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That power step
Done at last (well "ish") it feels like i've been makeing this thing all my life
, after two failed goes i think i finally got it right, it's now steady, dosen''t rock and tilt and feels much more stable, lifts my wife (and me but not together)
first attempt was a sissor lift type thing and a pair of accuride HD runners fitted verticlally to stop the step folding back under the truck, it was pulled by a small 2000lb winch mounted under the back seat, the result was a wobbly step and although it pulled me up, when i lowered it with me on it it tilted and ball bearing exploded out all over the shop,
second go was better, this time i made angle iron cradles fitted across the chassis with flat bar pivots to the step, this was better but the step still rocked and swayed,
last attenpt was a bit more radicle, i kept the angle cradles and made the pivot arms with angle, also added a brace crossways and made the pivot points useing a pair of wheel bearings, this stopped the step from swaying and to stop the rocking i fitted lifting cables to each side of the step as opposed to the center fixing, this gives a good even lift and makes the step much more stable to stand on,
biggest change was however replaceing the small winch with a front mounted 13,000lb winch, the pictures show how the whole thing works, the winch cable runs through the fairlead, down round a roller and onto another roller mounted just fore of the axle, here it hooks onto the step cables which in fact is a single cable looped and anchored to the underfloor at each end of the step width, this cable is the smaller 2000lb one and runs through several rollers and pulleys to hook onto the main cable,
the step is also able to be extended and retracted by an air ram, controlls so far are mounted on the passenger door and are a mechanicle switch to let the step in or out (air), and the hand held controll to raise and lower it, (although untill i rig a override fail safe type system to stop the winch over pulling on the step and possibly tearing off something i'm useing a wireless remote,
four led warning light via four micro switches show wether the step is up and in (static green) or out and down (flashing reds) also a cable opperated slide bolt which will stop the step falling should a cable break while driving,
, after two failed goes i think i finally got it right, it's now steady, dosen''t rock and tilt and feels much more stable, lifts my wife (and me but not together)first attempt was a sissor lift type thing and a pair of accuride HD runners fitted verticlally to stop the step folding back under the truck, it was pulled by a small 2000lb winch mounted under the back seat, the result was a wobbly step and although it pulled me up, when i lowered it with me on it it tilted and ball bearing exploded out all over the shop,
second go was better, this time i made angle iron cradles fitted across the chassis with flat bar pivots to the step, this was better but the step still rocked and swayed,
last attenpt was a bit more radicle, i kept the angle cradles and made the pivot arms with angle, also added a brace crossways and made the pivot points useing a pair of wheel bearings, this stopped the step from swaying and to stop the rocking i fitted lifting cables to each side of the step as opposed to the center fixing, this gives a good even lift and makes the step much more stable to stand on,
biggest change was however replaceing the small winch with a front mounted 13,000lb winch, the pictures show how the whole thing works, the winch cable runs through the fairlead, down round a roller and onto another roller mounted just fore of the axle, here it hooks onto the step cables which in fact is a single cable looped and anchored to the underfloor at each end of the step width, this cable is the smaller 2000lb one and runs through several rollers and pulleys to hook onto the main cable,
the step is also able to be extended and retracted by an air ram, controlls so far are mounted on the passenger door and are a mechanicle switch to let the step in or out (air), and the hand held controll to raise and lower it, (although untill i rig a override fail safe type system to stop the winch over pulling on the step and possibly tearing off something i'm useing a wireless remote,
four led warning light via four micro switches show wether the step is up and in (static green) or out and down (flashing reds) also a cable opperated slide bolt which will stop the step falling should a cable break while driving,
Attached Files
i decided on this "superwinch" i did do some checking and in fact it had quite a good feedback, also the ebay sell had very good feedback and the winch did come in for some praise, it seems the maindownside was the lack of quality in the solinoid, (they say this has been updated to avoid the rusting problems previously encountered, this was prior to me buying and hopefully it'll do for my uses, also i have mounted the unit under the bonnet as opposed to the useual place being on top of the winch, it just ment getting some extended heavy cables,)
but no more than would be expected from a man of your caliber
so tweak the bars or attack it with a sledge!! which is better?? only one way to find out!!
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