On my first trip out with the HO 302 and the Dana44 front axle the steering worked well.. until it got off of the pavement! As soon as the tires hit dirt it was manual steering. I had heard that the ford pumps were not exactly the best thing out there but I had to see for myself. My first step would be to just try a new ford pump, but I also decided this time I was going to give my steering some "assist"ance. I got in touch with Matt from West Texas Off Road to get his "Redneck Ram."

The kit consists of a rebuilt and ported steering box, for my application I used a saginaw scout steering box. The kit also comes with all the necessary fittings, hoses, the ram itself, and mounting hardware (welding required).

Here is the box and the hoses	Close up of the hoses	Location where the box was tapped

Installation is fairly straight forward, bolt the box back on how it was, weld the tabs on for the ram and connect the hoses. Unfortunately for me it is never that easy. I made a call to Matt and he immediately shipped out some 90 degree fittings for my application, along with a different set of hoses to fit the larger 90 degree fittings.

When I first bolted my box on I noticed a slight clearance problem..	Solution was to space the box out 1/2" from the frame, and use elbow fittings to point the hoses away from the exhaust manifold.

2 tabs were provided, I welded one on to my tie rod and the other to the housing, since I don't trust my welds on cast I made a tower that came off of the axle tube to mount the ram too. (See picture up top).

Once I got it all mounted up I fired up my truck and bled the system. It takes a lot more fluid, and when the ram is fully extened the pump "almost" sucks air so a remote reservoir is in the works (a stock toyota one). Not knowing what to expect I thought the wheel would just turn on its own, but steering actually felt about the same as before, but now more constant.

I slowly worked up my confidence since I have never even seen a rig on the road with assist before, first around the block then 65+ down the highway and it drove great. When I decided to punch that new V8 and sort of lose control I found it hard to correct, since the steering is constant and didn't quite turn as fast as I wanted it to. I decided the solution is to stop peelin out ;)

I may try a smaller ram, just as an experiment but I am very happy with the installation, support, and performance of my Redneck Ram! Stay tuned for updates as I get more trail and road time with the new setup..

UPDATE 9-30-2003
I have since swapped out my original ram with a smaller one. West Texas Off Road is an excellent company and will work with any issues you may have, they sent me out a brand new smaller ram that works great!

Before swapping in this ram I wanted to get a feel for running without a ram but was having SERIOUS overheating of the fluid problems! I first added a power steering cooler (actually a tranny cooler). This helped some but I also swapped in a remote reservoir pump and the ram to increase fluid capacity.

This time I decided to make the mounting of the ram easily removable in case there were any problems. On the tie rod end I used two heavy straps made for drivelines, and a flat plate with the mounting tabs supplied by west texas off road welded on, and 4 holes drilled for the straps (u-bolts). At the axle end I used an autozone spring clamp kit and welded the tabs supplied to it. I keep the caps that were supplied in case of rupturing a line. In the even I do rupture a line or anything else I simply remove the ram and cap the ports on the box.

So, how does it work? Well reaction time is MUCH better than before. I will admit it is a bit harder to keep straight on the highway than without so if you are building a mall runner it probably isn't worth it. I tested the new setup out on the Barrett Lake trail, and I honesty forgot it was there until about half way into the tral when I realized I never had to put any work into turning the wheel! It is pretty much the same effort wether you are turning into a boulder or turning on flat ground.

The time I noticed is when my straps came loose, I plan on welding some tabs to the tie rod to keep the bracket from moving, there are better brackets you can buy or you can weld to the tie rod itself. I like knowing I can adjust the tie rod or remove the whole setup if I want so I will be keeping the bolt on setup. After tightening the u-bolts it held for the rest of the trail. This time the ram is staying on!

Here is the tie rod mount	Axle end mount	Chevy Astro Van pump

Remote Reservoir	cooloer installed	In action at Barrett Lake!