i looked briefly at your pics and the video for a quick sec (kids driving me crazy today). I see your piston is a single with a double ended ram. i can tell there are some clamps on the ends of the piston but i am curious how yours is attached to the truck. i also like the small tie-rod ends to adjust alignment that you made.---- next question, the power of your hydraulic steering is the way it should be. able to turn with one finger. Mine is far from that, it is a bear to turn. and when your rolling it is constantly fighting you back-n-fourth with a type of slack or backlash in the system. it kicks the crap out of your forearms just going across parking lot. it should be a easy as pie to steer. do you think this is because 2 piston arrangement? i am going to go thru your thread from beginning to end ( but it's long)
My ram is held into place with the 2 clamps; even if they somehow loosen up the welded ports on the ram would prevent any movement. The bolts from those clamps go into a thick piece of flat bar that is welded to the differential housing on one side, and the piece of 1.75"x1/4" DOM tubing that runs from knuckle to knuckle. Steering effort is one finger, even in the rocks, deep mud, etc.
The factory tie rod is completely replaced with the double ended ram and new tie rods. I have about 5000-6000 road miles and several full days off road in the sand, mud, and rocks with this setup over a little longer than a year with zero problems.
A few problems I notice with your setup (I know you didn't build it, so don't take it as criticism...but these are things I would certainly correct before taking it down the highway):
1. The rams are way too small. I doubt they could generate enough power to move those big 53's, even if they had additional leverage, pressure, etc. Can't quite tell just from the pics, but they look like maybe 2" rams. I would say that 3" is the minimum ram size for this big of a vehicle, IF its connection points are in the factory locations.
2. The rams are mounted on the mechanical stops on the knuckles. This reduces their leverage over the knuckles significantly, and placed additional stress on all of the components in the steering system...they should be at least out as far as the factory tie rod is.
3. The twin single rams work fine for creating a "balanced" turn ratio off road...but it is something I would stay away from (if possible) on a street driven truck. Too many additional failure points.
4. Bird-poopy weld boogered on tabs (already discussed)
As far as the "kick" you are experiencing, a few things come to mind:
1. It is possible there is air in the crossover line between the 2 rams
2. Since the rams don't look to have good geometry (as discussed above), this could contribute to the problem you are having
3. Poor alignment (toe in or toe out). Should be roughly 0.2 degrees toe in, I believe. That is what I have mine set to.
4. Your steering valve may be a non-load reaction valve. This wouldn't CAUSE the problem, but it could contribute to it.
it has the winter heater switch and i even tried using that but no luck. i dont even know to much about the manifold heater and how it works.
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