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[5536paulj]

Sent you a pm!

[Eclipsed4ever]

Cheers for the help PJ, it would appear we're all fixed now. I had the transfer box off again yesterday (hopefully for the last time). Fitted the new seals and lifted the box back in. After a quick burn it looks like there's no more ATF pissing out on a slope - it still leaks from somewhere else but hey ho, I'm learning that this is the Jeep way.



Today I've started building a steel roof as the soft top is already looking a bit sorry for itself. I've made up some brackets to support the windscreen to the roll cage. These will act as mounts for the roof also. I've got a plan in my head of how to make it so this afternoon I picked up a sheet of 2mm steel, ready for tomorrow.



I've also fitted a washer bottle and pump today. Following the visibility issues at cheapfest I thought it'd be wise. It's all in and piped, I'm just on the hunt for the connections for the original bottle. A pair of new wiper blades then and we'll be away!




I also received this it the post the other day... very proud 

[wildwood]

I would strongly recommend an exo cage that protects the windscreen and bulkhead......

How do I know these things

I Believe you saw the damage

[Eclipsed4ever]

Was that your XJ then willwood? I will look at adding the cage as I progress with the truck. The front wings have already taken some damage from a pesky tree so they may be in line for an upgrade. So far the rear has survived.

The roof has gone well today. It's all on there and bolted down. Done some door shut seals to and added a rear 'anti-rain-down-the-neck' panel. All I have left to do is spray the panel black but unfortunately I run out of time. I'm setting up a trial at Bodenham near Hereford tomorrow with it so it'll have to do for now. Should take some more abuse than the soft top though. I'll get some photos of it all in the light tomorrow, no doubt along with some mud!

[wildwood]

My POS was the 1 Ton YJ on the trailer..... Big red Ram in front.......

I burst it after 4 hrs.......pesky trees........did the prop the leaf spring and bulkhead and screen..
 

[Eclipsed4ever]

Ah yes I do vaguely recall. Oops! 

I've nearly finished the roof. It's all built and has already received some abuse, but as yet, no paint.







It survived the weekend well, unlike certain other parts... my front prop decided it would give up when we were setting up on the Saturday. I wasn't hugely impressed with how it broke. There was barely any metal there and it just wound the end off. Thankfully a welder wasn't too far away so I gave it a second life.



The only other issue I had was a split water hose - again. The only original hose on the engine isn't very special. Gonna be replacing with some new silicon.

All in all I had a good laugh trialling it on the Sunday - I think it was my highest ever score! I probably annihilated the most trees I ever have as well. Hey ho, there's plenty left!







I've been given the go ahead for nabbing my mates hydraulic ram so I'm gonna start looking at mounting that to the front axle. I was going to give the standard power steering pump a go at running the system. Just keeping my eyes out for a suitable danfoss unit now and we'll be well on the road to full hydro-steer 

[Eclipsed4ever]

Anyone know a good supplier of track rod ends to fit the high steer arms on the Dana 60 that i can use to make some track rods?

[Eclipsed4ever]

Well I've started my hydrosteer conversion. I've got a ram identical to the one I use on my trialler so when funds allow I'll get another one made as a spare for both trucks. It's has a 6" stroke, 40mm rod, 60mm bore and M20 rose joints. I'm going to use the standard track rods to join to the high steer arms. They're pretty big so should take the abuse and as I'm not sure how well the high steer arms would weld, I decided not to use rose joints the same as the trialler.

I've looked at various truss's from Artec and alike as well as customs but I'm not going to that extent. A lot of them seem to be a little overkill and reduce clearance in front/behind the axle tube. It already has a mild truss on the front which I'm going to use as the main joint for the ram mount but I will also add a few extra bits to aid keeping it where I want it. As long as your not a prick driving a D60 should cope I'm sure.

I'm using 6mm plate steel to make up the main mount, the gussets will be the same. I'm planning on running a bar from either end of the axle up across the front of the ram to help steady things. The track rods I'm just going to chop up the current steering rods. I was hoping to maintain the mechanical steering to a certain extent but on closer investigation, the hydro bracketry will be in the way and it would be more hassle than it's worth keeping it.

Well I've got the main plate tacked up today. The ram is nice and high so it should be clear of any rocks. It is going to make things pretty tight with the rad on full bump though. I may have to look into some additional bump stops rather than just the shocks. I could lower the ram but this will mean the track rods will have to raise up if I stick with the track rod ends. I could use rose joints but this will mean trying to weld to the (I believe hardened) high steer arms. I can't use a clevis joint as the arms are at the same angle as the kingpin.

Anyway, pikkys...



Trying to figure out what height I need the ram at.







Tacked up

I haven't actually got a danfoss unit yet which is another reason for wanting to keep the mechanical steering but I can probably deal without moving it until I get one. For financial reasons I'm just going to go with a bog standard one for now, no reaction will be fine. When I get chance I'll upgrade it to a reaction one to improve at speed manoeuvres. I can pick one of these up for about £75.

I already have a load of hydraulic pipes made up left over from the trialler. It's only 2 to go from the danfoss to the ram anyway. I'm using the standard power steering pump for now and we'll see how that copes. If it struggles I'll bump it up to a proper group 2 hydraulic pump.

