I say that just about any time I do something other than sit at my desk.
Tennessee Red
- Thread starter gasiorv
- Start date
I say that just about any time I do something other than sit at my desk.
Mine was dried up. I tried to blow as much as I could out of the frame rails but I think there is still more in there.
Anand YES I remember getting all that stuff moved around by myself. It was a lot of work.
Strong work, Victor. And I love the saw cut through the dirt. (edit: Also for Rick. Now I wonder what I will find...)
Damn, Skippy - beautiful work. And don't be hatin' on your welding skills - it looks great!
gasiorv
I'm a new world samurai, and a redneck nonetheless
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I like the "old school" forums like this forum. I can't come around to the Facebook and I tried Instagram with no luck. There is just so much information that is easily searched, gurus available for consult, friends made, etc... through these types of forums. I visit this forum on average probably once a day and another old school Ford van forum at least once a week and I just enjoy reading up and learning. Yes, there are times when feelings get hurt and panties get in a bunch, but come on, it is funny and worth getting over to learn a little!
If you're like me and like the forum, become a member and also support the sponsors. Mr Blaine at BMB and Wizard Off-road Recovery provide awesome info and great products with the best customer service (ever!), Shawn at Tom Woods is top notch, Wranglerfix, etc... all great sponsors that help this to keep going. Support those that support you!
Thanks for all the help, all the good reading, and all the laughs over the last few years. Hopefully I will meet more of you out on the trail.
If you're like me and like the forum, become a member and also support the sponsors. Mr Blaine at BMB and Wizard Off-road Recovery provide awesome info and great products with the best customer service (ever!), Shawn at Tom Woods is top notch, Wranglerfix, etc... all great sponsors that help this to keep going. Support those that support you!
Thanks for all the help, all the good reading, and all the laughs over the last few years. Hopefully I will meet more of you out on the trail.
Well, obviously me too. I’m in the middle (at the start of) the biggest automotive project I’ve ever attempted. I probably wouldn’t have tried were it not for the expert help on this forum. @mrblaine , in particular, is remarkable. I try not to bother him and get through things on my own. But every time I do call, he picks up the phone immediately and is willing to talk as long as necessary. Pretty cool.
Tell us about the Ford van?
I will always do my best for those who are willing to listen. That said, I'm a full grown adult in control of all my faculties, you can't bother me if I don't let you and if I let you, you aren't a bother. I pick up unless you catch me when I'm not able to answer but I will get back to you as soon as I'm able. I'd much rather discuss something that stops a mistake or reversal in process that wastes time going backwards so sometimes it is best to let me be the judge of what is and isn't trivial.
Fair warning, use of the term "quick question" will almost always get my "does the speed of the question determine the accuracy of the answer?" response. Just ask the question, quick, slow, or whatever doesn't change the answer even if you ask it really really fast.
I will always do my best for those who are willing to listen. That said, I'm a full grown adult in control of all my faculties, you can't bother me if I don't let you and if I let you, you aren't a bother. I pick up unless you catch me when I'm not able to answer but I will get back to you as soon as I'm able. I'd much rather discuss something that stops a mistake or reversal in process that wastes time going backwards so sometimes it is best to let me be the judge of what is and isn't trivial.
Fair warning, use of the term "quick question" will almost always get my "does the speed of the question determine the accuracy of the answer?" response. Just ask the question, quick, slow, or whatever doesn't change the answer even if you ask it really really fast.
Yeah. I guess it usually isn’t quick, or singular. But thanks. Its always fun to me.
gasiorv
I'm a new world samurai, and a redneck nonetheless
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Back in July I picked up a cheap Ford E350 with a fiberglass medical top from an older guy up in KY who did a poor job at trying to convert it to a camper van. I redid the brake system, fixed some vacuum leaks to get the HVAC controls to work, added a brake controller and hitch. Then I ripped out his half ass interior and electrical system and the put in a a queen size bed, sink, and air conditioner (currently working on installing diesel heater). Currently running everything except air conditioner off jackety. I have to plug into shore or run generator for air conditioner. Plan is to keep it as simple as possible and use it for a year or so and figure out what I need and where it needs to be and then after I figure it out, rip it back out, insulate the van, add some interior panels, and then reinstall. I put the bed high enough that I have plenty of storage under the bed and I can also put a cot under there for my son to sleep. I have used it for numerous mt bike trips, canoe trips, and did some overlanding in it with the wife, and also pulled the jeep to OK, MO, AL, and East TN. It is currently sitting on 31" mud tires and I just picked up a winch to put on a draw bar so I can slide it into front or rear as needed when overlanding out on forest service roads and trails. The problem with the forest service trails is not the ruts, the rocks, or mud holes, it is the tree branches with the high top. It is not a $100k sprinter or ram van conversion, but for under $10k total so far it fits my personality and I like it.
