Hopefully the end of the power steering issues

[sleeoffroad]

In preparing to take the ShortBus on the Ultimate Adventure from Petersen' s 4Wheel Off-Road http://www.4wheeloffroad.com/2006ultimateadventure/ we decided to get rid of the power steering issues that have always plagued the ShortBus.

Decided to go full hydro Using PSC components we have ditched the stock pump in favour of a high pressure/flow pump mounted where the idler pulley used to be for the AC belt. The pump acts as tensioner. The gear on the original pump was removed and the pump was re-installed with plugs. Now I have a spare 1FZFE for someone on the trail

We are still working on the bottom outlet port to get it more tucked in.

We had custom hi-steer arms machined that are prototype for production units. This in conjunction with a RH steering arm allowed us to install a double shear arm setup. More details on these arms will be available later once we have tested it and made some changes. This will be good news for people swapping 80 axles into other projects.

Double ended ram with custom links does the pushing. 1 finger steering with 40" tires. We still have to add a little tube protection to the ram area.

This is a little bit hardcore and really only intended for the off-road only crowd, but it does open the door for hydro assist for others that are more on-road/off-road but pretty hardcore.

Wish us well, we are leaving next Friday for the UA and hope to have a really fun time behind that FJ Cruiser with 39" BFG Crawlers on Dana 60's.

 

[FJBen]

NICE! I was just mentioning about high-steer setup in another thread yesterday! Very nice looking as usual Christo!

 

[ginericLC]

Christo,

Did they give you any idea as to where you were headed? At least one of the spy photos looks like a trail close to me in Idaho.

 

[sleeoffroad]

We can't let the cat out of the bag yet.

























Do you have any spares up there?

 

[LandCrusher'70]

That's awsome. I would never need it, but are you planning on making this available to the 'trail rig' crowd?

 

[beaufort-fj60]

This is a little bit hardcore and really only intended for the off-road only crowd, but it does open the door for hydro assist for others that are more on-road/off-road but pretty hardcore.

Wish us well, we are leaving next Friday for the UA and hope to have a really fun time behind that FJ Cruiser with 39" BFG Crawlers on Dana 60's.

bring extra hoses, every time I see hydro fail (heavy construction) it's always the hoses. but you probably already know that good luck

 

[MaddBaggins]

bring extra hoses, every time I see hydro fail (heavy construction) it's always the hoses. but you probably already know that good luck

Ditto that. Hoses are the weak link. Went with a guy a couple weeks ago with hydro assist, b4 we hit the trail his cooler line burst, and it was high pressure line. Good luck and have fun.

 

[sleeoffroad]

We do have extra hoses and also use high quality parts. But we will be prepared for those issues.

 

[Tools R Us]

Them arms be some nice bling!

Are the housing ABS with the third bolt in the ABS hole or non ABS housings drilled and tapped?

 

[Tapage]

Chisto .. your panhard setup ... did you think in a longer fram base to put it less inclined . ?

Congrats for your setup .. it giveme some good ideas for my PS solutions with PSD PS pumps ..

 

[semlin]

so is that street legal?

 

[Gumby]

Nope. Not full hydro. No return to center makes it scary to drive at speed, from what I understand.

 

[sleeoffroad]

Not really. However you can use a balanced orbital valve that makes it feel like stock steering. Just came back from a road test. Drives pretty good on road and moderate speeds. The only difference is that it is direct assist and not gradual like the stock steering.

However for the not so hard core, the hydro assist will be interesting as well as a larger power steering reservoir for more fluid and better cooling.

 

[sleeoffroad]

Them arms be some nice bling!
Are the housing ABS with the third bolt in the ABS hole or non ABS housings drilled and tapped?

Pin pressed into housing and welded from the inside. Tapped at the top. Production ones will have taper so we can run studs and cone washers.

 

[sleeoffroad]

Another benifit of the hi-steer would be to lift the drag link, and then also lift the panhard rod. With reduced angles, you will get less bump-steer.

 

[Tools R Us]

Another benifit of the hi-steer would be to lift the drag link, and then also lift the panhard rod. With reduced angles, you will get less bump-steer.

