Show me how you mounted your hydro assist ram

[crawlin68]

Any of you that are running ram assist steering, show me some pics of how you mounted your ram. I like how Familyman did his and just looking for more ideas on how to do it. TIA.

[FFMDX]

I'm going to be mounting mine @ the raised track bar mount. I've got a cast mount and have tried mult ideas....I think i've got it now. I'm waiting for WTO to return my box AGAIN as well as waiting for another set of knuckles AGAIN. I agree, FM's mount would be the way to go, but I'm not running full width yet and have verrrrry little room. Never liked the idea of mounting to the diff cover and I doubt that would be the last resort.

My $.02

Sean

[crawlin68]

This is how a friend of mine has his mounted. Do you see any problems doing like this?

[FFMDX]

That's a pretty common way to mount the ram with limited space esp being that it's not directly on the cover itself. The only thing i'm paranoid about is that over time the constant on/off pressure from the ram will loosen the bolts. Not to redirect to another site, but the are some pretty good discussions regarding mounting to the cover on CB. The jury seems to be 50/50. That's why i'm trying the mount on my trackbar mount.

Sean

[PhantomEB]

Paging Family man to tech....paging Familyman to tech......

Post up!! I wanna see this mount of your ram too!

Was gonna go to the diff cover myself as plans were gonna be for a BTF or Crane cover. But now I see options!

[mtnbronco]

i mounted mine from the frame to the drag link

[crawlin68]

i mounted mine from the frame to the drag link

Got any pics?

[Familyman]

Sorry I am at work and don't have any pics but here is what I did. The ram on my fullwidth axle was mounted to a tube brace run accross the front of the axle tube with a flat piece of steel welded into the top. The tube attaches to a point right next to the radius arm mount and then goes strait to the diff cover and stops with an angle cut giving the appearence that it is connected to the cover. In reality there is about a 3/4 " angled gap between them. A second small piece of tube connects that end back to the axle tube. I then attached the rams angled mounts onto the flat plate on top and mounted the angled gussests going into the ram. This caused it to hit so I made a small notch in the triangle gussets so it would fit. Then To mount the rod end of the ram I had to tear drop the attachmebnt brackets so that the end mounted past the attachment point. This was because I still needed an inch or so to get the ram in place.
Sorry this is so wordy but maybe FFMDX or Crawling 68 could post a pic otherwise I will get some up on Tues.
The other person who should chime in is NOTSOPRETTY he mounted his ram on a stock front end with tre over swap and did a nice job of it.
Things that were really frustrating while deciding the location were that as the ram goes to its furthest locations it will begin to swing back into the axle tube so mock up your stuff and make sure you have full range of motion not just side to side but front to back.
Matt at Red neck ram stated they have used diff covers as mounting points. If I had choisen that option I would go with a seperate protection/ mount like the one from Poison Spider vs the all in one unit from BTF. My reason is this . You can mount your diff cover and use some liquid gasket and bolt it down. Then after it dries you can very likely pull all the bolts and place your protection over it. Should you have a major failure on the trail your diff cover may still be intact although mount and protection are compromised. If you use a BTF cover as your cover/mount/and protection and it fails you are stopped. Even if your bolts get alittle loose you shouldn't be leaking fluid everywhere although it may displace the cover also.

i mounted mine from the frame to the drag link

I looked into this too but was discouraged away from it although the WildHorses EB is set up this way.
Hope this helps - FM

[FFMDX]

Here are a couple of pix of FM's ram mount. (SORRY, i THINK THEY'RE THE SAME)

Sean

[Familyman]

Yup thats mine. Thanks FFMDX. I will get the others up soon. FM

[Familyman]

Here are a couple pics of the rod end of the ram mounted. I hope they help - FM

[Familyman]

And another

[PhantomEB]

THANKS you answered all questions I had, I like your way best now, as it also provides a truss like effect for the diff but at the same time protection of the ram.