New ##Pics of my SOA hydro assist / steering box..

[River Beast]

"Oh, I'm thinking about keeping the full 11" of lift and just going with pass. flat top etc..what do you guys think????

Would I be too top heavy with 11" sus. lift on a W/T?? (33x12.5 for now)"

Donzi,

depends on how much off-camber wheeling you do.... you have a W/T, so it's better than what I had and I did just fine....

[Qudawg]

Ok, ill check it out River Beast. thanks

[Dome]

Using the sway bar mount as a lower shock mount is what I did as well. Works great, and keeps the shock from getting damaged by the spring.

[The Donzi]

I added some new pics of the soa and steering box:





[ June 23, 2003, 03:54 PM: Message edited by: The Donzi ]

[Glenn_tx]

Can you post a closer pic of the front with the hydraulics? Thanks

[The Donzi]

Here you go Glenn



[ June 23, 2003, 08:24 PM: Message edited by: The Donzi ]

[Glenn_tx]

Okay, I want one. Where'd you get it?

[The Donzi]

The ram is 2x8 stroke from northern tool (73.00 shipped to New Orleans), the box was an autozone special which I drilled and tapped for 3/8 thread, my old one leaked like mad, and the lines are from a local hydraulic shop ( 13.00 for the lines and all the fittings.)
For under a 100.00 I can now steer in 4x4 on hot asphalt if I wanted to!!! Before I couldn't turn the wheel more than a half turn on dry ground.

I drilled the box along casting lines, and following a channel for the lower hole. In my pic you can see that it is pretty straight forward.

[Glenn_tx]

Wow! I've got an extra box laying around, sounds interesting. How did you attach the ram to your axle?

[The Donzi]

I used 1" flat bar and welded one tab on the diff cover and the other on the tierod.

Here is a pic of the tab on the tierod

I used a 2x2 tab on the diff cover, and a 2x3 tab on the tie rod, both 1" thick with a 1" hole centered and .5" from the end. I also used brass bushings with .015 clearance. Seems to work pretty good. Hope this helps...

[rockjeep44]

Glenn, use 1in steel stock and drill it out to accept I believe a 1in bolt.

[The Donzi]

My ram came with pins that fit perfect in a 1" hole. I still had a little play but not too much.

[Glenn_tx]

Thanks Rockjeep, my 220 mig will be here in the next day or so. I'll start getting the parts together.

So 8" stroke gets you from lock to lock?

[blt2krl]

how did you tapp your box with out shavings going into the box? Looks great by the way..

[The Donzi]

Glenn, to be honest I didn't measure, I just followed Andrew's lead and bought the 2x8 ram. It is pretty close to a perfect fit. If I pull hard on the wheel I can feel the ram fight the limiter on the steering box, but only at full lock.