The WC53 Carryall thread .

[Bruce in BC]

Posted up thread

The window winders were posted up thread.

I rolled my frame out yesterday and welded some more brackets to the rear end . By the time I cleaned up , moved the frame, created the brackets ,stripped the paint, drilled and tapped the brackets, pulled the shocks, dummied in the flexible brake lines, sand blasted the brackets, welded the brackets in place, painted the brackets, drove to the parts guy, put the welder away, cleaned up and rolled the frame back into the shop I had burned through 8 hrs of steady work.
And I really have not finished yet - I see I left the angle grinder, mask, and hearing protection laying out in the drive way.

[Bruce in BC]

Ram assist

Putting a ram assist on my front axle . I found this source that has pretty decent prices.
https://www.surpluscenter.com
Out in the shop cleaning up. I want to put at least 100 things away today. I misplaced a part for the Carryall that I had in my hand this morning. Only way it will turn up is to do something else. Getting close to firing up the 4bt. I will need some help with that. It has been sitting for way too long.

[Bob Thompson]

I may have missed something but I thought you already had power steering. If not how do you plan to valve the cylinder on the axle?

I know what you mean about losing a part without having left the general area. In my experience it is usually just above or below my line of sight.
Perhaps it's sitting on the frame rail next to a speculative mounting point for a hydraulic cylinder....hmmmm?

[Bruce in BC]

I do have a power steering box

The issue with a power box is that it exerts a bit of pressure on the frame. Not an issue with the drag link style of steering but quite the issue with cross steering. With fat tires the issue can get quite pronounced. By placing a ram on the axle and tie rod less force is applied to the frame when turning
.
So I tapped the power steering box and am attempting to run lines down to the ram. There are issues when doing this, some folks never seem to have it work and the steering has no feed back or is slow. Other folks love the set up and have no issues.

The ram , steering box , hydro boost and power steering box have to work together. Volume and pressure need a bit of tweaking. If it does not work all I need to do is block off the ports on the steering box. I have never cracked the frame at the box , but I have welded up a bunch of frames that have cracked around the box .

Take a look at Redneck Ram to get an idea . AGR and PSC make kits to do this, but they are expensive.

At present I will attempt to run 1/4 hydraulic line. If this does not work I will bump the diameter to 3/8 line. Finding 3/8 line, around here, that has any flex is impossible. I will post a few pictures after the parts arrive and I get them installed.

There are 52 connections or seals in the system......how many are going to leak? Standard steering box has 8-10 connections , pump has 5 or 6, coolers, remote reservoir, hydro boost, add a bunch more.

[DavidGB]

1954 Dodge cars with power steering used that type of system (ram instead of gearbox.) The pump is mounted on the back of the generator. This approach didn't stick around long though. Chrysler went to a "coaxial" gearbox in '55/'56 and then evolved into more conventional types of gearbox.
David

[Bob Thompson]

The issue with a power box is that it exerts a bit of pressure on the frame. Not an issue with the drag link style of steering but quite the issue with cross steering. With fat tires the issue can get quite pronounced. By placing a ram on the axle and tie rod less force is applied to the frame when turning
.
So I tapped the power steering box and am attempting to run lines down to the ram. There are issues when doing this, some folks never seem to have it work and the steering has no feed back or is slow. Other folks love the set up and have no issues.

The ram , steering box , hydro boost and power steering box have to work together. Volume and pressure need a bit of tweaking. If it does not work all I need to do is block off the ports on the steering box. I have never cracked the frame at the box , but I have welded up a bunch of frames that have cracked around the box .

Take a look at Redneck Ram to get an idea . AGR and PSC make kits to do this, but they are expensive.

At present I will attempt to run 1/4 hydraulic line. If this does not work I will bump the diameter to 3/8 line. Finding 3/8 line, around here, that has any flex is impossible. I will post a few pictures after the parts arrive and I get them installed.

There are 52 connections or seals in the system......how many are going to leak? Standard steering box has 8-10 connections , pump has 5 or 6, coolers, remote reservoir, hydro boost, add a bunch more.

Okay, I get it now. Using the box and cylinder to reduce stress on the frame. In that application -4 dual braid should work famously. It's too bad you're not closer, I have a crimper in the shop for making hoses.

There is a Loc-tite product specifically formulated to use with JIC style connections. The pulsing of oil through the hoses will work with any twist in the line and torque will loosen the fitting as the line tries to straighten under pressure.

[Alxj64]

Bruce, I am also doing the same thing as you with the Hydro boost, hydro assist steering, and Power box. I found an AGR tapped box locally and through dumb luck so I am using that, but will still need to pick up a ram and mount it. I love the idea of taking stress off of the frame. Plus I want my wife to be able to turn this bugger around in a parking lot with ease! I ran hydro assist on my Jeep TJ trail rig with 38" tires, locked diffs front and rear and 96:1 reduction and even bound up in the rocks it would pick the entire front of the Jeep up off of the ground of I had one tire pinned and not the other and yet it still had a fair amount of road feel feedback. I have since gone to full hydro steering on that vehicle. I was running PSC pump, ram, and an Astro Van tapped box.


I got the T-case mounted into mine. Planning on routing the exhaust through the openings.

Got the hole in the existing cross member welded up with the DOM in there. That was a fun little welding adventure but it turned out much nicer than I had originally feared.

