I found dusy super boring... Not fun and tedious
Builds Evolution of a Land Cruiser: My 80's build thread (4 Viewers)
- Thread starter jcardona1
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- Thread starter
- #2,002
Very cool!
Nice work Jose.
Thanks fellas!
Thanks. I'll try to clean it up and get some pics up shortly.
Yeah I got it all done. No more leaks!
- Thread starter
- #2,003
STEERING OVERHAUL & HYDRO ASSIST
Finally back in business! If you scroll up a few posts you’ll know my truck has been sitting for over 2 months now. Very lame, as summer is pretty much gone and I missed out on a bunch of trips we had planned. This all started after the IH8MUD camping trip to Gold Lake. Somewhere on the Snake Lake trail I bent my Hellfire hi steer arm. My y-link (I know, it’s really an inverted-T setup) TRE from RuffStuff also got destroyed, turned into a floppy mess. The y-link adapter (also from RuffStuff) had a nice bend to it as well. I don’t think it was all from Snake Lake as the trail is not that crazy, but compounded from the wheeling we’ve done over the last couple months.
As if the steering problems weren’t enough, I noticed my entire front end was covered in oil after returning home that weekend. It was coming from the front crank/oil pump area. Great. I didn’t take any pictures of the job because I was annoyed with the whole thing. Did have trouble with 1 of the oil pump screws, but nothing serious. Replaced the front crank seal and oil pump cover seal. Lesson learned here was that I should have done with when I did the HG overhaul.
First order of business was to get the Hellfire arm repaired. @Booger weldz was kind enough to fix this for me. He straightened it out and plugged the extra hole AND he refused to accept any money. Thanks again Paul, I owe you a few beers and lap dances from geriatric hookers when we meet. As discussed in previous posts, I think this bent because of the empty hole. Normally on these arms when you have an empty hole it’s the one on the outside. But because of how my steering is setup, the empty hole was on the inside. This meant all the force was on the outer edge of the arms with a big weak point in the middle. I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner in fact. I’ll write this one off to improper install instead of an issue with Billy’s product. I should have plugged that hole from day one. With arm straightened out it was time to rebuild the steering links.
I contacted RuffStuff about replacing the y-link adapter that bent and they said it had been discontinued. Great. Now what? I needed that adapter to make my steering work. I couldn’t use a regular y-link TRE because I need the draglink TREs with the deeper taper. Now I really needed to get creative. I searched around for ways to build a y-link setup that didn’t involve using the typical y-link TREs. Especially not RuffStuff’s TREs. Never buying another flea market TRE from those guys. It’ll be either EMF or PartsMike. Onto EMF. After lots of searching I came across a part called the FreddiLink sold by EMF. If you’ve heard of EMF you know they make the best TREs and joints money can buy. They even make FJ80 OEM replacement TREs. This is really neat machined part, exactly what I needed! It welds into your tie rod wherever you want. You can get it tapered or with a straight 3/4" hole. Best of all, it frees from your having to use a y-link TRE or an adapter like the one from RuffStuff. Because I would no longer have that extra-long 1-ton TRE and y-link adapter, I could make my draglink longer which meant it’d have a better angle in relation to the panhard. This is the insert: EMF FreddiLink Bung I bought the insert without a taper because I’ve had bad luck getting aftermarket TREs to match tapered inserts perfectly. They never fit just right. Here’s the Freddilink welded into my tie rod:
To connect the draglink to the new tie rod I again went to EMF. Their TREs are not cheap but they’re built like tanks, are adjustable and rebuildable. This is the one I got: EMF Tie Rod End, 3/4 What’s great about EMF is you can choose your TREs in any shank size, any thread direction, with or without a taper. I opted for the TRE with a 3/4" straight pin to match the Freddilink. I figured RuffStuff’s heims are still regarded to be of okay quality so I bought their 7/8” x 3/4” heim kit with DOM for the tie rod during one of their sales. If I end up not liking how sloppy the heims feel I can always swap them with EMF TREs. I’ll order them in the right shank size/TPI to match the heim bungs I welded in and can also get them with a 3/4" straight pin to work with the hi-steer arms. Because I was previously using TREs on the hi-steer arms I had to cut out the tapered inserts and weld in Billy’s heim inserts. Luckily I purchased these extra inserts a few months back in case I decided to make changes to the setup.
