• Help Support Hardline Crawlers :

double ended ram geometry

Neal3000

Neal3000

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 14, 2009
Messages
3,182
Location
Temple, GA
i'm looking for opinions on the best way to mount a double ended ram, on my old axle i had it mounted way offset with one real short link and one long one and it was inline or parallel with the steering arms when they were pointed straight forward. i've read since then that that offset setup turns one knuckle sharper than the other one at full turn and that having the ram parallel to the arms will possibly put a sideload on the ram at full turn? that kind of confuses me since a factory tie-rod setup is like that. is it okay to mount the ram higher than the arms? and how far farward (if at all) should i mount it in front of the tie rod line?
 
You do want the tie rods to be as close to equal as possible because of side loads at full lock on the shorter tie rod… that being said its pretty tough to package everything with them being exactly equal.. mine are about a half inch different so that the diff cover and carrier could still come out without taking the ram off.. i

i set mine up so that the tie rods and cylinder are straight (both up and down and front to back) at full lock and its held up no problems..

how high or low i mounted the cylinder was dictated by how much misalignment the heims could take across the full travel of the cylinder…

factory setups are different so they are create the best handling characteristics but they won't hold up to much abuse..

i can't find the pics from when i set mine up but i can take some if you want...
 


Something like this may work for you if I ever want to link it should not have to change it




Its not fancy but it works and the ram is in the center both of the tie rods ends are the same length
 
It will be linked, and i can't use high-steer arms because of my knuckles, but these 1st gen ford balljoint knuckles have a pretty high (above the centerline of the axle) stock attachment point. I'm def going to center it with equal length links. I've pretty much accepted the fact that i will have to take the ram off if/and/or whenever i have to take the ring gear/carrier out. I'm mainly trying to decide whether to push the ram forward an inch or so or have it perfectly inline.
 
Every situation is different Im sure you will get some more info on it there is alot of smart guys on here for sure good luck
 
If you still have a tie rod on the axle try this. Measure at the center of the axle, from the axle tube to the tie rod with the wheels centered then at full lock. You will notice the tie rod gets closer to the axle at full lock. I think it was only like an inch difference on mine. So I mounted the center line of my cylinder halfway between the two, trying to get in the sweet spot of alignment. This and 7 degrees of castor my steering will self center coming out of a turn (load reactive orbital). No issues with wear on the cylinder after several years of riding.
 
Neal3000 said:
It will be linked, and i can't use high-steer arms because of my knuckles, but these 1st gen ford balljoint knuckles have a pretty high (above the centerline of the axle) stock attachment point. I'm def going to center it with equal length links. I've pretty much accepted the fact that i will have to take the ram off if/and/or whenever i have to take the ring gear/carrier out. I'm mainly trying to decide whether to push the ram forward an inch or so or have it perfectly inline.
Click to expand...

i chose to cheat mine back that inch or so.. the tie rods go toward the front just a touch when straight but they are better aligned throughout the stroke of the steering..
 
Re: Re: Re: double ended ram geometry

zjtrey said:
i chose to cheat mine back that inch or so.. the tie rods go toward the front just a touch when straight but they are better aligned throughout the stroke of the steering..
Click to expand...

That's how i set up the gremlin. Works better that way compared to inline or in front of the steering arms
 
I have always heard that you want to position the ram fore and aft based on having the ram parallel with the tie-rod when at full lock. In other words, it'll look more like this:

\___/ when centered (not that pronounced, of course) and __ _____ __ at full lock. I would probably shoot for further back toward the axle as opposed to further out.

Hope that made sense ???
 
Re: Re: double ended ram geometry

This is what I've always followed
5aju6uve.jpg
 
Here is my set up, it is set up a little more to driver side, but geometry is pretty close to straight when turned much like the the above post.
 

Attachments

Re: Re: Re: double ended ram geometry

mdo817 said:
Here is my set up, it is set up a little more to driver side, but geometry is pretty close to straight when turned much like the the above post.
Click to expand...
I ment passenger side, but only an inch or so.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2
 
Neal3000 said:
It will be linked, and i can't use high-steer arms because of my knuckles, but these 1st gen ford balljoint knuckles have a pretty high (above the centerline of the axle) stock attachment point. I'm def going to center it with equal length links. I've pretty much accepted the fact that i will have to take the ram off if/and/or whenever i have to take the ring gear/carrier out. I'm mainly trying to decide whether to push the ram forward an inch or so or have it perfectly inline.
Click to expand...

I put high steer arms on the same axle. I will have to look for some pics. basically I cut the step on the front of the knuckle to form a key way. cut the top of the knuckle flat and drilled and tapped it for bolt holes. Had to make my own arms since no one makes arms for it. I aligned the tip of the arms so I could run a .75 inch thru bolt. have not had any issues out of it in the last 4 years. Have been a bunch of steering links but never had an issue out of the arms.
 

Latest posts

Random media

20141203_085333.jpg
366.jpg
image.jpg
HPIM0497.jpg
IMG00456.jpg
1629246109727.png
Buggy 23.jpg
20160207_084740.jpg
31412 002.jpg
Back
Top