Power Steering (Hydraulic)?

[ksimpsy]

I nabbed this link from another forum. it is the Joyner kit looks like it would work fine I would worry about the seals on that big cylinder getting chewed up from sand and mud. it should be ok if they used GOOD seals. have a look.

Trooper powersteering

[Guest Lenny]

The shaft isn't a problem. Just put a boot over it. There are commercial stitched bellow covers available from places like MSC. Look here http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNPDFF?PMPAG...mp;PMT4TP=*LTIP

These are a little expensive but one 24" long bellow could be cut and probably do 2 Troopers. Others may be found cheaper elseware, but this shows you what to look for. These are full industrial duty. I've used them before on industrial machines I built and there really good quality.

Lenny

[ksimpsy]

I overlooked the most obvious problem with the joyner kit and thought it up earlier today and so did kinarfi. when the pump stops turning you stop steering. and with the pump way down on the floor like that, a rock or twig is bound to screw the belt and there you are, sitting or into a tree. at least with the gear box im using i can still turn if i loose hydraulic power.

[Guest Lenny]

I got it. Why didn't we think of it earlier. Just eat a can of spinage before going out.

Lenny

[Kinarfi]

Hey everyone, need input, next time you go out driving, see how long it takes to turn your steering wheel from center to lock, trying to figure out how fast of a motor to use in designing an electric assist power steering.

Kinarfi

[ksimpsy]

I'm still slowly plunking away at this. so far i have the pump mounted and found a belt that works. i also have the resivour mounted. when i went to mount the steering box i found that after cutting out the old steering plate and top cross bar that the Toyota box wont fit. so back to the wreckers and got a box from a 95 ford ranger it fits nicer but i have one delema. to make it fit the best i end up having the center of the Pittman shaft off center of the trooper. so my question for you guys is would it matter if one tie rod is longer than the other? any input would be great

Thanks, Kevin

[rocmoc]

I'm still slowly plunking away at this. so far i have the pump mounted and found a belt that works. i also have the resivour mounted. when i went to mount the steering box i found that after cutting out the old steering plate and top cross bar that the Toyota box wont fit. so back to the wreckers and got a box from a 95 ford ranger it fits nicer but i have one delema. to make it fit the best i end up having the center of the Pittman shaft off center of the trooper. so my question for you guys is would it matter if one tie rod is longer than the other? any input would be great

Thanks, Kevin

IMHO, it does not matter. So long as the rack is sitting in the same plane, movement should be the same in both directions. A lot of older vehicles had different sized arms. This my understanding but someone else please jump in and verify or dispute.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

[rocmoc]

After last weekend banging around for hours in the rocks, the steering upgrade has moved up on the list. My wrist took a beating. The bigger rims/tires increases the energy required to control the Trooper in the really rough stuff. Performance was killer but harder to hang on to. I WILL be working on my upgrade and probably will be going with a power steering rack and not a gear box. I am presently looking at the Porsche rack as a friend has a spare from his race car. Looks promising. I will be pulling info from this thread as people post. Kevin, pics of your pump mount would be helpful when you get a chance. This is going to be my next upgrade but it will be a summer project.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

[rocmoc]

The banging of the wrist thu the rocks is what I experience a week ago. I think part of the problem is how crude the rack is. That is one reason my upgrade will include a rack replacement.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

[ksimpsy]

Hey hers the pics of the way i mounted the pump.

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2575897070104844937LblpfI

[rocmoc]

Excellent pics, Thank you!

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

[brostar]

For those of you with the first Troopers that came out, you wont have a pair of dirt proof boots protecting the steering rack. These are available and I highly suggest you get a pair if you need them. While your there you can check out the rack, give it a good clean and bulk it up with heaps of grease with the protection you get from the boots, which will help the steering a wee bit.

ksimpsy nice job, is it up & running ok?

Cheers Mike.

[ksimpsy]

No brostar still working on it slowly havent had much time to go on it. I have the steering box mounted now so all i need to do is make the tie rods and run hoses. (probably another week. but only 3 hours worth)

[4x4x454]

You will have to keep track of all the parts and part #s for us and let us know how well it works it sounds like a good idea to me.

[ksimpsy]

Wooooo! it works! it really works! finally got it all together and can dry steer with the tracks on the shop floor effortlessly. this could be a problem in the future so im going to look at lowering the pressure relief in the pump. i will do a more detailed build summary with some more pics for you guys soon.

