Brake accumulator

[wil440]

I have just finally resealed the Hydroboost on my truck only had the seal kit for most of this year,  MOT  (our yearly check) is overdue so as it was leaking and that would be a fail I decided nows the time.

The reseal went ok, had to cut the rod as it's a staked item, I was going to make a threaded joiner on my lathe but decided against that as the inner bore of the input seals are tiny compared to the rod they have to be fitted over to get to their grooves and didn't want sharp threads incase I had to ever reaseal again, anyway thats all done and rod welded back together.

 

Question is has anyone got a picture of the accumulator looking right in it, specifically how far does the piston sit down in the casing as mine is over 1/2 way down, I think it has lost it's pressure, the other question is if it is toast then where do I get one from ?

 

 

[wil440]

I take it nothing is available except to the rebuilders, I couldn't find anyone selling the accumulator shame really as all it is is an ally canister with a gas bag in it and a piston, I refitted the hydroboost this morning all good, this is after reading a very old thread on here from 2016, @Haggar  about a ball bearing and the pedal going to the floor and me thinking WHAT ball bearing, for the record a 98.5 hydroboost DOES NOT have a ball bearing anywhere at least anywhere I took apart, what it does have is a small pin around 3/8th long with a ball end in the accumulator charge check valve, I very nearly stripped the hydroboost again just to check for this ball bearing but decided I'd trust what I pictured and how it went back together.

 

If a replacement accumulator isn't available I'm sure I could machine a piece of aluminium with a O ring groove etc just the same as the accumulator and machine threads in the centre for a high pressure fitting and either use a high pressure hydraulic hose or high pressure steel line to a rechargeable accumulator, my problem with this is I don't know what the precharge pressure of the OE accumulator is, does anyone on here know what the precharge pressure of a blue accumulator is ?????  I can get a rechargeable accumulator for around £50

The other way of figuring this out is to find out what the output pressure of the PS pump is and go lower by an amount

Why am I thinking about this ..... simple, I have large tyres, and I have to reverse around a right hand corner and then a straight narrow driveway about 150yrds to get my truck and work trailer onto my property, I'm just wondering if slow speed a lot of steering and braking etc whether the accumulator would be any use, I can't decide whether the PS pump is good enough to provide both steering and power brakes at low rpm

[IBMobile]

How about doing something like this first?

https://mopar1973man.com/cummins/articles.html/12-valve-2nd-generation/axles-suspension-brakes/diy-hotrod-power-steering-pump-r381/

[wil440]

1 minute ago, IBMobile said:

How about doing something like this first?

https://mopar1973man.com/cummins/articles.html/12-valve-2nd-generation/axles-suspension-brakes/diy-hotrod-power-steering-pump-r381/

I did that mod last year and it made a really big difference, like I say I'm not sure if the accumulator is just for engine off brakes or whether it would actually give pressure at low rpm steering/braking

[IBMobile]

It's for engine off brakes.  You get one shot wit power braking if the engine dies going down the road.

[wil440]

20 hours ago, IBMobile said:

It's for engine off brakes.  You get one shot wit power braking if the engine dies going down the road.

Well I won't get one shot thats for sure

[wil440]

Truck passed it's MOT check last night all good no faults and no advisories, headlamps a little low but as they point to the wrong side for here I always get told about this, If I set them to the right height then they are too high for oncoming traffic.

Drivers upper ball joint has a tiny bit of wear but nothing to worry about, I intend next year to have it MOTed in the summer as I'm sick of checking it over and fixing it in the cold so will do the BJ before then

[Mopar1973Man]

4 hours ago, wil440 said:

headlamps a little low but as they point to the wrong side for here I always get told about this,

Doesn't your headlights have 2 adjustments per headlight? There should be on the OE headlights a left and right adjustment and the up and down adjustment. Like my HID and the aftermarket headlights I've only got up and down now. No left to right.

[wil440]

Sorry I tried to reply to this on the day and I couldn't post for some reason then forgot all about it

Yes my headlights are stock and have the left/right/up/down adjustment, thing is they are biased to point to the right which is where oncoming traffic is here and to be fair why wouldn't they be biased to the right, as far as I know 2nd gens were never sold direct to any country that drives on the left.

We drive on the left harking back to swords, horses and armour as most people were thought to be right handed so if you are on the left your sword hand is free to smite an oncomer dead, as a side note when I was at primary school over 50 years ago teachers tried real hard to recondition to be right handed, If I picked anything up with my left hand I got a ruler on the knuckles this was at 5 and above.

Luckily it didn't work but now at nearly 60 I use both hands pretty much equal which is really handy doing what I do, I would challenge anyone that is soley right handed to change a starter on a Cat 769C 

Anyway I digress, in the UK the only way to get the lights on 2nd gens to not blind oncoming is to set them low as the adjustment doesn't point them far enough to the left also the headlight lenses are not designed the same as ours, we have pronounced cutoffs on the lense, shielding on the bulb and bulb angle

[Mopar1973Man]

Only other thought would be switch over to UK / EU HID lights. That would have the shutter cut off for the proper side. Like my HIDs in my truck have a step in the light pattern so the on coming traffic is chopped off a bit lower not to blind them but on my side of the road slightly higher path of light to aid in visibility for the driver. That would be my only other way I could see fixing that problem. Being any replacement reflector housing will be for left hand driver vehicles. Since HIDs don't use the reflector at all the shutter and lens would have to be EU / UK design for proper cut off. 

 

[wil440]

Now I'm going to say something that you will find rediculous, on my 1998 ram those bulbs are technically illegal in the UK to retrofit as the lense wasn't originally designed for those bulbs and it would be down to the individual MOT tester as to whether he passed the vehicle, funnily enough they are type approved in the EU.. Sorry I'm not ~~ssing on your chips but that is law here, they would rather me and all other American car owners drive around with candles for lights pointing in the wrong direction

 

I fitted LED bulbs earlier this year WOW what a mistake that was, I was lighting up motorway signs 2 or 3 mile away, could not get them low enough, thrown those in the bin and refitted the stock bulbs.

I think I'm going to adjust upwards and tape off the right side of the lense, we can buy a kit here that does the same thing to allow us to drive in the EU without blinding, it's just a piece of tape cut to the right shape, should also fit some driving lights that come on on H beam

[Mopar1973Man]

Not a problem I figured the technology actually started from back east I thought. But I guess not. It was a shot in the dark... 

[wil440]

1 hour ago, Mopar1973Man said:

It was a shot in the dark... 

 

yep that's my headlights for sure,   not a shot in the dark more a vague sprinkling (of light I mean)

[Mopar1973Man]

Wish it was an option for you. HID lighting was a huge improvement for me. I'm serious that it such a difference. No Hotspot. It's just smooth equal light cast over a wider area and vertically I can see tops of trees at 1/4 mile and cast light vertical over 50 feet up. Putting my old 1996 Dodge 1500 LED headlights beside the 2002 Dodge 2500 with HIDs. Hands down the HID won for lighting quality.

 

I've tried...

Stock headlights with quality halogens. (Bad quality)

Sport Headlights with quality halogens and relay mod. (Bad quality)

Clear lens headlights with LEDs. (Ok but poor pattern)

Morimoto D2S lens retrofitted in Dodge clear lens (the best quality).

 

As for driving lights I've done aircraft landing lights. (Good)

Store brand driving lights (ok)

PIAA LEDs Driving lights (best)

[wil440]

9 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

It's just smooth equal light cast over a wider area and vertically I can see tops of trees at 1/4 mile and cast light vertical over 50 feet up.

This is what the leds were like that I fitted way too high even pointing the lamp to the floor