On to the next major project which caused most of the downtime. From my earlier posts you’ll see that I got a free hydro assist kit from Trail Gear in exchange for them using my photo in their ad. I had them send me the 8x1.5” ram kit and it arrived a few days later:
I ended up spending a lot of time on the hydro assist install as I wanted to get it right. The biggest problems I hear with ram assist always stems around not having enough cooling and/or not enough fluid capacity. So I decided to address it all once and for all rather than have to go back and fix things later. This meant more chasing around and sourcing parts, research and trial & error.
First up getting the box tapped and rebuilt. I had a buddy do this for me since he’s worked on dozens of steering boxes over the years. He ordered all the seals needed and had the box back to me in a few days.
Finally back in business! If you scroll up a few posts you’ll know my truck has been sitting for over 2 months now. Very lame, as summer is pretty much gone and I missed out on a bunch of trips we had planned. This all started after the IH8MUD camping trip to Gold Lake. Somewhere on the Snake Lake trail I bent my Hellfire hi steer arm. My y-link (I know, it’s really an inverted-T setup) TRE from RuffStuff also got destroyed, turned into a floppy mess. The y-link adapter (also from RuffStuff) had a nice bend to it as well. I don’t think it was all from Snake Lake as the trail is not that crazy, but compounded from the wheeling we’ve done over the last couple months.
As if the steering problems weren’t enough, I noticed my entire front end was covered in oil after returning home that weekend. It was coming from the front crank/oil pump area. Great. I didn’t take any pictures of the job because I was annoyed with the whole thing. Did have trouble with 1 of the oil pump screws, but nothing serious. Replaced the front crank seal and oil pump cover seal. Lesson learned here was that I should have done with when I did the HG overhaul.
First order of business was to get the Hellfire arm repaired. @Booger weldz was kind enough to fix this for me. He straightened it out and plugged the extra hole AND he refused to accept any money. Thanks again Paul, I owe you a few beers and lap dances from geriatric hookers when we meet. As discussed in previous posts, I think this bent because of the empty hole. Normally on these arms when you have an empty hole it’s the one on the outside. But because of how my steering is setup, the empty hole was on the inside. This meant all the force was on the outer edge of the arms with a big weak point in the middle. I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner in fact. I’ll write this one off to improper install instead of an issue with Billy’s product. I should have plugged that hole from day one. With arm straightened out it was time to rebuild the steering links.
I contacted RuffStuff about replacing the y-link adapter that bent and they said it had been discontinued. Great. Now what? I needed that adapter to make my steering work. I couldn’t use a regular y-link TRE because I need the draglink TREs with the deeper taper. Now I really needed to get creative. I searched around for ways to build a y-link setup that didn’t involve using the typical y-link TREs. Especially not RuffStuff’s TREs. Never buying another flea market TRE from those guys. It’ll be either EMF or PartsMike. Onto EMF. After lots of searching I came across a part called the FreddiLink sold by EMF. If you’ve heard of EMF you know they make the best TREs and joints money can buy. They even make FJ80 OEM replacement TREs. This is really neat machined part, exactly what I needed! It welds into your tie rod wherever you want. You can get it tapered or with a straight 3/4" hole. Best of all, it frees from your having to use a y-link TRE or an adapter like the one from RuffStuff. Because I would no longer have that extra-long 1-ton TRE and y-link adapter, I could make my draglink longer which meant it’d have a better angle in relation to the panhard. This is the insert: EMF FreddiLink Bung I bought the insert without a taper because I’ve had bad luck getting aftermarket TREs to match tapered inserts perfectly. They never fit just right. Here’s the Freddilink welded into my tie rod:
To connect the draglink to the new tie rod I again went to EMF. Their TREs are not cheap but they’re built like tanks, are adjustable and rebuildable. This is the one I got: EMF Tie Rod End, 3/4 What’s great about EMF is you can choose your TREs in any shank size, any thread direction, with or without a taper. I opted for the TRE with a 3/4" straight pin to match the Freddilink. I figured RuffStuff’s heims are still regarded to be of okay quality so I bought their 7/8” x 3/4” heim kit with DOM for the tie rod during one of their sales. If I end up not liking how sloppy the heims feel I can always swap them with EMF TREs. I’ll order them in the right shank size/TPI to match the heim bungs I welded in and can also get them with a 3/4" straight pin to work with the hi-steer arms. Because I was previously using TREs on the hi-steer arms I had to cut out the tapered inserts and weld in Billy’s heim inserts. Luckily I purchased these extra inserts a few months back in case I decided to make changes to the setup.
