Steering....which way to go?

What should I do?

  • Full-Hydro now

    Votes: 3 75.0%

  • Hydro-Assist now & upgrade later

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Keep it stock & get hulk arms

    Votes: 1 25.0%
  • Total voters
    4
Lurch830

Lurch830

messin' with sasquatch
Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Location
Wilton & Albemarle, NC
I'm tired of having to buy new sensors/evap components almost every year to keep my '97 rig (OBDII) inspected & compliant. It seems like 1-2 times a year my CEL comes on & I'm out some $$. That being said, I'm going to let the registration lapse and then drop insurance and have a trailer/trail rig only. My plan was to go to hydro-assist now with my d44 and when I go to a d60/14bolt upgrade to full hydro. Would it be smarter/easier to go full-hydro now & just swap out rams later?
 
Depends on your budget. If you can afford to go full hydro now, I'd go for it.
 
drkelly said:
Depends on your budget. If you can afford to go full hydro now, I'd go for it.
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That's what I'm leaning towards...guess I know what my tax refund is going towards now!
 
With the stuff that I use its almost just as expensive to go hydro assist(to do it right) as it is full hydro. I say go full hydro. If you're going on the street with it spend the money and get the right stuff.
 
CarolinaTruggies said:
With the stuff that I use its almost just as expensive to go hydro assist(to do it right) as it is full hydro. I say go full hydro. If you're going on the street with it spend the money and get the right stuff.
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Alex, can you explain this to me? I though full-hydro was not street legal since there is no mechanical linkage.
 
Lurch830 said:
Alex, can you explain this to me? I though full-hydro was not street legal since there is no mechanical linkage.
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If I can recall the legality has be discussed before and basically it doesn't say anything bout full hydro for NC. Other states around us have laws against modifying and mechanical linkage but NC to the best of my knowledge does not. Even if it does most officers and inspectors will never think twice about it.
 
I've seen a guy do hydro assist for $8. He bought a used hydraulic cylinder with hoses at DH Griffin for $8. Drilled and tapped the steering box himself and fabbed mounting brackets for the ram from scrap steel. Worked great.
 
Redneck92 said:
If I can recall the legality has be discussed before and basically it doesn't say anything bout full hydro for NC. Other states around us have laws against modifying and mechanical linkage but NC to the best of my knowledge does not. Even if it does most officers and inspectors will never think twice about it.
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Correct, I have a couple customers that run full hydro on the street with no issues in function or legality.
drkelly said:
I've seen a guy do hydro assist for $8. He bought a used hydraulic cylinder with hoses at DH Griffin for $8. Drilled and tapped the steering box himself and fabbed mounting brackets for the ram from scrap steel. Worked great.
Click to expand...
Wonderful
 
CarolinaTruggies said:
Correct, I have a couple customers that run full hydro on the street with no issues in function or legality.
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Just curious, do you use some type of load sensitive hydraulic ram so the tires automatically straighten out after a turn?

I've called PSC about ordering from them since this seems to be more of a 1-off deal.
From the reading I've done from other Datsuns, I'll have to order a toyota kit, remove the stock pump & reservoir, adapt the PSC pump to my truck's existing bracket & adapt the PSC reservoir to existing bracket. What I think I'll do (at least now anyways) is buy a 8" double ended ram with stops installed at 6" so it will work on my d44 until I go to my d60.
 
Feel free to school me on full-hydro or send me links pointing me in the right direction. I've been reading, but I'm still feeling a bit uneducated...
 
I use Howe for everything steering related, its more money than PSC but the quality is much higher and no one can argue with that.
Its kinda hard to post everything on here but everything should be a custom setup. Every pump needs to flow per the ram, the ram needs to have the exact internal stops in it and the proper cooler and res needs to be matched for the system. The return lines need to be larger than the pressure lines unlike a lot of the PSC systems.
Feel free to give me a call and I can go over some things with you if you'd like.
 
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