[TonyKeffaber]

Radiator is in

Not exactly where I wanted it, but as Alex said before, there isn't much room in the engine bay. I would have been better off with a small block, but once the radiator is painted and the bumper is on it should blend better. I had to mount the radiator to the front on the core support, rather than in it. I just didn't have enough room. I debated running a pusher fan and moving the radiator back, but decided the fan wouldn't really look right visible on the truck. I would have liked it mounted a bit higher as well, but ran into interference between the lower hose and the power steering belt.

[Alxj64]

I think it looks really sharp man! You are moving along on that truck FAST! Like you said, once its painted it will hide really nice. The bumper will cover a lot and then the Headlights and guards etc will also take your eyes away from it. I am totally dreading the Radiator/Intercooler process on my truck. I may pick your brain some on it when the time comes around. I have my muffler on order and need to pick up the rest of my exhaust pipe so that I can keep rolling on that. I have some parts for my fuel system on the way so hoping that I can start to piece that all together.

Whats everyone's opinion on an Aluminum fuel cell supported by straps? I may end up building a steel box around / for it as a protective measure but then we are starting to talk more weight and my truck is getting really fat really fast.

[TonyKeffaber]

Windshield Wipers

Thanks Alex, I'm slowly ticking off the to do list. My tank is just the stock straps, but I think I will add a skid plate eventually as well.
One of the items I'm still working on is windshield wipers. Desoto61's setup is very impressive, but my trig and my welding might not be up to replicating his setup. I contacted New Port Engineering just to see if they had something I might be able to make work. Seems like they have been contacted by other Powerwagon owners, and they have located a cab to do some mock up work. I told them the cabs were basically the same for about 20 years, so there might be a decent market. Hope I wasn't wrong about the cab and wiper configuration. If something develops all let you know. Also, if they get some more inquiries it might change their priorities on their development, if anyone else is looking for options on wipers as well.

https://www.newportwipers.com/index.php

[Bruce in BC]

Carryall cab block thickness

Mine look original , 1"5/8" thick , not sure if they are white oak , maple, or hickory.
Shooting for a test fire on the Carryall next week . Found out yesterday I have cancer, they may have got it all when the Doctor cut out a chunk to do a biopsy.
To make sure that they have it all the doc will be removing more in the next few days or weeks. I may have lucked out, it will take a year or two of going to clinics to know for sure. It would be nice to have a few years driving the Carryall before I am made into fertilizer.
I wear a safety mask when grinding, welding, or painting. Top of the line safety mask with carbon filters and prefilters. Generally wear gloves when working around glues and paints- did not do so decades ago but have for the last 15 to 20 years . A lot of guys I work with have said I take more precautions than they ever have and in many cases they now follow my example.
So I want all of you to do the same thing - take an extra moment to be safe, and put on your gear. Some of the stuff we handle is way more dangerous than we have been lead to believe.
Lets stay on topic here, I will go as far as take some photos of some Carryall stuff later in the day.

Take care
Bruce

[CSCameron]

WOW! Sorry to hear about this. Hope they got it all and that you have a speedy recovery. Looking forward to your pictures. All the best.

Clark

[Bruce in BC]

Bracket for ram steering

This is the bracket that mounts one end of the ram to the axle. The round pin is indexed into the spreader hole on the dana 60 axle. The four holes in the bracket go over studs that I installed to replace the cover bolts. I am hoping by mounting it in this manner that there will be no movement on the inspection cover. If the cover moves it will leak. I do have the option of tapering the holes and using wheel style nuts on the studs. This would lock the bracket in place even more. Not sure if that step will be necessary. Hopefully I will do a test fire next week.

Hard to be stay motivated , this project is taking too long. In fact I have rebuilt my trash truck twice since I started this thing and gone through my hot rod once. If I think of it in those terms that is almost 3 complete builds while working on the carryall. Not sure if i should feel good about that or bad.

Where is everybody? Is it true that there is so much progress going on that no one has time to down load some pictures of their rigs?

Hey Tony that front end sure fits well with the frame. Once you get a bumper mounted the truck will look pretty much stock. I new there was a better way.

edit - I just measured my tie rod movement from lock to lock - 8 inches
Then measured the ram stroke- 7"5/16" which is perfect!
considering earlier today I was removing a light bulb and it broke in my hand , then a speaker fell off the wall and then a spray can tried to commit suicide by leaping off a shelf and landing on its spray nozzle all the while I am bleeding and picking glass out of my hand the day has ended on a high note.
The earlier action was more funny than not. Darn Chinese light bulbs, if it was made in America it would not have busted.

[TonyKeffaber]

Bruce, I think you are the only one tough enough to work in the cold! No progress here, but at least I'll make it to the garage today

[Bruce in BC]

Test fit of my ram

Hard to see but here goes.
photo #1 The brown shaft is the tie rod. Behind the rod you can just see the ram. The ports point up. The hydraulic fitting will point towards the passenger side. The flexible hydraulic hose will go towards the passenger side and then loop back to the driver side and connect to the hard lines. I have tested this and there is no binding with this configuration.

Photo#2 The ram can be seen behind the tie rod. The hose is tucked up and not connected to anything. The hard lines need a support block that captures both lines and secures them to the frame . Things look tight but there is lots of clearance for everything. Not working too hard on this right now, just plugging away a little bit at a time. The hard lines on the outside of the frame will get some protection. If they look ugly or do not work , I will have to bend up a real convoluted mess at a later date. As it is I think it should work quite well.

Tie rod connector- is a bit heavy but it is adjustable and the tie rod can be turned to set the toe in. Most kits just weld tabs or ears to the tie rod.