am i expecting too much from my steering?

[scotty]

well,moy steering has never been exactly great. since i welded the frontend,tho,it has become painfully obvious how much it sucks. with both hubs locked i have to really fight with it to turn the wheels to full lock. with 1 hub unlocked,its not bad if im movin just alittle. sitting still on a high traction surface,requires much effort,even with both hubs unlocked.im finally pretty tired of having crappy steering,and am now on a quest to figure it out.

today i swapped on a steering box i rebuilt a year or so ago.it does seem to be working alittle better,kinda hard to say tho. i guess my next step is to try an brand new pump. the one i was using is only a year or 2 old,and i did swap on one of my other used ones just for Great Googley MoogleyGreat Googley MoogleyGreat Googley MoogleyGreat Googley MoogleyGreat Googley Moogleys and giggles,to see if it made a difference. it didnt.

maybe im expecting too much froma stock power steering system. maybe it just cant handle 38" tires with 10 lbs of in em? im sure its alot more work to turn em,than it is the factory 235/75 with 30 lbs of air.

anyone know of possible upgrades,short of the $900 rock ram?maybe a box and/or pump of of something else would help?

ur thots? smile.gif

[Panther]

scotty,
I think you are asking alot but your Dana 18 has a twin stick, no? That would probably be my first suggestion but by reading your sig, you already have that. Disengaging the front helps in the turns and will take alot of stress off the steering. A welded diff is pretty tough too, at least a detroit will disengage at times.
Is that rock ram thing that hydrolic assist?
I'm not that familiar with it.
But with 38's and lincoln locker, I'm not sure there is much you can do...
Lee

[rigger]

hey panther that is a sweet lookin chero

[scotty]

yes,the rock ram is a hydraulic cylinder that assists in steering. it comes with a funky box with more outputs,and a different pump.

while sitting still,even in 2wd,with both hubs unlocked,it takes alot of effort to turn it from lock to lock. i dont expect to be able to spin it with my pinky smile.gif but it seems it should be alittle better than this...

[ March 13, 2002: Message edited by: scotty ]</p>

[RustyJeep]

What ya can do is make your own rock ram setup. Here is a site that shows the play by play how to do it. You just need to edit your steering gear and pump, and then get a hydraulic cylinder from a place like Northern Tool. Heres the link: http://www.members.tripod.com/surfmac/Index.html Scroll down and you'll see it under hot ticket mods.

[ March 13, 2002: Message edited by: RustyJeep ]</p>

[la mula pescadora]

hey panther nice chero is that a silver grey paint on it that's the paint color i want on my mule

[Panther]

Thanks guys. I went downtown last weekend and got tons of compliments, even some chicks! LOL!
PO did the paint and tires, I reaped the benefits smile.gif

[scotty]

thnax,rustyjeep! ill check out that link...

[River Beast]

I too miss the 'one-finger' turning.... ;) thougt my PSpump was the culprit and replaced it at the same time I installed my HB system... (93 3/4 ton 4x4 Burb PS pump)... I do turn better, but still have the fight and whirring at a standstill....I may just live with it....

[Agent Orange]

scotty, go with rockram. It doesn't appear that hard and it is cheap. About $80-100 for a cylinder and then hoses and fittings.

[scotty]

ooooooooo... :eek: that link was just what ive been lookin for! :D

im gonna try the pump mods fitst,then add the the cyl and mofify the box if its still too stiff for my liking

thanx again for the link!

[RustyJeep]

No problemo! I have the same problem with my steering...of course, 13" wide tires on 10" rims with 2" of backspacing doesn't help it any. I'm gunna do it on my spares pump and steering box.

[ March 14, 2002: Message edited by: RustyJeep ]</p>

[Snakeyes_Tx]

Ya know I figured the Doctor of odd-swaps would have come up with this first to be honest!

How bout Rack and Pinion steering? IT *could* be done couldn't it? That would be most responsive too. Might be a little bit of a bear at a dead stop, but otherwise, I love the feel of it. Now... to find a rack that'd work...

Maybe the newer Toyota full sizes?

[Josh D]

Snakeyes_Tx,

Ya don't wanna. Talk to those Toy Tacoma guys, if they run a locker up front, they're changing out the rack a couple times a year. I helped a buddy of mine do two of them until he got smart and got a Scout II.

[scotty]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Snakeyes_Tx:
Ya know I figured the Doctor of odd-swaps would have come up with this first to be honest!
<hr></blockquote>

smile.gif hehe,yeah,im not so sure why ive put up with crappy steering for so long,guess other stuff is just usually higher on the priority list up until just recently.i feel in order to give the spooled front end a fair test,i need to be able to steer it better to be able to determine if i like it enuff to keep it that way or not.once i get the steering figured out,the deciding factors will be how quickly the parts break,and how well i do in 3wd smile.gif ,and how often i may need to jump in/out to lock/unlock hubs.

a friend that works at a car repair facility noticed a hydro assist set up on a vette one day,and wed looked into that,but the vette stuff is expensive,mine as well buy a rock ram.

when i first got my surplus cneter catalog,thats the first thing i thot when i saw those cylinders-man i betcha we could use one o them somehow for steering... but we had no idea how to actuate them.we knew the agr pump had more outputs,but it didnt dawn on us it could be as simple as adding fittings to the stock box.we thot there was also some kind of complex,magic valving also involved.

my friend with the 37" boggers on his xj has alot of trouble steering as well,and it bugs him prolly more than it does me. i like to think we would have figured something out eventually,but that link saved us a fair amount of research! really cool :cool:

hopefully this weekend ill be able to so the pump mods and see if that improves it enuff to make me happy,or if ill need to get hoppin on makin a cyl work.