Im going to crawl under the truck later this week and start thinking about a solid axle swap for the front. Its a 2010 TRX4 and I want to wait for the warranty to run out but I also want something to do over he winter months.

Has anyone considered doing this with the 08+ models and if so what direction was chosen and why?

 

if your going solid axle its pretty straight forward. find a good spot on the frame for the box where it lines up with the steering shaft. run the lines to the pump which youll need to make a custom bracket for and also get a different style pump. i believe they refer to them as "vane" pumps. then the easiest way is to just get a handful of tubing and tie rod ends and connect the dots then get an alignment...

if your keeping A-arms then its a little more involved. what we did for a ranger is pretty much get all GM steering parts, weld a plate to the frame and then weld the steering box up. and just connect the dots...

or if you want to be gangster. make a custom bracket for the pump on the drive belt system. then mount the box to the frame, then run the lines to a howe rack mounted in the same spot as our old racks. and get longer tie rods...hydraulic steering kills rack and pin and crossover steering anyday...but if you throw a belt you have no steering :P

 

Why do you need to change the pump?
We have used an electric PS pump on all our electric trucks for the last 20 years. It does not matter if its a box or rack we use the same pump all the way up to our three ton trucks.

 

How many amps does one of those draw? Looks like a 100+ relay there, I'm all about freeing up drive belt loss that I may look in to that..

 

About 12 amps when your going straight and up to 75 amps at hard steering lock.

 

Does the pump run continuously, or just on demand? Seems like it would be pretty cool to be able to steer when the engine isn't running. Where do you get that pump and what does it cost? How does the pressure and volume compare to an engine-driven pump?

 

You never WANT to turn your steering wheel when the truck isn't moving! You may have to but you never want to!

The stress on the system is too much without the tires rolling, even a little bit. That's why, when in a tight spot, you move slowly and turn quickly.

 

There are plenty of times when it's necessary to turn the wheels while standing still. And if that overstresses your steering system, then it's time to upgrade your system. Mine handles it just fine.

 

You do know about 3rd Gen front ends, don't you?

I didn't say you couldn't, just that you don't want to do it!

 

Hey Northgator8

Where did you get that hood? It looks good