I always thought these truck chassis vans were way cooler than the sprinters. Looks like a fun project
I've seen it in person. Very cool setup.
I don't recall, Vic - what engine is in the beast?
gasiorv
I'm a new world samurai, and a redneck nonetheless
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It has the 2v 5.4L with the 4R75E transmission. 3.73:1 LSD semi float Dana 60 rear axle. I got an engine tune for it which not only changed engine parameters but also shift points which made a huge improvement and it pulls pretty good now. Not as good as my F150 with the 6 speed transmission, but pretty darn good.
Nice set up Victor. I've always thought the sprinter vans were crazy expensive for what they are. This seems like a smart choice.
gasiorv
I'm a new world samurai, and a redneck nonetheless
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I nicknamed it SBAT Life in lieu of vanlife. Sure Beats A Tent (SBAT) is all I was looking for, I didn't want the Instagram van life.
gasiorv
I'm a new world samurai, and a redneck nonetheless
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Wrapped up the rear stretch this past weekend. Turned out pretty good, look forward to getting it out for a shakedown.
While at Golden Mtn last month, I had a steering issue on my jeep. I have been running a West Texas Offroad ported Mercedes box (2003-2006) with a PSC 6" hydro assist ram, a PSC hi-flow pump (with attached aluminum reservoir), and the BMB inline cooler for a few years with no issues. Well that streak ended. While hammering it pretty hard on some slick muddy rocks, the steering got real clunky, and then it stopped working all together. I could not turn left or right at all, it was locked in place. I disconnected the hydro assist ram from the axle and drag link and zip tied it to the bumper and was able to turn the wheel both left and right but only had manual steering, no power steering at all. Was able to use the manual steering to get the Jeep back to camp and then parked it and jumped in with Jeff. Next morning I went to put the jeep on the trailer and I had power steering again, it was a little clunky but it worked. When I got home and unloaded the jeep I had perfect power steering, I even drove it around the block just to see.
I did not know if it was the power steering pump or the steering box (more on that later). The box was leaking and had some play on the input side so I decided I wanted to replace it no matter what, so I purchased the PSC Big Bore XD box which has the 2003-2006 mount locations. I also decided to go ahead and replace the pump and purchased the PSC high flow pump and the reservoir with 12AN and 8AN return.
The PSC Big Bore box is much larger than the removed Mercedes box so I had to trim my bumper a little to get it to fit, I also had to shorten the intermediate shaft and move the heim that I have on the intermediate shaft. After I got it installed, the hydro assist ports are in a different location on the PSC box than on the removed mercedes box so I had to figure out the hose routing for the hydro ram (no big issue, just had to swap lines with some spares that I had), I also had to change the Hi pressure line from the pump to box to a pre-2003 line and then the return was a dandy to figure out, I had Blaine's adapter with a 90 deg 8AN fitting on the mercedes box, but that was not going to work and I knew that Blaine shipped a 45 deg 8AN but finding it in my garage had me scratching my head and saying a few cuss words, I then found it, just where I put it. The 45 deg with a slightly longer hose to the cooler was the ticket. I mounted the reservoir on the inner fender and ran a new 8AN line from the cooler to the reservoir and then a 12AN line from reservoir to the pump. Overall a days work, but not a bad day. Bled the system and took it for a drive around the block and all seems good, I will drive it to work one day this week for a good test and hopefully all will be ready to go wheel.
So late last night, I took the steering box apart and I could not find any smoking gun in the box, everything looked good and the valve appears to be operating correctly.
I then took the pump apart and again could not find anything apparent wrong, there was no metal debris, everything turned nice and seemed to work as it should. But I don't want to rely on the pump as-is as a spare, because it may have been the culprit and I wouldn't know it until it got heated up.