Next job... some gussets and tube round the front if I can find something suitable lieing around. Then track rods. Then try and get a danfoss here and with that in it'll be almost time to test it! 

[Eclipsed4ever]

Done a bit more work on the hydro steer today. First thing this morning was to check clearance on full bump as I was having second thoughts about where I'd mounted the ram yesterday. As much as I'm not likely to get to full bump, when the red mist descends anything can happen.

Jeep at full bump:




It was worth checking as the ram fowled on the rad. Could of been an inconvenient mess!


So I tilted the ram down which shifted it out of alignment of the holes on the high steer arms meaning I also moved it closer into the axles. All in all the ram is a bit lower and a bit closer to the axle so it should even be a little stronger now. The arms would now also pass the chassis rails - useful!



Now happy with the position, I fitted some gussets to the existing truss and knocked up a bar to go round the front. The bar is mainly for added protection rather than strength. The ends of the ram should be sufficiently protected from any subordinate rocks/trees.







When everything looked good I zapped it up - well from the top. I've yet to drop the axle to weld everything up underneath.



As I havent a steering valve yet I refitted the mechanical steering bars which seems to fit nicely by the hydro mount 



Still on the lookout for a valve so I can complete the install...

[wildwood]

nice work! positional welding sucks...... Upside down stuff to non welders!.... burnt some new holes in the overalls today doing just that....

[Graham]

nice work! positional welding sucks...... Upside down stuff to non welders!.... burnt some new holes in the overalls today doing just that....

Is that when all the hot bits fall into your overall sleeves, burning your elbow as you jump and smash your head into the axle?  Or is that just me?

[Eclipsed4ever]

Yea I hate welding upside down - try to avoid it wherever possible. You get rained on by hot poo and (certainly mine) welds are usually poop to boot. All in all it's poop!

Took a bit of a break from fiddling with the steering this weekend, I decided to tidy up some of the wiring. There were quite a few dingly danglies under the dash so I've tied up/removed them as required. I also connected up the new washer bottle to the factory wiring so I can at least wash the window now! 



I took the drivers seat out and fitted my new special hi-tech titanium nitro drivers seat.



With the new seat it, I now had access to the main cage which in the usual manner of drifting from job to job led to fabricating a new firewall. Some 2mm steel should provide adequate protection, certainly better than the fresh air of before.







I'd previously been planning to fit an alloy fuel cell but I was struggling to find one with the right dimensions to fit nicely without having a custom one made. During the head scratching I decided that the fuel tank I already had would fit quite nicely turned around and butted up against the new firewall. So, that's what I did...





Another benefit of this is swapping the filling neck to the drivers side, the same as the shogun, making it easy to fill in petrol stations whilst also getting diesel  :wink:

I just need a couple of elbows to move the filler and repipe/wire up the fuel pump and the move will be done. I also need to get the firewall back out to spray black at the same time as the roof and the axle/hydro steer. This will pretty much be the next job.

[Eclipsed4ever]

Had a reasonably busy day today. Firstly I went to a mates place to pull apart an old tractor in order to recover the steering valve. As they say it's not what you know it's who you know. Freebie valve Looks like it will do the job nicely to.

So when I got back first job was to finish off the mount. I removed the lower links, the prop and the shocks and rolled the axle over enough to weld it up.





I'm keeping the Jeep steering column so set to joining my new valve to the end of it. With a bit of shortening and a wee bit of modification to the joint to squeeze it down a little more it went together lovely.



I fabbed up a new mount for the steering valve and once in place welded it in.



Annoyingly I haven't got the right fittings for the valve yet as they're something odd. Should be getting some adapters tomorrow so until then I couldn't put it all in.

With the steering valve and the ram ready, all that's left is pipework and track rods. I've knocked up two rods but I've now run out of welding gas so for now its only tacked. They're a bit agricultural but they're a similar design to my trialler which I've had no problems with. I checked the movement lock to lock and that all looks good. The ram has marginally too much travel so I'm going to have to fit lock stops..





Nearly done

[Eclipsed4ever]

I picked up some fittings for the steering box on Thursday and it turns out they're M18 fine. Makes sense for a reasonably new valve.

Bolted all the valve in and piped it up. Annoyingly one of the hydraulic pipes needs the 90 degree fitting turned round. Anyway, filled her up with oil and fired it up... Wahey! We have movement!

With a bit of bleeding I got most of the air out the system and it all seems to work well. I've got a bit of tidying up to do and paint the axle And we'll be done.

All in all its been a pretty cheap conversion:
£120 for the ram
£20 worth of fittings
£free hydro valve
£free hydraulic pipes
Very pleased so far. Will find out at the turkey hunt just how well it works.

[Eclipsed4ever]

Well after a reasonably successful day at the turkey hunt I'm confident the steering will survive. The only issue I had was the bolts coming loose by the end of the day.

I'm going to add two strips of steel for the ram to push against so the bolts arn't under any pressure. Some nylocs might not be a bad idea either.

One nice surprise was that the steering does in fact return to centre. Good stuff as it means I won't need to swap it out in the future.

Next job is tidy it all up. The axle needs painting and both the track rods could be a little more pleasing to the eye.

For now I'm going to use the PAS pump, it seems to cope. In the future I'm thinking of running a tandem hydraulic pump to do the steering and a good quality front winch. That's probably a way away yet though so hopefully it'll survive until then.