Cool deal. Will there be a production just right side for those of us that want to reduce the drag link angle? Will it allow use of the ABS sensor for us that want to keep it? How much bumpstop is needed to keep the link from hitting the frame?

 

[sleeoffroad]

Cool deal. Will there be a production just right side for those of us that want to reduce the drag link angle?

We will see how this testing goes.

Will it allow use of the ABS sensor for us that want to keep it?

I really do not see a way to keep the ABS.

How much bumpstop is needed to keep the link from hitting the frame?

Not sure on a stock truck. But on mine I have to bumpstop to keep the ram out of the pump. I doubt if that link will get close to the frame.

 

[IBCRUSN]

Hoses and clearance were mentioned as an issue. Have you considered using braided stainless hoses? If you go that route and use AN fittings you'll be good above 3000psi. I can't imagine that a PS pump system would be much above 1500psi but it would give a decent safety margin. If you don't need 3000psi the AN fittings and Stratoflex 111 or Aeroquip 303 hose is good to 3000psi up to -5, 2000psi for up to -8. The nice thing about the Stratoflex and 303 is you can reuse the fittings and only bring hose with you.

For the clearance see if an AN 120 degree fitting or Earl's has an integrated pipe and AN fitting:

http://www.holley.com/829006ERL.asp

By the pics it looks too late to rotate the ram to put the fittings on the back side and it's late in the game to try and fit another style pump.

I do like the pump location though. I have been mulling over a hyd. pump and didn't think of the idler location. What kind of pressure and flow does that pump put out?

Best of luck with the completion and the UA trip, look like a lot fun.

 

[Flygtenstein]

The HP side is 3000 psi with a braided stainless liner.

This orbital is 3 or so turns lock to lock so it is not as twitchy as some.

Turning 40's, at idle with one finger from outside the truck is pretty amazing.

At speed it drives perfectly, well steers perfectly. Not a step to take for a street truck, but if you want the pig to turn on the trail, this is a Cadilac.

PSC pump, reservoir and hose kit made for a clean install. Top notch.

 

[sleeoffroad]

Hoses and clearance were mentioned as an issue. Have you considered using braided stainless hoses? If you go that route and use AN fittings you'll be good above 3000psi. I can't imagine that a PS pump system would be much above 1500psi but it would give a decent safety margin. If you don't need 3000psi the AN fittings and Stratoflex 111 or Aeroquip 303 hose is good to 3000psi up to -5, 2000psi for up to -8. The nice thing about the Stratoflex and 303 is you can reuse the fittings and only bring hose with you.

The hoses all come from the hyudraulic store and rated for the application. All fitting are field serviable without crimping tools. Rest of the parts are from PSC.

For the clearance see if an AN 120 degree fitting or Earl's has an integrated pipe and AN fitting:

http://www.holley.com/829006ERL.asp

We have another pump where the low pressure outlet will be retapped to fit an integrated 90 so we will cut 1.5" of that elbow. That is the only way the pump can sit.

By the pics it looks too late to rotate the ram to put the fittings on the back side and it's late in the game to try and fit another style pump.

If the fittings are on the back, then they will hot the panhard on compression. They are pretty much straight up. We are making am little tube bumper to weld on the front. If we had the time, we would have relocated the panhard, and do the ram closer to the axle. Did not have the time, and after UA, that axle is coming out and will be for sale. Going to go with a new custom housing using Toyota 80 rear diff with 35 spline ARB and Dana 60 outer ends.

The other problem with this ram was that the mounts were welded on. We did have a ram from PSC that had mounts that could rotate, but it just did not fit. We would have been another 6" forward of the axle.

I do like the pump location though. I have been mulling over a hyd. pump and didn't think of the idler location. What kind of pressure and flow does that pump put out?

Pump is from PSC. http://www.pscmotorsports.com/index.php?cPath=21_49 Not lsited directly but similar to the hipressure/flow ones they list.

It was the only place where we couuld get the belt drive and be low enough to
have feed from the reservoir. The tits would be to make that pump spin on the original gear drive of the oe pump.

Best of luck with the completion and the UA trip, look like a lot fun.

Thanks, we hope all works out. So far so good. We have tested the same components on another truck, so the parts are tested, other than the steering arms.