Hydraulics or ?????

[MattF]

what, like eels?

[Antshiel]

They ain't cheap are they. Just on a slight sidenote if you do decide to try the pneumatic approach Ian, there was one of the chaps over this way who scrapped some industrial kit which had pneumatic rams. I could nip round to see if he has any left knocking about if you decide to give it a try. He may have got rid by now, but I can always check just on the off chance.

They certainly aint!! but on the up side i jacked my truck up with the 75mm one and it didn't miss a beat. I ran it off my air tank at 180 psi and was very surprised when the wheel left the floor.
I am now thinking of making an air jack out of one of my suspension airbags, could be fun

[BUSHWHACKER]

I'm gonna have a go at making one of these.....
http://store.summitracing.com/egnsea...57&D=%2D156857

[Diezel Weazel]

Ian not relly a cheapskate , but just practical I hope !!!!
1/ An old caravan single step (onthe ground of course)
2/ Attach a manual step plate (part of ya old Truck step could do, so it pushes in n pulls out.. Rough idea below (not to scale)

BODY
_________
-----------------------| /__in out____ \
-----------------------| \ Sliding /
_________
CHASSIS
________
| |
| Step | Removable

Hope this helps mate !!

There's always a Payback .... Ya just never see it Comin !!!!

[MattF]

Thinking about it, if you've already got a part of the original footrail on, why not just chop another segment up and attach two U/L brackets to it so that you can attach the second section to the existing footrail when needed? Just hook it over the existing step with the U/L shaped bars? ASCII diagram follows.

|--------| <- Inverted U/L bracket going over the existing footrail.
|--------| <- Existing footrail with the bracket hooked over it.
******* |
******* |
******* |______ <- Second lower step on the end of the U/L bracket.


Edit: Btw, the asterisks are just there because the forum deletes the preceding whitespace.

[jeff.fn02jwa]

i'm looking for advice on how to do the following, i need to make a side step for the passenger side so my mrs can get in and out easier, she's finding it increaseingly difficult and i know the next thing will be "you'll have to get rid of the surf and get something i can get in" so to avoid this i was thinking about an extended hinged step thats possibly opperated by a simple up and down buttons on a hand held unit, first thing that came to mind was an hydraulic method but if anyone has another idea i'd be glad to hear, obvisiouly as cheap as poss, forgive the "drawings" but it should give ya some idea of what i had in mind, it's a cross section looking forward from astern of the pass door, would it be powerfull enough to lift a person (but not fire her over the top of the truck) what would i need and where's the best place to look for prices/parts etc, i thought possibly two rams spaced evenly along the step which has to be slightly shorter than the door, any help/advice apprecieated, ta, ian

how about a box in the the back that you can place on the ground so the wife can get in simple & cheep

[da SLUG man]

i'd just buy a different car...

it's a bit selfish to let the mrs struggle to get in, just so you can drive round like king pikey in your 4x4!

[Woppit]

POPEYE, Hi if you should decide to go the pneumatic route, i have a number of pneumatic cylinders of varying size and length. Some of these will easily lift a person (without lunching them over the truck) others will move and secure the step for use. If you decide to build something using air, let me know the sort of cylinder you need, and ill look through mine to see if there are any that will work for you.Hope this may be of some help.

[POPEYE]

POPEYE, Hi if you should decide to go the pneumatic route, i have a number of pneumatic cylinders of varying size and length. Some of these will easily lift a person (without lunching them over the truck) others will move and secure the step for use. If you decide to build something using air, let me know the sort of cylinder you need, and ill look through mine to see if there are any that will work for you.Hope this may be of some help.

Hi Shane, that would be great, i think i will go for pneumatic, it will take me some time to afford all the bit's i'll need but if you have a suitable ram to lift the step (with my wife on it) and perhaps a smaller one to level out the step as you say i will buy these from you first, let me know what i'll owe you, i can probably come along to hastings to collect em, cheer's mate,

also thanks Matt and Antshiel, and all you other guys for the helpfull advice and ideas, and the "light relief" merchants,
dare say i'll be asking about hoses/fittings etc and matt! i guess it would't hurt to see what your bloke has knocking about,
on board "air" aint a bad idea, air horns, emergancy tyre inflation, a crane to lift her scooter in and out the back, the mind boggles,

and Da slugman, you cheeky sod, i dont let my wife struggle just so i can keep the surf, i do most of the struggleing, in fact i do most of the stuff for her, and obvisiouly put her first, but if i can adapt the truck to suit her (cos she likes it to) then it's worth doing, KING PIKEY!!!!! how'd ya know i'm a Gippo

[Woppit]

POPEYE, Ok do you have a rough idea how long the stroke of the ram needs to be, if so let me know. I have some that are 100mm dia which will lift a lot and i also have single and double acting valves, as well as flow control valves to regulate the speed (anti over the truck bit ). Ill get some bits out later and post a pic, so you can see if its the sort of thing you need.