So I got to thinking (which is dangerous) to try and figure out what could have happened:
This is what I came up with as my theory. I honestly don't have any solid basis for anything that follows, this is just what I put together from taking apart the box and pump, so take it all with a grain of salt, it could all be wrong, or it could be right on, I do not know, this is just late night hanging out in the garage.
It appears that the way the steering box works is that there is a screw (input shaft) that moves a piston in and out. That piston has teeth on the side that turns the sector shaft. That is the manual part of the steering box. The power comes from fluid being on both sides of the piston and as the screw is turned and meets resistance it turns the valve one way or the other and this provides pressure to one side or the other on the piston.
It appears that the directional valve in the box is a 4 port, 3 way floating or open center valve with Pressure (P), Tank (T), A and B chambers.
A is LH turn and B is RH turn.
Steering ram- the box was tapped so that the fluid from each side of the piston flows to the ram. So it basically makes the box piston chamber larger. So you turn the wheel to the LH and it pressurizes the A side of the box and thus the ram and with LH input the B side flows back to Tank (reservoir).
Since it is a floating center valve, the A and B sides are also connected to the T (reservoir) when there is no input supplied. Thus, if you have a valve failure, you can still manually drive the piston with the screw because it would release the opposite side of the piston to tank, even if you have ram installed. Same applies if you have no pressure coming from the pump, you would still have manual steering because you can still manually drive the piston with the screw because it would release the opposite side of the piston to tank, this is the definition of a floating center, it is connected to T.
So why did the steering not work at all when the ram was hooked up (with ram hooked up the steering was locked in place) and then it provided manual steering when the ram was disconnected?
My theory is that something happened in the pump. Something in the pump pressurized the reservoir (T), thus preventing fluid from floating from the A and B chambers to the reservoir (T). With the fluid not able to flow back to the reservoir the box and ram now become a closed system. But even with the closed system, If the box and ram pistons move together from A to B then the fluid would flow from A to B and the manual steering would function properly. However, since the screw is now pressurizing the "opposite " side chamber with the way my hydro assist ram is configured it would actually restrict the pistons from moving. See attached figures.
Normally to turn left the A chambers are pressurized and B chambers go to Tank. In the figures the box piston would move down and the Ram piston would move left, both are turning the wheels to the Left. However, we actually are now doing the opposite, we are applying pressure via the screw, so to push the box piston down it pressurizes the B side which pushes the ram to the right and they fight each other. Thus you can't turn the wheels. If we disconnect the ram from the mounting points, now the ram rod is free to move in either direction and when we pressurize the B chamber with the screw it pushes the ram (opposite of what was intended, but since it is not hooked up it moves) and the fluid is free to flow. So with the ram disconnected we get manual steering capability. It was witnessed that with the ram zip tied to the bumper that the ram rod was extending in and out, this makes sense (even with no hydraulic pressure) because for the fluid to move from the A to B sides it would have to move the piston in the ram. It was most likely moving opposite of what it should have been to turn the wheels.
Next day the pump was cold, whatever was malfunctioning in the pump to allow the pressure to equalize across the P and T sides has now shrunk or seal has reseated, etc... and I again have power steering.
Anyway, if anyone with hydraulics or power steering experience reads this and wants to chime in on how off base I am, I would appreciate it. It would be nice to know what actually happened so if it ever happens in the future I will know.
While at Golden Mtn last month, I had a steering issue on my jeep. I have been running a West Texas Offroad ported Mercedes box (2003-2006) with a PSC 6" hydro assist ram, a PSC hi-flow pump (with attached aluminum reservoir), and the BMB inline cooler for a few years with no issues. Well that streak ended. While hammering it pretty hard on some slick muddy rocks, the steering got real clunky, and then it stopped working all together. I could not turn left or right at all, it was locked in place. I disconnected the hydro assist ram from the axle and drag link and zip tied it to the bumper and was able to turn the wheel both left and right but only had manual steering, no power steering at all. Was able to use the manual steering to get the Jeep back to camp and then parked it and jumped in with Jeff. Next morning I went to put the jeep on the trailer and I had power steering again, it was a little clunky but it worked. When I got home and unloaded the jeep I had perfect power steering, I even drove it around the block just to see.
