Leroy's Power Steering Dump Bed

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Finally, to secure the bed against lateral shifting, he made up two descent guides of 2" X 15" channel iron, splayed one end of each out slightly, and faced the flanges with 3/16" X 2" flat stock. These guides were fastened to the chassis about a foot behind the rear of the cab so that the bed's main rails would settle snugly between the guides when lowered. Two short sections of channel welded to each guide (flanges facing) and capped with a 3/16" X 2" X 2" plate serve as rest stops for the bed's unhinged end.

Cylinder Position

The cylinder mounting angle is critical because it affects both the payload capacity and the maximum tilt of the bed. The diagram above can be used 10 roughly calculate any homebuilt system's maximum capacity, using this formula:

It may look complicated, but figuring it out is simply a mailer of establishing

A, the distance between the bed's rear hinge pill and the cylinder's upper mount;

B, the distance between the bed's rear hinge pin and the front of the bed;

X, the length of a line parallel to B, measured between the cylinder's lower mounting pivot and the line's intersection with...

Y, the distance perpendicular to A and X, between the upper cylinder mount and X;

R, the radius of the pistons within the cylinders;

P. the maximum operating pressure of the power-sieering pump (most are limited in about 1,500 psi with an internal dump valve).

Note that the rear hinge posts must be at least 2" forward of the bed frame to allow clearance at
maximum lift.

FLUID DRIVE

The most attractive feature of this dump-bed conversion is the fact that it's relatively inexpensive... in large pan because the power-steering pump is plumbed to do double duty. In essence, instead of supplying high-pressure fluid directly to the steering box, Leroy's pump now delivers its load-through a pressure gauge and into a four-way hydraulic control valve. (The only modification necessary was to replace the existing reverse-flared hose fitting with a standard pipe-thread coupling.) From there, one of the valve's working ports is plumbed to a splitter—simply a glorified T fitting—the two outlets of which are, in turn, connected to the lower chambers of the hydraulic cylinders.

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