84 4Runner Buildup - Last minute summer mods

[Volcom]

Here's a pic of my new tie rod after my first trip out with Hydro Assist.  Both jam nuts loosened (need to tack them also) and my tie rod rotated down.  In the process of rotating down, my bracket made contact with the U-Bolt plate before the ram was fully extended.  I didn't even notice but here's the result.



Make sure you have enough space for the ram to fully extend, even in flexed out situations.  The nice part was I didn't break a TRE (no spares), break or bend my knuckle studs (no spares in my toolbox that day), or break the bracket (my welds held up  ). 

[Jud]

Thats blows! Nice ram tho!

[Volcom]

Thats blows! Nice ram tho!

Just more work and $$   Thanks, I'll let my brother now he did a good job on the birthday gift

[Shoyrtt]

Nice. 8) What did you do about the pump and reservoir? 

[JohnHalladay]

how do you like the rock gasket set? i just bought a motor for my truck and it came with a rock gasket set.

[DTB]

ever have any problems with the driver side hydro fitting on the ram striking the oil pan? just curious

[Volcom]

Nice. 8) What did you do about the pump and reservoir? 

Stock pump and stock reservior for now.  It worked decent on the trail.  Pump started to get alittle whiny once it warmed up.  But it did push enough fluid for low-rpm turning.  I'll probably upgrade to the higher flow pump one of these days.  I would like to get a bigger reservior to see if adding fluid would help the whiny pump.

[Volcom]

how do you like the rock gasket set? i just bought a motor for my truck and it came with a rock gasket set.

Working great so far!  I believe egnblder sells Rock gaskets and has good luck with them.

[Volcom]

ever have any problems with the driver side hydro fitting on the ram striking the oil pan? just curious

Not that I could see.  I need to flex it out with a forklift and turn the wheels to check clearances.  I'll let you know if I get any contact.

[Shoyrtt]

Stock pump and stock reservior for now.  It worked decent on the trail.  Pump started to get alittle whiny once it warmed up.  But it did push enough fluid for low-rpm turning.  I'll probably upgrade to the higher flow pump one of these days.  I would like to get a bigger reservior to see if adding fluid would help the whiny pump.

Have you removed the restrictor plate on the pump yet?
Here is a link on the pump.
http://board.marlincrawler.com/index.php?topic=10579.0
And another link to a DIY 3X reservior:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=579700

[DTB]

Have you removed the restrictor plate on the pump yet?

i did this yesterday on a new pump I put in...It literally took less than 5 minutes ..just FYI

[Volcom]

Have you removed the restrictor plate on the pump yet?
Here is a link on the pump.
http://board.marlincrawler.com/index.php?topic=10579.0
And another link to a DIY 3X reservior:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=579700

Whoops, I did drill out my restrictor, so I'm not completely stock

Thanks for the links to the reservior, I have an extra one laying around.  My problem is I had to cut quite a bit of inner fender out to make room for the tall shock hoops.  I had to tack weld one side of the reservior to the hoop to make it mount back in the same spot.  I need to relocate it and make a taller one!

[Doof]

nice build this thing is

[DieselD]

Did you limit the ram? ie install a stop inside to prevent it from over traveling compared to your steering?  This needs to be done or else you will be bending tie rods all day.

oh and now you need this....


and this....


They are sooooo much nicer than the stock pump!

[DTB]

Did you limit the ram? ie install a stop inside to prevent it from over traveling compared to your steering?  This needs to be done or else you will be bending tie rods all day.

oh and now you need this....


and this....


They are sooooo much nicer than the stock pump!

stock pumps are cheap and easy to replace.....I never installed a limiter and my ram is fine...  The steering stops before the ram fully extends or compresses. I have an 8" ram. You should buy a cooler from Summit. I got a Flex a lite cooler for like 35 bucks and then welded 2 stock reservoirs together...works like a champ

[Shoyrtt]

Rokyot: What are the PSI specs on your PS pump? How much $.  Where did you get it?