I did not know if it was the power steering pump or the steering box (more on that later). The box was leaking and had some play on the input side so I decided I wanted to replace it no matter what, so I purchased the PSC Big Bore XD box which has the 2003-2006 mount locations. I also decided to go ahead and replace the pump and purchased the PSC high flow pump and the reservoir with 12AN and 8AN return.
The PSC Big Bore box is much larger than the removed Mercedes box so I had to trim my bumper a little to get it to fit, I also had to shorten the intermediate shaft and move the heim that I have on the intermediate shaft. After I got it installed, the hydro assist ports are in a different location on the PSC box than on the removed mercedes box so I had to figure out the hose routing for the hydro ram (no big issue, just had to swap lines with some spares that I had), I also had to change the Hi pressure line from the pump to box to a pre-2003 line and then the return was a dandy to figure out, I had Blaine's adapter with a 90 deg 8AN fitting on the mercedes box, but that was not going to work and I knew that Blaine shipped a 45 deg 8AN but finding it in my garage had me scratching my head and saying a few cuss words, I then found it, just where I put it. The 45 deg with a slightly longer hose to the cooler was the ticket. I mounted the reservoir on the inner fender and ran a new 8AN line from the cooler to the reservoir and then a 12AN line from reservoir to the pump. Overall a days work, but not a bad day. Bled the system and took it for a drive around the block and all seems good, I will drive it to work one day this week for a good test and hopefully all will be ready to go wheel.
So late last night, I took the steering box apart and I could not find any smoking gun in the box, everything looked good and the valve appears to be operating correctly.
I then took the pump apart and again could not find anything apparent wrong, there was no metal debris, everything turned nice and seemed to work as it should. But I don't want to rely on the pump as-is as a spare, because it may have been the culprit and I wouldn't know it until it got heated up.
So I got to thinking (which is dangerous) to try and figure out what could have happened:
This is what I came up with as my theory. I honestly don't have any solid basis for anything that follows, this is just what I put together from taking apart the box and pump, so take it all with a grain of salt, it could all be wrong, or it could be right on, I do not know, this is just late night hanging out in the garage.
It appears that the way the steering box works is that there is a screw (input shaft) that moves a piston in and out. That piston has teeth on the side that turns the sector shaft. That is the manual part of the steering box. The power comes from fluid being on both sides of the piston and as the screw is turned and meets resistance it turns the valve one way or the other and this provides pressure to one side or the other on the piston.
It appears that the directional valve in the box is a 4 port, 3 way floating or open center valve with Pressure (P), Tank (T), A and B chambers.
A is LH turn and B is RH turn.
Steering ram- the box was tapped so that the fluid from each side of the piston flows to the ram. So it basically makes the box piston chamber larger. So you turn the wheel to the LH and it pressurizes the A side of the box and thus the ram and with LH input the B side flows back to Tank (reservoir).
Since it is a floating center valve, the A and B sides are also connected to the T (reservoir) when there is no input supplied. Thus, if you have a valve failure, you can still manually drive the piston with the screw because it would release the opposite side of the piston to tank, even if you have ram installed. Same applies if you have no pressure coming from the pump, you would still have manual steering because you can still manually drive the piston with the screw because it would release the opposite side of the piston to tank, this is the definition of a floating center, it is connected to T.
So why did the steering not work at all when the ram was hooked up (with ram hooked up the steering was locked in place) and then it provided manual steering when the ram was disconnected?
My theory is that something happened in the pump. Something in the pump pressurized the reservoir (T), thus preventing fluid from floating from the A and B chambers to the reservoir (T). With the fluid not able to flow back to the reservoir the box and ram now become a closed system. But even with the closed system, If the box and ram pistons move together from A to B then the fluid would flow from A to B and the manual steering would function properly. However, since the screw is now pressurizing the "opposite " side chamber with the way my hydro assist ram is configured it would actually restrict the pistons from moving. See attached figures.