On to the next major project which caused most of the downtime. From my earlier posts you’ll see that I got a free hydro assist kit from Trail Gear in exchange for them using my photo in their ad. I had them send me the 8x1.5” ram kit and it arrived a few days later:
I ended up spending a lot of time on the hydro assist install as I wanted to get it right. The biggest problems I hear with ram assist always stems around not having enough cooling and/or not enough fluid capacity. So I decided to address it all once and for all rather than have to go back and fix things later. This meant more chasing around and sourcing parts, research and trial & error.
First up getting the box tapped and rebuilt. I had a buddy do this for me since he’s worked on dozens of steering boxes over the years. He ordered all the seals needed and had the box back to me in a few days.
- Thread starter
- #2,004
Steering overhaul continued...
I was worried about the 8” ram being too long for my setup and potentially damaging the knuckle like I’ve read online. But it turned out to be perfect for the location I mounted it. My setup uses nearly all 8” of ram travel from stop to stop. There may be about 3/8” of leftover travel in the ram, hoping that doesn’t present any issues by pushing the steering too far after it hits the stops. I’m also concerned with the mounting location of the ram as it sits fairly low on the axle and is exposed to rocks. This was really the only spot I could mount it due to panhard and panhard bracket interference when the driver’s side tire is fully stuffed. I may end up build some sort of skidplate/cage around it. We’ll see.
If you look closely you can see the fans behind the skidplate (for the oil cooler)
So, the box has been rebuilt & tapped and I have the ram mounted. Next on the list was fluid capacity. Lots of searching around on the web led me to Billy’s (Hellfire Fabworks) power steering reservoir. Nice little units, polished aluminum and their internally baffled. And you can’t beat the price at $60. He sells a filtered version too but I knew there was no way I’d get that to fit in the stock location. More details: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/miscellaneous/1032335-steering-reservoir-filter.html
Fitting to the pump is -10AN and -8AN from the cooler
The stock low-pressure lines are routed with a mixture of hose and steel tubing, snaking their way to the funky cooler underneath your radiator. I cut it ALL out and replaced it with a single hose from the steering box output to the cooler, and a single hose again from the cooler back to the reservoir. Less opportunities to develop leaks. My stock hoses were starting to crack in several places. Because I opted to use hose I had to get some AN-to-barb adapters. For the feed-IN from the cooler, I used a Derale 98201 fitting (-8AN to 3/8” barb). For the feed-OUT from the reservoir to the power steering pump, I used a Russell fitting 624180 (90º -10AN to 5/8” barb). The reservoir is mounted in the stock location using part of the stock bracket I cut off from my factory reservoir. I then built the rest of the bracket using some scrap metal.
The last piece of this giant puzzle was cooling. Ram assist kits generate lots of heat. Without adequate cooling you may experience issues on the trail. The factory cooler was a joke. Not even sure you can call it a cooler. I went back n forth with several options. Thought about mounting one in front of the radiator but didn’t really have the room. On one side is the tranny cooler and on the other side is the aux fan for the AC condenser. That wouldn’t work. So I settled for the Derale 13102 tube & fin oil cooler. It’s a 4-pass design that measures approx. 16.5” long, 5.2” wide and is only 3/4" tall. This was perfect for the empty space behind the skid plate of my 4x4Labs front bumper. Rock crawling is slow-going business and because I wanted to mount the cooler laying down flat inside the bumper, this meant it wouldn’t get good airflow. Probably fine during normal driving but when you’re moving less than 1mph, you’d need something to move air through the cooler.