[Shoyrtt]

You should buy a cooler from Summit. I got a Flex a lite cooler for like 35 bucks ...

I believe he has a Hayden cooler

[Volcom]

Yup, I'm running a decent sized Hayden tranny cooler. 

My PSC ram has 5.25" of throw, perfect for the Toyota.  I had some issues with my tie rod jam nuts loosening up while wheeling and it rotated the rod and ram back, pushing my bracket into the side of my U-Bolt plate. 

[DieselD]

Rokyot: What are the PSI specs on your PS pump? How much $.  Where did you get it?

Its the 1200x pump from PSC steering. specs on the pump are 1600 psi and 4.5 gpm. the pump it self is about 175bucks. that does not include a pulley or fittings. Everything is JIC fittings. Also you can buy the pump kit for about 420bucks. It includes the pump,pulley,all fittings and hoses to build what you need, resi with mount. IMO its well worth the extra cash and I had a modifyed stock pump and was very very unhappy. This PSC setup is the and 100% better than the stock stuff. You would need to add the ram, ram hoses and fittings for your box. also need a cooler. PSC offers this stuff as well but its seperate. The high pressure and supply lines that come with the kit are very nice quality and make building your own line nice for your application. you can make it fit like its supposed to be there. The stock high pressure line is a pregnant dog to fit with the box moved forward and having a larger resi in there. Plus it looks like crap since its too long. I am using a trailgear 1.5x6 ram and hoses with mine. Also have a cooler out of an E350. Works good. I will sack up for the PSC ram sooner or later since I am not too happy with the rod ends on the trailgear set up. but really a ram is a ram.

here is a link to psc
http://www.pscmotorsports.com/product_info.php?cPath=138_176_186&products_id=266

stock pumps are cheap and easy to replace.....I never installed a limiter and my ram is fine...  The steering stops before the ram fully extends or compresses. I have an 8" ram. You should buy a cooler from Summit. I got a Flex a lite cooler for like 35 bucks and then welded 2 stock reservoirs together...works like a champ

Also I highly suggest you stop the ram. that 8" stroke ram will out travel the steering travel of the toy easy thus bending the weak link which is usually the tire rod. DONT use your stock stops to limit the ram since your never limiting at all. sure its stoping the steering but the ram still has travel and it WILL overcome your stops and/or tire rod and wad it up. with the ram properly limited you dont even need steering stops although a good backup just to have. The ram is the stop.

Another benifit to hydro is ram acts like a dampener when hitting bumps......

Side note....I bled my system in about 15minutes top. the PSC pump and resi bled very very quick with little effort. The stock crap too FOREVER and never got 100% of the air out.

I have a whole stock pump, lines, 2 uncut resi and even a larger alum resi pulley etc forsale if anyone wants it

[Shoyrtt]

Thanks Rokyot.
Do you have any pics on how you "install a stop inside to prevent it from over traveling compared to your steering?" I just ordered the TG kit 2X6 ( because I didn't want to deal with 3 or 4 different vendors and didn't know PSC carried a kit also ) so an explanation or pics on how you installed the stop would be great. 8)

Edit: Maybe with a 2X6" ram (instead of 8") I won't need to install a stop.

[DieselD]

yeah I was just looking at the psc site and trailgear site and the prices are not that far off each other. I beleive psc stuff to be better quality in the end for just a little more. But since Ive already get the tg ram Ill run it. IT was sort of an after thought during my build to run hydro and Ive been dicking with it to try a couple things(ie stock pump etc) The nice thing is the TG setup comes with the ram, rod ends, brackets, hoses and fittings you need to rock and roll

I dont have pictures but yes you need to limit that 6" ram too. My buddy that has done several came over and banged it out quick and I forget to snap a couple pics. I know you can find some info on pirate tho. Itwas easy. First you need to figure out your overall travel of steering. remove the stops and get a center line with the wheels straight. measure the mount of travel from left to right then divide. now you have an travel number in inches of how far that ram is going to extend or contract in either direction before it runs out of steering travel. its somewhere in the 5" range I forget now. Its all relative to where that ram is mounted too. mount your ram in a vise, get a pipe wrench and loosen the end of the ram where the shaft comes out. this will disassemble the ram. just cut the right size DOM(i forget now but i think it was around 1") for a spacer.