[POPEYE]

POPEYE, Ok do you have a rough idea how long the stroke of the ram needs to be, if so let me know. I have some that are 100mm dia which will lift a lot and i also have single and double acting valves, as well as flow control valves to regulate the speed (anti over the truck bit ). Ill get some bits out later and post a pic, so you can see if its the sort of thing you need.

OK mate, i'll have a rough measure up and let you know, the travel should'nt be too long if i can keep the "pivot point" as near to the ram as feaseable, just wondered if the ram would have to work too hard that way, trial and error i guess! look forward to the pic's Shane, thanks, ian

[Woppit]

Ram is 80mm dia and 250mm stroke
The solenoid valve is the right type But is 24 volts (may still work on 12 volts depending on working pressure)
The tap valve with the white tap is a manual i/o valve (vents from the top when switched off)
The black and brass valve is the flow regulator(not pressure reg)

surface area of that ram is about 7.78 sq inches and that at 100 psi should give 778 pounds of push, if my calculations are correct! (if not someone tell me)
I think i have some smaller ones, but the power needed will depend on the ratio across your pivot point (as per your drawings)
Hope this is of some help, when it stops raining ill look under my truck and see if i can come up with something to.

[POPEYE]

Ram is 80mm dia and 250mm stroke
The solenoid valve is the right type But is 24 volts (may still work on 12 volts depending on working pressure)
The tap valve with the white tap is a manual i/o valve (vents from the top when switched off)
The black and brass valve is the flow regulator(not pressure reg)

surface area of that ram is about 7.78 sq inches and that at 100 psi should give 778 pounds of push, if my calculations are correct! (if not someone tell me)
I think i have some smaller ones, but the power needed will depend on the ratio across your pivot point (as per your drawings)
Hope this is of some help, when it stops raining ill look under my truck and see if i can come up with something to.

OK Shane, had a very rough measure up and i'm guessing i'll need around 100mm of travel on the ram, as for the smaller one for leveling the step i've no idea till i start makeing bit's up, it's going to be very difficult to place the ram central to the step without fouling the torsion bar unless i rethink the pivoting method, only real "free" part of chassi is just rear of the torsion bar mount, this would mean makeing the step arm angled somehow, anyway i can worry about that a little later,
the measurement between lower part of chassi rail and floor is aprox 200mm
(say 190mm) with bracket, or at a push i could cut a square section out the floor and extend the bracket into the cab, under the seat,(as long as it dose'nt "go off" under there, that'd make her eye's water

the ram in your pic looks great, do you think it would be too big? is the total lenght retracted 250mm?,
i appreciate you help amd advice with this mate, i'm totally lost with this stuff, regards ian

[Woppit]

Hi Ian, its the stroke length that is 250, the ram is longer, I'm sure i have some with a stroke of 100 or near to it, so i will look tomorrow as they are in the back of my under-stair cupboard.
As for the angle of the step you could use a leaver system, like the ones used on fire tenders, arm with a box. I think that would be a lot easier to build and control, as there is a mechanical link.
One other thing to remember is you will need a good compressor and probably a tank to, may just get away with a good compressor.
Well i hope this is gunna help you build what you need

[POPEYE]

Im not 100% sure how i'm going to do the lever/pivot set up yet Shane, this started as just an idea a few days ago so the drawings i did may not be workable, however i'll work something out, it'll have to involve the chassi rail as it's stronger than the floor pan, anyway if you pm or email me how much you will want for these parts we'll sort something out, meanwhile i'm going to have a google and see if i can find any info on the basics of pnumatics, so i at least have some idea of how it works, also i'll be looking (later) fo a comp and tank, as Ant said someone on here got a nice set, from ebay i think,
i know it's be far simle'er to just add a second step but it's steps of any kind she has problems with, she would not be able to get up on a two step kitchen "steps" thing, so this is why i'm going to this trouble, she has trouble getting "down" into a normal car as well so i'm f##ked both ways,

Cheer's mate