[Guest Lenny]

Kimpsey, thats good news. I'm starting to wonder if hydraulic steering rather then electric would be better. As much as I had to manhandle the steering wheel, now that I have the bigger tires, if an electric unit has to put that much energy on a continous basis, I don't know if the alternator can keep up. We don't want to end up with a dead battery. Kinarfi can probably run the numbers on how much an electric system will pull in amps on average. Maybe going to a larger alternator would do it. Then it's a matter of which system pulls the most power from the engine. I suspect that they will be close to the same because they both have to do the same amount of work. The differences in efficiency may not be that much. I'm ready for power steering. Right now, my right hand and wrist are a little swellen from the steering wheel catching my thumb when my right wheel clipped a rock when climbing a tough section. Because it was tough, I was hanging on pretty hard so it nailed me pretty good. Didn't break my hand but it did do some damage.

Lenny

[ksimpsy]

i am actually surprised at how little the engine is pulled down it doesn't even make the thing labor until it hit the end of the steering. i think the little pump is quite efficient.

Kevin

[ksimpsy]

OK Guys I've got it all together and working. i will give you a build tally.

-power steering pump and resivour from a 1985 Honda prelude. (it has same pulley but runs in opposite direction than trooper engine)

-power steering gear box from mid 90's ford ranger

(pump and box $50 at auto wreckers)

-4 heavy duty 5/8" rod ends $100

-6,' 1" sch 80 seamless pipe for tie rods $25

-custom built hydraulic hose and ends put on the pump and box lines. (my buddy works at a garage and made the hose ends fit the pump and box hoses were a weird size) $50

- 4v belt 27" long $25

- bits of scrap steel to build the mount out of

So probably $275 worth of materials.

I had to take apart the gear box to make it so the travel was only 3.5" to match the stock steering. I did this by welding a pipe spacer on the end of the traveling gear inside the box. i also had to file the Pittman arm spline to allow me to change the orientation of the arm. i also used the ford steering shaft because the splines were different than the trooper of course. what i did was cut spline off of the trooper u joint and welded the spline form the ford onto it so i had the stock shaft of the trooper i just had to cut it down some.

that's pretty much it. it wasn't that bad, I guess i had to build a mount for the pump as well as the resivour tank.

check out all the pics i took and if you have any questions I'll be happy to answer them.

http://community.webshots.com/album/570457277hlTLyB

Kevin

[ksimpsy]

Hey Guys did anybody ever find the exact distance the steering goes lock to lock? I figured mine out with the unit jacked up in the air and turned the wheels till it felt like the cv's started to bind and this worked out to 3.5" but when i measure the stock box i get 4" Just wondering if anyone can clear this up for me because now that i have driven the unit around a bit it seems that i should have built it to move the 4"

Thanks

Kevin

[Kinarfi]

Here's how I did the stock set up, Get max travel determined by CV starting to bind and back off until free on each side. Set toe in using the tie rod adjustment, recheck travel and as Lenny pointed out. the diff center line is rearward of the front axle center line, so check CV bind when that wheel is turned out, left side turning left, rt side turning rt. And the stop on the right stops the left and Vice Versa.

[Gumball]

For those working on power steering, there may be another way to improve Trooper steering. Check out this website www.unisteer.com. They have some very interesting products that are a lot less costly than a power steering unit and they may do the job. In any case they might be a valuable source of information.

One of the service they offer is building custom rack & pinion setups. If you download their catalog it may give you some good ideas.

Have fun!

Gumball

[ksimpsy]

For those working on power steering, there may be another way to improve Trooper steering. Check out this website www.unisteer.com. They have some very interesting products that are a lot less costly than a power steering unit and they may do the job. In any case they might be a valuable source of information.

One of the service they offer is building custom rack & pinion setups. If you download their catalog it may give you some good ideas.

Have fun!

Gumball

How do you figure less costly? they want a $1000 for a kit I'm in $300 tops

[Gumball]

ksimpsy,

If you can produce reliable power steering for $300.00 made for the Trooper that's great. I'll be one of your customers. I only offered this website as a source of information.

The attachment shows a manual rack. You're right, their power steering is a lot more than $300.00.

Gumball