPS, my hydro assist prob be here tomorrow, glad i found this

These pictures are just a mock up, I ended up redoing the whole thing because the housing was bent so bad I could not get the Birfield in. On the new housing I moved the ram down below the tierod for oil pan clearence. They will give you an idea of what I am talking about. The pictures of it finished were on a disc that got damaged. There is also a couple of pictures of the clamp set-up I made for the tierod.

bleakhorizon · « **Reply #17 on:** Jan 04, 2011, 11:28:18 PM »

Quote from: E YOTA on Jan 04, 2011, 09:47:41 PM

and wat u mean same plane...so watever the position of one end is the other has to be the same???

i wouldn't say have to... but this seems to be the dilemma here and in my past experience....
....

i will see if i can dig up some pics of my previous installs.... nothing really special

OOPS · « **Reply #18 on:** Jan 05, 2011, 11:37:51 AM »

You want the bolts to run vertical like in the picture I posted. That way it can swivel back andforth as the steering cycles. The distance between the housing and tierod changes as the steering cycles from lock to lock.

Volcom · « **Reply #19 on:** Jan 05, 2011, 12:00:45 PM »

Mine did the same thing with TRE's. Once I replaced them with heims, my twisting problem went away. I did still have to turn them in opposite directions to stop some of the twisting.

E YOTA [OP]

E YOTA [OP]

E YOTA [OP]

E YOTA [OP]

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