Normally to turn left the A chambers are pressurized and B chambers go to Tank. In the figures the box piston would move down and the Ram piston would move left, both are turning the wheels to the Left. However, we actually are now doing the opposite, we are applying pressure via the screw, so to push the box piston down it pressurizes the B side which pushes the ram to the right and they fight each other. Thus you can't turn the wheels. If we disconnect the ram from the mounting points, now the ram rod is free to move in either direction and when we pressurize the B chamber with the screw it pushes the ram (opposite of what was intended, but since it is not hooked up it moves) and the fluid is free to flow. So with the ram disconnected we get manual steering capability. It was witnessed that with the ram zip tied to the bumper that the ram rod was extending in and out, this makes sense (even with no hydraulic pressure) because for the fluid to move from the A to B sides it would have to move the piston in the ram. It was most likely moving opposite of what it should have been to turn the wheels.
Next day the pump was cold, whatever was malfunctioning in the pump to allow the pressure to equalize across the P and T sides has now shrunk or seal has reseated, etc... and I again have power steering.
Anyway, if anyone with hydraulics or power steering experience reads this and wants to chime in on how off base I am, I would appreciate it. It would be nice to know what actually happened so if it ever happens in the future I will know.
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gasiorv
I'm a new world samurai, and a redneck nonetheless
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A few other highlights from the weekend.
I am consistently bending the drag link, I added a bar to try to stiffen up the drag link earlier this year, but it still bent right where my finger is pointing.
So I straightend the link back out and then I added a gusset to try and stiffen this area. I did not want to add a lot of material sticking out that would get caught in the rocks or actually come down on a rock and cause more damage, but I also wanted to add enough to make it worth my time, so in order to keep it small but also add material I had to sacrifice a socket and make a tool to attach the tie rod.
I also got my drop down tail gate and tail lights finished.
And I got the winch installed on the van. Harbor freight black friday sale.
I am consistently bending the drag link, I added a bar to try to stiffen up the drag link earlier this year, but it still bent right where my finger is pointing.
So I straightend the link back out and then I added a gusset to try and stiffen this area. I did not want to add a lot of material sticking out that would get caught in the rocks or actually come down on a rock and cause more damage, but I also wanted to add enough to make it worth my time, so in order to keep it small but also add material I had to sacrifice a socket and make a tool to attach the tie rod.
I also got my drop down tail gate and tail lights finished.
And I got the winch installed on the van. Harbor freight black friday sale.
gasiorv
I'm a new world samurai, and a redneck nonetheless
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Further thoughts on my power steering issue and why the steering locked with ram installed. I think that the pressure side is connected to the reservoir side (as well as A and B chambers) when the valve is centered and that is how it does not develop extremely high pressure when the valve is centered. 4 valve, 3 position, open centered. I do think that the pump failed and thus there was no pressure on the pressure side and that I am right in the fact that the ram was fighting the box piston. So steering wheel was turned left, screw was engaged and the friction in the screw actuated the valve for LH turn. LH turn connected the A side to P and B side to T and since there was no pressure on P that the screw would have pushed fluid out from B to T but it may have also pushed fluid into (pressurized) the ram on the B side generating a higher pressure on B than A since there was no pressure on the A side to overcome this B side pressure thus it locked it up. I think this is correct and if so it was a pump failure, but it is also a bad design in the fact that you could have a failed pump cause a lock condition.
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gasiorv
I'm a new world samurai, and a redneck nonetheless
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Drove the jeep to work twice last week and the rear stretch drove good, really couldn't tell much difference.
The steering feels a little harder/stiffer to break off of center than the previous setup; however, that may be due to the Grizzly installed in the front and not the actual steering box. I never drove the jeep on the road after I installed the Grizzly, I went straight from install to wheeling, so I don't have a baseline of how it felt prior to replacing the steering box. I also know that the saginaw box in my 98 TJ had a "stiffer" feeling than the mercedes box in my 2004, so that may be part of it as well.
Got a few minor things to work out; hopefully shake it down with a day of wheeling beginning of Jan.
The steering feels a little harder/stiffer to break off of center than the previous setup; however, that may be due to the Grizzly installed in the front and not the actual steering box. I never drove the jeep on the road after I installed the Grizzly, I went straight from install to wheeling, so I don't have a baseline of how it felt prior to replacing the steering box. I also know that the saginaw box in my 98 TJ had a "stiffer" feeling than the mercedes box in my 2004, so that may be part of it as well.
Got a few minor things to work out; hopefully shake it down with a day of wheeling beginning of Jan.
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