Bugga

[POPEYE]

I'm "incandesent" with rage, actually glowing finally got the step working and tried it out on me and bang all the bearring flew out one of the accuride runners, i can see now that it was slightly out of line, worked ok with no load but the steps not going up and down evenly on both sides,
the air was blue, after near a month of f##king about it's back to square one,

prior to that i fired up the comp and got no pressure, while faffing about looking for leaks the second air tank i fitted went bang, small hole in it repiped it to just the small tank and then got pressure up and the step opperating in and out ok and then the runner fails, i had to just leave it and go indoors or i'd have done the thing some real damage,
now i've cooled down i think i'll have one more go at this or i will seriously be thinking of getting rid,

[tonupteabag]

Ian mate, quality designs are made through months of mistakes and rectifications of the original design, stick with it mate it'll work like a good-un once you've finished.

[POPEYE]

Ian mate, quality designs are made through months of mistakes and rectifications of the original design, stick with it mate it'll work like a good-un once you've finished.

It'd better or i'll take the nippers shotgun to it! just dont know wether to fork out yet another ton for some heavier duty runners (and make sure their ligned up properly this time)or try to make summat from steel, trouble is the heavier duty the runner the longer it is, the one that popped was a 300mm retracted type, the heavier ones on the "step out" are 450mm they'd be dragging on the deck, think steel is the best bet, for strenght and cost, just means another month of buggering around

[tonupteabag]

Aye i know the feeling well but a month extra to be working properly and doing what you want, is not a long time but an extra £100 is hard to swallow when you have already paid that out for a pair of runners already!

[dieselboy]

I'm sure you will get it sorted Ian, I've seen some of your handy works photos! You story did make me chuckle though, sorry!

[Diezel Weazel]

Hey sorry to hear o' ya hick ups Ian.
Before ya become a Genius ya have to be the dogsbody ... n knowing you you'll get there with perseverance in the end ..........

10+ Years of Surfs .... n Faultless to a " T " is my Yota

[BigBobE]

if its any use every time i see this thread title i thought it was about this video....


BUGGA

[POPEYE]

Cheer's, i aint quite give up yet, got another plan
yeah seen that vid before, still make me laugh,
well removed most of the shoit today so freah start sat (up the pub tomorrow so cobblers to the step)

[yoshie]

Wish I lived closer to you Ian I would be round giving you a hand learning from you. Stick with it you know it can be done.

[Kwakka666]

Full confidence bud, but would it be easier to modify this...

http://www.amp-research.com/products...ies/powerstep/

or am I missing something?

[POPEYE]

Cheer's Yoshie
i have seen those power steps, ruled them out partly due to cost but mainly they would need so much altering to make em do what i want
i think i'm right in saying that those steps are designed to just give some clearance when you go off road, and when down to replace a standard side step that all 4x4's have as standard, their just ment as an aid to stepping in and out the truck
what i want to do is fab a step (short in lenght and just for the front passenger, my missis as she's disabled ) that i can push out via air, and be able to lower to near ground level, so she can just step on, press the button which will lift the step up till she can comfortably sit sideways on the seat, then bring the step up to it's limit so she can then swing her legs in and be sitting faceing forward, then press the air lever and bring the step inboard so it aint sticking out and able to hit stuff like the garage wall
getting out is just a reversal of that,
so like i said i got another plan which i just might need to buy some metal flat bar and perhaps some angle and other bits but this will be cheaper than buying bigger runners, also might have to buy some more thin cutting discs and welding rods as i wasted loads on this f##king thing so far,
most commercially available steps dont cater for 4-5" lifted trucks so i would need to go to somewhere and pay a grand or two to get a custom made design, and that aint happening, but even if i put the truck back to stock height she still would have trouble getting in even with the stock side steps back on (which i no longer have anyway) so if all this dont work out and i am just not forking out loads of money to get it professionaly made i will flog or break the truck and get a regular car/small van,
anyway i'll see what i can do with what i have

[Ambobeer]

Just an idea, might be completely unsuitable but rather than the runners could you use two lengths of steam pipe at either end that fits one within the other like a telescope? Might be a problem with folding away, might be completely unsuitable - just sort of thinking out loud.....but with a keyboard. Hope you sort it.

[POPEYE]

Just an idea, might be completely unsuitable but rather than the runners could you use two lengths of steam pipe at either end that fits one within the other like a telescope? Might be a problem with folding away, might be completely unsuitable - just sort of thinking out loud.....but with a keyboard. Hope you sort it.

I get what you mean and it would prob be better than the shop bought HD runners (stronger ) but as you say, folding them or trying to get a decent clearance between the bottom of them and the ground would be difficult, i did think of trying to use the old step runners i made from cut away box section, angle and a load of roller skate type bearings, but same problem, they'd either have to be fitted with little clearance or have em sticking up in the cab,
idea i've come up with is makeing two cradle (U shaped) brackets that will be bolter to both sides of the chassis rails, one in front of the transmision support bracket and one to the rear, pivoting from these would be two "arms" that are connected to the step, this assembly can then be connected to the winch so the step goes up and down, no runners or owt needed,
now the only prob with this is the angle of the step as it moves up and down, know what i mean? so i need to think of a way to keep the step level whatever position it's in, tried to work it out useing wood sticks with pivot points and i think i can work it so a third bar also pivoting at the back and at the back of the step, it'd be something like the large screen wipers used on buses and trucks,
i wont know how acute the angle of the step will be till i make and fit the brackets and the pivoting bars, if the angle aint too bad there'd be no need to worry about this third bar,
i'll try and do a simple drawing so ya all get the idea and mayby come up with some ideas

ok a rough drawing of what i have in mind, as you can see when the arma are raised or lowered it make the angle of the step alter, so any ideas of how to make it stay level most welcome

[Ambobeer]

The main problem with that would be keeping the step level as the arm travels through the ark. No doubt ten minutes studying a Simon Snorkel lift would give plenty ideas how to overcome that mind.

You could possibly then develop a system that stopped the travel through use of a proximity sensor and, once your wife is safely in the car engage a second stage that traveled further to stow the step???

[JohnnyWalkabout]

One idea would to be to make an electric scissor lift similar to one of these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HIGH-KICK-...ht_2664wt_1270

But better

You could bolt it to a steel angle welded to the outer edge of the chassis with a footplate fitted on the lower section. This would give you a linear motion and keep the footplate level during travel and could be retracted to chassis height when your is safely on board.

You could retract the step by using a runner system fitted on the other side of the chassis (if room) to pull it in and a slot on the step so it can travel as required. (you may have these bits already)

You can make it out of U sectioned steel and threaded bar etc. The only real expense would be the 12v motor and another month or two of frustration and trying to resist shooting at things with your boys shotgun

I woke up at 4am thinking about this so you owe me a nights sleep