ive never had to do anything special to mine to bleed it, i just run the engine and turn the steering wheel back and forth and add fluid as necessary

 

does anyone HA IFS? or is there another way to strengthen steering in our trucks?

 

Never seen it done. Best thing to do to strengthen the steering is to develop a 2nd idler arm that sits in the middle of the relay-rod. That will solve a lot of problems - but someone needs to setup up and do it.

 

the best way i can think of to do hydro assist, bomb-proof, 1st gen IFS steering is using a double ended ram to eliminate the center link and idler arm completely, and then running a drag link from the stering box to the passenger end of the ram

 

Subscribing because I will need to do this real soon.

 

wellll..since the thread is from '06..i dont think you'll be learning much from it LMAO

but the info in the thread is helpful

 

Bringin this thread back to life.

Ive gathered quite a bit of usefull info and ideas from other wheelers, and have thus been able to do quite a few hydro assist setups for just under $150 plus time and labor, and here's what i do:

First I drill and tap the gearbox. heres a video I made of how to do it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjbJ6479BKo

Now for the parts: I order everything through www.surpluscenter.com
Ram- Columbus 1.5x6x.75 Dual action cylinder(Dual action reffers to being aple to preassurize in either direction rather than just bleeding off) and was $91.95 PN 9-4410-06 (for Toyota mini axles) and $97.95 PN 9-4410-08 (for Dana axles)
Lines- 2 premade 1/4 x 36" single wire hydraulic lines that were $8.00 each. PN 916-1436
Bushings-2- 3/8 NPT to 1/4 NPT adapters because the ram has 3/8 ports and that is too much volume and would make the system too sluggish so I choke it down to 1/4 right at the ram. $1.00 each. PN 9-1938
Fittings- 4- 1/4" male/female 90 degree fitings (2 for gear box, and 2 for the ram; connected by the lines). $2.35 each PN 9-1922.

-Mount the ram anywhere on the axle to the steering arm.
-Use teflon tape on all fittings when assembling to prevent leaks
-Use Dextron 3 ATF for fluid. cheaper, more available in a pinch Identifiable color and smell.
- When line routing, dont secure a cold and hot line together.
defeats the purpose of cooling

Pump Mod- All i do, is drill out the restrictor on the pressure fitting coming out of the pump out to 13/64". This allows the pump to keep up with the increased fluid demand made by the ram. I have never had a pump "burn up" on me from doing this, and they've lasted many trail and road miles still counting.

Cooling- I installed a stock aluminum automatic radiator in my 5-speed rig. The automatic radiator comes with a built in tranny cooler which is not needed on a 5-speed. I simply ran the low pressure return line coming from my gearbox into one side of the tranny cooler, out the other, and into the pump. This lowers the temp of the fluid going into the pump, and increases the fluid capacity greatly, even more than an aftermarker PS cooler. I have seen no increase in engine temp from doing this, and the PS fluid is kept at a managable temp.

Trail Gear would charge almost a grand for their boxes, pumps, pulleys, brackets, lines, ram, and fittings not installed. Its not a cheap compromise, it's smart building. Save yourself the $, and put it somewhere else on your rig.