Thats a very crud explaination and like I said I was the second hand in that. Ive had so many projects on the truck all at once trying to get it from stock to built in less than 6months its been a whirlwind of crap in the garage.

shoyrtt what do you plan to do for a resi? I suggest the psc. I know its 130bucks but well worth it in cost. I tryed this one
and I beleive it was airating the oil. there is no baffling in it and the top hose is the return. on the psc resi the return on on the bottom and goes through a baffle and filter before returning to the resi. This prevents airation and also keeps that return as low as possible.

Here is my mounting.

[DTB]

Sorry, I meant to say that I had a 6 inch ram..not 8 inch!

And I got my PS box rebuilt and tapped from PSC for pretty damn cheap...top notch work IMO

[Shoyrtt]

Is this the TG reservoir? I bought their entire kit, sans the box (we will drill and tap mine or a spare). I wish I would have done a little more homework.

[DieselD]

yes it is.

talking with PSC baffling and inlet/outlet location is very important to get a proper flow and not airating the oil.

another kinda sucky thing is there is not vent in the cap. this makes venting air a pregnant dog

[DTB]

yes it is.

talking with PSC baffling and inlet/outlet location is very important to get a proper flow and not airating the oil.

another kinda sucky thing is there is not vent in the cap. this makes venting air a pregnant dog

thats why i went with the 2 stock reservoirs welded together..well, that and it was free

[DieselD]

also something to think about shoyrtt is the TG hoses are the same length making running them kidna  pregnant dog. one should be shorter than the other to make a clean install. granted they work but not quite how I would want them. I plan to build my own shorter hose when I get time.

another thing is the spacers they give you for the mounting of the ram to the brackets are too small. the bracket spacing is 1.25 and the rod end is 3/4". this is a differnce of .50" and needs a .25" spacer on each side of the rod end to not flop around int he bracket. They supply 1/8" spacers and the ram will flop around side to side. not a huge deal but creates a clunk, rattle at times when turning. I cut my own spacers to replace what they suppled since Im anal.

[Volcom]

Do you have any pics on how you "install a stop inside to prevent it from over traveling compared to your steering?"

I know you've got the 2x6 ram but I figured I'd link it here for future hydro assist searches
Here's my brother's writeup on adding a spacer to a hydro ram.  It's the 3rd post from the top
http://www.rockfrogs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=724&start=0

[Volcom]

I wish I could have gotten the passenger side diff bracket moved more towards the outside of the truck.  That way I wouldn't be running into clearance issues on the driver's side U-Bolt plate.

The other thing I'm going to do is trim the heim joint shorter on the passenger side of the ram.  I could gain 1/2" of clearance (move the ram 1/2" towards the passenger side) by trimming it.
Here's a pic of the excess threads

[DieselD]

how far did you move the tirerod bracket up? Mine is close to the ubolt plate but does not hit it. IT would if the tierod did not rotate depending on which way the wheel is turned. It misses it but just enough when it rotates by itself.

[Volcom]

how far did you move the tirerod bracket up? Mine is close to the ubolt plate but does not hit it. IT would if the tierod did not rotate depending on which way the wheel is turned. It misses it but just enough when it rotates by itself.

Mine hit after the jam nuts loosened up and let the rod rotate backward.  I just wanted to move the ram over towards the passenger side as much as I could to stop the damage from happening again if the nuts worked themselves loose (probably won't since I'm going to be tack welding them to the tie rod).

I really worked on getting the ram as level and in line with the tie rod.  If I would have moved the bracket up, it would have made the ram not level with the tie rod.