WE NEED MORE AIRFLOW. Lots of searching until I came across the perfect sized fan. The Spal 30103011 puller fan. 313cfm at only 2amps and measures 5.2”. Perfect. I could run two of these across the top of the cooler. Don’t let the size fool you. These little guys move some SERIOUS air. They’re loud too. Hope they don’t get too annoying on the trails. Since they only draw 2amps each I wired them in line with my AC aux fan which has its own relay, fuse and switch in the cab so I could manually turn them on/off. I mounted the cooler so it’s raised about 1/2” away from the skid plate using some DIY brackets to give the air plenty of room to flow through.
And finally, here’s the whole front steering setup as it sits. You’ll notice that the draglink looks like it has a better angle in relation to the panhard thanks to it being a few inches longer. Here’s how the draglink looked before for reference:
Looks much better now! Really hoping this setup will be worry-free for years to come. One can only dream. So far I've taken it to about 50mph and the hydro assist really make it feel great down the road. Not a single vibration from the unbalanced beadlocks (2 golf balls per tire). Oh yeah, how ‘bout them new Creeper Lock beadlocks eh?
I was worried about the 8” ram being too long for my setup and potentially damaging the knuckle like I’ve read online. But it turned out to be perfect for the location I mounted it. My setup uses nearly all 8” of ram travel from stop to stop. There may be about 3/8” of leftover travel in the ram, hoping that doesn’t present any issues by pushing the steering too far after it hits the stops. I’m also concerned with the mounting location of the ram as it sits fairly low on the axle and is exposed to rocks. This was really the only spot I could mount it due to panhard and panhard bracket interference when the driver’s side tire is fully stuffed. I may end up build some sort of skidplate/cage around it. We’ll see.
If you look closely you can see the fans behind the skidplate (for the oil cooler)
So, the box has been rebuilt & tapped and I have the ram mounted. Next on the list was fluid capacity. Lots of searching around on the web led me to Billy’s (Hellfire Fabworks) power steering reservoir. Nice little units, polished aluminum and their internally baffled. And you can’t beat the price at $60. He sells a filtered version too but I knew there was no way I’d get that to fit in the stock location. More details: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/miscellaneous/1032335-steering-reservoir-filter.html
Fitting to the pump is -10AN and -8AN from the cooler
The stock low-pressure lines are routed with a mixture of hose and steel tubing, snaking their way to the funky cooler underneath your radiator. I cut it ALL out and replaced it with a single hose from the steering box output to the cooler, and a single hose again from the cooler back to the reservoir. Less opportunities to develop leaks. My stock hoses were starting to crack in several places. Because I opted to use hose I had to get some AN-to-barb adapters. For the feed-IN from the cooler, I used a Derale 98201 fitting (-8AN to 3/8” barb). For the feed-OUT from the reservoir to the power steering pump, I used a Russell fitting 624180 (90º -10AN to 5/8” barb). The reservoir is mounted in the stock location using part of the stock bracket I cut off from my factory reservoir. I then built the rest of the bracket using some scrap metal.
The last piece of this giant puzzle was cooling. Ram assist kits generate lots of heat. Without adequate cooling you may experience issues on the trail. The factory cooler was a joke. Not even sure you can call it a cooler. I went back n forth with several options. Thought about mounting one in front of the radiator but didn’t really have the room. On one side is the tranny cooler and on the other side is the aux fan for the AC condenser. That wouldn’t work. So I settled for the Derale 13102 tube & fin oil cooler. It’s a 4-pass design that measures approx. 16.5” long, 5.2” wide and is only 3/4" tall. This was perfect for the empty space behind the skid plate of my 4x4Labs front bumper. Rock crawling is slow-going business and because I wanted to mount the cooler laying down flat inside the bumper, this meant it wouldn’t get good airflow. Probably fine during normal driving but when you’re moving less than 1mph, you’d need something to move air through the cooler.
