hydro assist

[skyjacker]

just wondering if any of u guys have hydro assist , just wondering what box works best and what not , i did some searchin didint get many answers

thanx guys

 

[Fabbed4d88]

I'm getting mine for my full size truck through West Texas Offroad, I'm going with their Redneck Ram...They rebuild your box and send you the ram, hoses and tabs for a little over 400 bucks. I've had friends that used this company and were really happy with their product.

 

[IZwack]

My opinion:

Before you spend the $$ to install a hydraulic cylinder, maybe try bumping the pump PSI first for less than a dollar:
http://westtexasoffroad.homestead.com/powersteering.html

 

[glfredrick]

I've been examining this issue for some time, as I'm running 38s on my new Ranger build, and expect to want the assist.

Our steering boxes are great parts -- they are the same all the way up through F450, so they are plenty strong, easy to find, and work great other than the occaisional leak which can be fixed with a seal kit.

The pumps on the Explorer are crud. No matter what you do, they will almost always whine, groan, and do a poor job of steering. Ford KNOWS this, and if you ever get a chance at the salvage yard, check out the full-sized cars (esp. Mercury and Lincoln) and the E-vans. All use Saginaw pumps with special mounting brackets to make them factory fit the Ford.

There is a Saginaw "heavy-duty" replacement pump that will work with the Explorer, but it is difficult to locate and pricey once you find it. Cheaper is to take almost any Saginaw pump with the right pulley and make a new bracket to hold it. A bit more fabrication work, but it is almost as good as hydro-assist steering without all the hassles.

And, if you do hydro-assist, the Saginaw pump is more than up to the task, with higher flow and pressure rates than the Ford box, and they are easily modified for higher flow and pressure with a drill and a washer (article on Pirate).

Now, to drill and tap the box for steering, you need to know which chamber does what, then drill through, tap with correct tap, and install the right hoses to work with the ram. I'd do a web search for that, because it is difficult to explain in text and I don't have a picture handy to post up. There are quite a few examples of tapped Ford boxes on the Full-Size Bronco site, among other places (Pirate again).

Ram size is important. Too large and it steers real strong, but also real slow. Too small, and it is too fast and relatively weak. An inherent issue is that the ram will probably steer better in one direction than the other (easier) but that isn't too big a problem. Most guys are running a 1.5 X 1 X 10 ram (MEASURE NEEDED TRAVEL!!!) like this: http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=2009072115154061&item=9-7258-10&catname=hydraulic or this: http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=2009072115154061&item=9-7270-10&catname=hydraulic

Here's a good article that I found while searching.

http://www.wheelingarizona.com/tech/Hydro_info/DIY_HydraulicRamAssist.htm