How much pressure does a Power Steering pump put out is it enough to power a ram to lift a flat bed? The pump would be off of a 1978 f-250 and i should be able to fab up some brackets to mount it below the existing power steering pump

Thanks Marcus

 

it probably would, but not with a really heavy load on the bed.....i know there are hydralic winches that work off exising power steering pumps, and they get worked pretty hard..........

 

you would not be able to it would load the ps pretty good and almost lock up and the belt will slip

 

Most of them operate between 1000-2000 PSI. Plumbing in a reservoir to have enough fluid would be the main problem. There are add-on kits for some applications to operate winches and dump beds etc. They may not be readily available for our trucks.

 

1800 psi according to the Mustang mag I was reading today. It would probably work with a big enough cylinder to give the force multiplication you would need. But the speed probably wouldn't be what you want. PSI isn't the only factor in this app. Flow rate would be a big one here to get the cylinder to act fast enough. I have no clue what the flow rate of a ps pump is.

 

The electric pump for the flatbed on my '95 runs at 3000 psi. Can't find any flow rates in the book but it does have a 3/8's high pressure line to the lift cylinder.

If a 2000 PSI pump would only make it work a little slower you could probably get most of the other parts you need from Northern Hydraulics to make it work.

What type of truck is this going in? Standard or Auto? Have you looked into finding an old PTO rather than electric or PS pump?

Can these PS pumps handle hydraulic oil? Might be to hard on the pump running to thick of an oil in it? Not sure.

One last thing to research. Mounting points of the scissor lift will help determine....... How much you can lift and how high the body goes.......Research that before you just weld it on. There's 2 flatbeds and a dump body here I could take some measurements on for you if you got to that point. Good luck.

 

Use ATF in the pump.

The pressure does not determine how "fast" it works. Pump volume, RPMs, and the size of the cylinder determines how fast it works.

 

Pressure has to do with valve springs in the system, not the pump. A pump solely supplies volume, but I doubt that a PS pump will have the volume you want. I would say get a pto drive or electrical drive pump that is designed to supply the volume for what you want.

 

go to yahoo groups.home made equipment for tractors& try their links.all the information you need, should be there, good luck

 

Check ebay. You can find 12 volt hydraulic pumps that are designed for this kind of pressure and volume all the time for $100-$200 which is probably about the same that you'll spend to make your PS pump work for it.

The larger the bore of the ram the less pressure you need but the more volume that will be required to move it. You need to get a hydraulic book to get the right mix which will provide enough force to dump the bed but won't require a HUGE amount of fluid. Large bores also move a lot slower.

 

ill probably just buy a 12 volt pump to make things easier and take the scissor hoist out of an old flare box grain wagon