WE NEED MORE AIRFLOW. Lots of searching until I came across the perfect sized fan. The Spal 30103011 puller fan. 313cfm at only 2amps and measures 5.2”. Perfect. I could run two of these across the top of the cooler. Don’t let the size fool you. These little guys move some SERIOUS air. They’re loud too. Hope they don’t get too annoying on the trails. Since they only draw 2amps each I wired them in line with my AC aux fan which has its own relay, fuse and switch in the cab so I could manually turn them on/off. I mounted the cooler so it’s raised about 1/2” away from the skid plate using some DIY brackets to give the air plenty of room to flow through.
And finally, here’s the whole front steering setup as it sits. You’ll notice that the draglink looks like it has a better angle in relation to the panhard thanks to it being a few inches longer. Here’s how the draglink looked before for reference:
Looks much better now! Really hoping this setup will be worry-free for years to come. One can only dream. So far I've taken it to about 50mph and the hydro assist really make it feel great down the road. Not a single vibration from the unbalanced beadlocks (2 golf balls per tire). Oh yeah, how ‘bout them new Creeper Lock beadlocks eh?
I'm speachless...
Never failed to impress me! Nice job Jose!
On the other hand, I will offer no more than $5k on your rig Jose... Lol!
On the other hand, I will offer no more than $5k on your rig Jose... Lol!
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Just my $0.02. I crank the steering knuckle to full turn(where I still, however, know the birfield is fine at that angle, mr long field used to publish that angle. than I attach the ram fully extended to that direction. The rest is left to run wild while still respecting the extension, and thus angle forced on the birf in the other direction.
I've never had too, but some guys end up limiting the ram throw to protect the 40-43 degrees a birf should be safely limited to.
I NEVER run steering stops. The ram does that job. Imagine if the knuckle hits the steering stop and the ram still has safe travel(birfield angle speaking). The ram will literally crush the trunion bearings(worse case scenario), but at the very least very much street them and you steering arm and bottom knuckle studs.
That was always my thought process and it could most certainly be OCD
As for the geriatric hookers, you, ammo and I are taking turns, however I'm going first, lol!!
There's actually a guy using a 10" ram on an 80 axle using the super long arm the tierod attaches to in the stock configuration(the chunk we cut of when we make those arms into just a lower trunion bearing cap).
I've never had too, but some guys end up limiting the ram throw to protect the 40-43 degrees a birf should be safely limited to.
I NEVER run steering stops. The ram does that job. Imagine if the knuckle hits the steering stop and the ram still has safe travel(birfield angle speaking). The ram will literally crush the trunion bearings(worse case scenario), but at the very least very much street them and you steering arm and bottom knuckle studs.
That was always my thought process and it could most certainly be OCD
As for the geriatric hookers, you, ammo and I are taking turns, however I'm going first, lol!!
There's actually a guy using a 10" ram on an 80 axle using the super long arm the tierod attaches to in the stock configuration(the chunk we cut of when we make those arms into just a lower trunion bearing cap).
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Jose, ain't it a BITCh n those balls fall outta the steering box? A friend of mine did this and got so frustrated we began drinking beer. His wife came along with some vasoline (so they stuck in place) and had it together in 5 minutes.
We took her out to the best seafood restaurant in santacruz the next day, and she got the honors to be the first to drive the truck she schooled us all in tank trap!
We took her out to the best seafood restaurant in santacruz the next day, and she got the honors to be the first to drive the truck
she schooled us all in tank trap!
I think he had someone else rebuild the box. A little moly grease will hold the balls in placeJose, ain't it a BITCh n those balls fall outta the steering box? A friend of mine did this and got so frustrated we began drinking beer. His wife came along with some vasoline (so they stuck in place) and had it together in 5 minutes.
