hydro ram travel and steering stops

[missouriman]

with sky's arms and your 6 inch travel cylinder do you use the steering stops or remove them.
will the seal on the back of the ball be damaged when using the full 6 inches of cylinder travel?

my 36 inch tires with 2 inch back spaced rims just touch the leaf springs now. I have about 3/4 of an inch of un used cylinder travel.
But I have also broken a tie rod end, people are telling me to use the ram as the stop and not the stock steering stops.

[Ganoid]

You don't need the full 6" of travel on a Toyota axle. One little trick for getting the cyl bled out completely is to disconnect the shaft end and hold it up in the air while you have some one turn your wheels (need the truck running for this). With the wheels on the ground the ram should move full stroke and compression with little or no real wheel movement.

Once you do this you really get an idea of how the ram assist works. It basically allows the fluid another path and being fluid it will take the one of least resistance. So any attempt to turn the wheels with the ram not connected will result in the fluid taking the easier path through the ram until the ram bottoms out then the wheels will move.

I would not remove any steer stops. I have mine set to the point where the rubber ball seal touches the housing as the knuckle hits the stop.

[missouriman]

thanks.
but can the axle with the sky's arm take the full 6 inches of travel.
I am trying to figure out if I am breaking the TRE's by pushing on the stock steering stops.

[Ganoid]

Not sure where they are breaking but a friend of mine had sky's billet arms on his taco (toyota axle with w56 and gear case on a 3rz). He was always destroying the 2 TRE's that run from the steering box down to the steering arm (both ends). After looking it over a bit we decided that the billet arms didnt have an angle cut onto the top where the TRE mounts so it was simply over flexing the TRE due to the non angular mount. He switched out to the TG arms with the bevel cut on the top and no more problems. I personally run the Sky billet flat pitman arm but I think the Hi steer arms need a bit more angle cut into the top.

As to the full 6" of travel? no it cant but your not hurting anything by having the steering stops halt things. The ram is fairly strong but not strong enough to kill off the TRE's. Its more about mechanical advantage not excessive strength having the ram mounted up front on the steering rod.

[missouriman]

the one that I broke was on the main tie rod. from one wheel to the other.
so there should be no flex problems.
I just bought all new TRE's for both trucks as now I don't trust the after market ones..
so guess we will see.. but thinking about what could have happened just a bit earlier in the trail. pretty scarey..
it broke in about the best spot it could have on that trail. that was the really odd part. nothing hard.. a foot ball sized rock hit the outer part of the front left tire and snap...

[missouriman]

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n320/missouriman/11-4-07%20iceman%20break/HPIM2053.jpg
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n320/missouriman/11-4-07%20iceman%20break/HPIM2054.jpg
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n320/missouriman/11-4-07%20iceman%20break/HPIM2055.jpg
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n320/missouriman/11-4-07%20iceman%20break/HPIM2056.jpg
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n320/missouriman/11-4-07%20iceman%20break/HPIM2057.jpg

[subliminaltrips]

the 555 brand from napa is what i used and i had no issues. 4rnrick on pirate 4x4.com had simiar issues and is always destroying rod ends he says the 555 brand are what hes using now. search his thread over there. im not sure what arms he used i have tg's arms and rod ends that came in the kit and i wore them out because i went mudding a bunch of times in liquid sandpaper, aka florida mud annd they got a bunch of slop. i got the 555's from napa because they had them for 16 bux each with my buddys discount.