hydro assist or full hydro? Where and what to buy

cburgin

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
statesville/boone NC
I am almost done collect parts for my yj build. It will be a street legal rig on 42s and tons. Im just looking for some advice on steering... Should I go full hydro or hydro assist. If I go Hydro assist I will be running an astro box. It will see street time so that is why I am asking. I would like to be able to drive it to URE which is about an hours drive for me. It will be towed every place else. Any input on which to run and where to buy what. I would like to get this together asap.:beer:
 
I'm also in the same boat not sure to go with assist or full hydro my samurai will see limited street use but I want a good system so any input on what manufacturers to buy from is a plus.
 
Full hydro is more difficult to make street legal but possible.

I had an awful experience with AGR. It was to the point I had started the process of suing them. Never got resolved, I got screwed because my lawyer dropped the ball and let the statute of limitations run out. AGR was never interested in making a bad situation right.

PSC on the other hand has always been easy to deal with and always ready to make things right if need be.
 
ya know the progress of improved components coming out now for full hydro is impressive. I would be willing to bet that if you spent the money on high quality stuff (pump, ram, orbital ect) that the speed would be manageable and you'd get used to the lack of return to center. The only thing that would make me leery is the lack of a mechanical connection to the steering wheel should you have a hydraulic failure. That being said...hydraulics fail slowly by nature, but we are not talking minutes here if you blow a line, but maybe enough time to get the thing stopped. The other side of that coin is that you are gonna have some $$ tied up in a high-end hydraulic steering system and run leaves? In the end I would probably stick w/ assist, get a decent ram and mod the pump a bit. Worry abt going full later once you link it and beat it a bit. Def your decision tho brosef just hurry up so i can ride in it. :wheel:
 
Not that it would be a big deal but I dont think" full hydro would pass safety inspection as it has to have mechanical linkage as well. If you intend to be on teh road that much.
 
I don't think you'd have any problem getting any vehicle--especially an old yj--inspected in boone or statesville with full hydro. And It's not like you can't have return to center if you actually want it..load reactive valve with proper caster and toe. How fast or twitchy it is just depends on how many turns lock to lock you set it up for which all depends on the steering valve displacement and ram size (and pump). It can easily be made to return to center with stock 3.5 turn lock to lock just like a stock heep. Can you do it with used forklift parts? Maybe if you're lucky.
 
If you suspension can support Assist than thats the way to go in My opp. Its Simple (drill and tap 2 holes in the box and get a ram, cooler and extra res) and it works.

Once you go to full hydro it gets more complicated. Not rocket science though. Usually you want a pump with more volume
then you want a valve that will give you the feel that the steering box did. There are hoses and coolers (although an assist should have a cooler and a larger res too) to mount and route where they wont get chafed and such.
 
If leaf spring, i would go assist. If linked, full hydro...

Here is the NC statute on steering to be street legal:

§ 20‑123.1. Steering mechanism.
The steering mechanism of every self‑propelled motor vehicle operated on the highway shall be maintained in good working order, sufficient to enable the operator to control the vehicle's movements and to maneuver it safely. (1957, c. 1038, s. 3.)
 
My full hydro uses a STOCK pump and will turn with no power from the motor if need be. Cruising at 65-70 wasn't an issue either. One thing that no one has mentioned that is a big downside to assist, is the fact that if you put the rig in a power slide/fish tail etc. and need to counter steer to correct, the steering will not respond fast enough with assist...this isn't a problem with full hydro. Most every rig I've driven with assist acts like this, if you whip the wheel one way and then try to turn it back quickly the other way..it's like you've got zero power steering.
 
BIGWOODY said:
My full hydro uses a STOCK pump and will turn with no power from the motor if need be. Cruising at 65-70 wasn't an issue either. One thing that no one has mentioned that is a big downside to assist, is the fact that if you put the rig in a power slide/fish tail etc. and need to counter steer to correct, the steering will not respond fast enough with assist...this isn't a problem with full hydro. Most every rig I've driven with assist acts like this, if you whip the wheel one way and then try to turn it back quickly the other way..it's like you've got zero power steering.
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My hydro assist does this....bad! It works very good as far as crawling is concerned though. I have driven other rigs with the psc hydro assist box, and it seems to make a difference. I have also driven full hydro rigs, it takes getting used to . I think the ultimate question is what is the budget for steering? If your budget allows def go for full hydro using a quality kit.
 
I think I am going to run assist until I get everything together and running and then go full hydro down the road. Front suspension will probably always be leafs. Where is a good place to source my assist parts?
 
cburgin said:
I think I am going to run assist until I get everything together and running and then go full hydro down the road. Front suspension will probably always be leafs. Where is a good place to source my assist parts?
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I tapped my box myself and im using a 2" bore 8" stroke ram, my tierod is still in stock location and mount is welded to axle tube.

Dave at Olivers is a PSC dealer, i would contact him for a ram and tabs if you would rather have a better ram.
 
Im running a 1.5X8 ram with a 1 inch diameter shaft from surplus center on my f150 on tons with 42s. I can turn the wheel with one finger even with the arb engaged and the steering is quick too. It doesnt feel any different than a stock truck driving on the road.

If you want to piece a kit together yourself you can get everything from surpluscenter.com including the lines and fittings. The ram Im running has heims on each end and cost about $90. Lines were about $10-15 each and fittings were about $3-5 each.

Surplus center lists the lbs of force the ram can exert at certain pressures so you can compare different sizes. Generally a smaller ram is faster and less powerful than a larger ram but you have to figure in the shaft size also.
 
Tim C said:
Im running a 1.5X8 ram with a 1 inch diameter shaft from surplus center on my f150 on tons with 42s. I can turn the wheel with one finger even with the arb engaged and the steering is quick too. It doesnt feel any different than a stock truck driving on the road.
If you want to piece a kit together yourself you can get everything from surpluscenter.com including the lines and fittings. The ram Im running has heims on each end and cost about $90. Lines were about $10-15 each and fittings were about $3-5 each.
Surplus center lists the lbs of force the ram can exert at certain pressures so you can compare different sizes. Generally a smaller ram is faster and less powerful than a larger ram but you have to figure in the shaft size also.
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Have you done anything to the pump?
 
Im running a saginaw p-pump from a 95 G20 chevy van with an external reservoir from a 97 E150 van. The pump itself is stock other than drilling the pressure fitting and stretching the spring to 2" per the wext texas offroad instructions (check out thier site) I did not do anything to the shims inside the fitting just the drill and spring, two of the three mods they list.
 
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