We took her out to the best seafood restaurant in santacruz the next day, and she got the honors to be the first to drive the truck
@jcardona1 - hows the pump keep up with the ram? Any sluggishness in steering? Hows it behave on the road?
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That's why I'm keeping my 33's and 2.5 inch lift a little longer. Makes trails more interesting.
- Thread starter
- #2,014
For $5k I might let you straddle my limiting strap
Thanks for the tips. That all makes perfect sense. I don't know if you recall, but I'm using my lower coilover mounts as a steering stop. The little knob on the knuckle hits that to stop steering. I set these to where the seals started to look stressed at full turn. So you'd recommend cutting these off?
I've only driven it for about 2 days on the road so far. When driving straight down the road it's awesome. The truck drove straight before, but with the ram I can let go of the wheel and it doesn't move at all. Not even a slight pull under braking. Makes it feel a bit more firm at speed which I like. I have noticed a bit of sluggishness though like when making a u-turn or making a tight turn to pull into a parking spot. I think I can live with it for now.
NLXTACY
Wits' End
Steering overhaul continued...
More details: steering reservoir with filter - Pirate4x4.Com : 4x4 and Off-Road Forum
Fitting to the pump is -10AN and -8AN from the cooler
The stock low-pressure lines are routed with a mixture of hose and steel tubing, snaking their way to the funky cooler underneath your radiator. I cut it ALL out and replaced it with a single hose from the steering box output to the cooler, and a single hose again from the cooler back to the reservoir. Less opportunities to develop leaks. My stock hoses were starting to crack in several places. Because I opted to use hose I had to get some AN-to-barb adapters. For the feed-IN from the cooler, I used a Derale 98201 fitting (-8AN to 3/8” barb). For the feed-OUT from the reservoir to the power steering pump, I used a Russell fitting 624180 (90º -10AN to 5/8” barb). The reservoir is mounted in the stock location using part of the stock bracket I cut off from my factory reservoir. I then built the rest of the bracket using some scrap metal.
Wow, looks like a nicer version of my Appleton reservoir with the oil filter. I am just waiting on the bracket to get made. How was the fit? I may just switch over to this.
NLXTACY
Wits' End
Haha how in the hell can you not have a cooling problem with 95% of the radiator blocked but @NLXTACY have so many issues?
Best looking 80 for sure! I would just need lower key colors. lol.
RIGHT!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Although I seem to be totally fine now. It was raining yesterday and the temp would swing between 178 and 180. Kinda cool
- Thread starter
- #2,017
I really had no issues with the fit. But I think getting the filtered version to fit might be tough since it's several inches taller. The non-filtered version fits just fine after you make a bracket for it. I opted to cut off the stock bracket, then just welded an L-shaped mount to that for the reservoir to sit on. Then attached with 2 hose clamps.
- Thread starter
- #2,018
RIGHT!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Although I seem to be totally fine now. It was raining yesterday and the temp would swing between 178 and 180. Kinda cool
I know it seems crazy, but I've never had any over heating issues. I mean sure the temps will start to creep when it's 110º and I'm stopped at a light, but once I start moving again they quickly drop, which to me means the radiator is getting enough airflow.
Awesome. Any more nervous at high speed? Heard it can be 'twitchy'For $5k I might let you straddle my limiting strap
Thanks for the tips. That all makes perfect sense. I don't know if you recall, but I'm using my lower coilover mounts as a steering stop. The little knob on the knuckle hits that to stop steering. I set these to where the seals started to look stressed at full turn. So you'd recommend cutting these off?
I've only driven it for about 2 days on the road so far. When driving straight down the road it's awesome. The truck drove straight before, but with the ram I can let go of the wheel and it doesn't move at all. Not even a slight pull under braking. Makes it feel a bit more firm at speed which I like. I have noticed a bit of sluggishness though like when making a u-turn or making a tight turn to pull into a parking spot. I think I can live with it for now.
- Thread starter
- #2,020
So far no. I think the steering felt twitchier before the hydro assist. Now it feels a bit heavier.
