I'm working on the mounts for my hydro assist ram and am wondering if there is anything I should be considering as I design it. Does it need to be parallel, or can there be a little angle without putting too much load on the tie rod ends? I know that mounting the tie rod to the top of the drag link can cause some slop in the steering-is this a concern with the ram mount as well? I'm also not sure how much load I should plan for. Any tips?

When you find out you can come set mine up

The more parallel the ram is to the tie-rod, the better, but there can be some angle in there. I'd try to keep it less than say 5deg.

I'm not a big fan of mounting one end to the diff cover as that has a tendency to loosen the cover bolts, then you have a leaking diff. You want to keep the ram away from the rocks, so the 1-3 o'clock position might work best. Also keep in mind what a deep snow bank might do to the hoses when considering position.

As for hoses, when I built mine, I went to the local Hydraulic shop and got some re-buildable connections and bought an extra three ft of hose in case I needed a repair in the field. That would not be fun without a vise, but I did it all the first time without one.

I believe these to be the fittings:
http://www.wideopendesign.com/Product/3 ... -Ends.aspx

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