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  #1  
Old 03-28-2002, 05:55 PM
Daless2 Daless2 is offline
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Air Activated Ox Shifter Design Idea - Your Suggestions Please

Air Activated Ox Shifter (AAOS)

Hi folks, for a while I have been toying with the idea of replacing the Ox Locker Shifter and Cable with an Air Operated System like my front ARB.

I am about ready to do something about this and wanted to collect your input before I send the design to the machine shop.


Here is a drawing of the high level design and a brief description of how it will operate.

Your comments, suggestions and ideas for improvement are actively being solicited and appreciated.




I have the Air Cylinder. It is made by Bimba and available as surplus for under $5. The Air Cylinder is made of stainless steel and is rated as weatherproof.

My digital camera is not home tonight so a picture of the air cylinder will have to wait till morning.

Length is about 4.5 inches, diameter is about ¾ inch, and has an operating pressure of 100-PSI Max. Piston extension is 1 inch. (The Ox Locker requires about 5/16-inch movement to lock and unlock.)

An Air hose will be connected to the air nipple to control the air cylinder via an Air Valve/Solenoid and in cab switch similar to that use on my front ARB.

The blue part called the Locking Cylinder will have to be fabricated out of aluminum.
One end of the Locking Cylinder will thread into the Ox Locker Diff Cover, and the other end will accept the threaded mount of the Air Cylinder.

Inside the Locker Cylinder there will be two springs.

The Locking Pressure Spring (Brown) will be used to absorb the movement of the air cylinder piston and then transfer that movement to the Locker Control Shaft when the OX Locker Cams line up to enable the Ox Locker to become engaged.

The Return Spring (Red) will disengage the Ox Locker Fork (Inside Diff) when air pressure is released from the air cylinder by pushing the Locker Control Shaft out.


The Locker Control Shaft will thread into the Shift Fork inside the Diff just like the current cable does.

As the rod is pushed left, the locker becomes locked.

When moved to the right, the locker disengages.


That’s the jest of it folks. I have tried to keep it as simple as possible.


The entire assembly will thread into the Ox Locker Diff cover and sit directly behind the passenger side axle tube.

While somewhat protected, I will have to come up with some more protection.

Give it some thought folks and let me know your ideas on how I might improve this design.


Frank
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  #2  
Old 03-28-2002, 07:23 PM
mrblaine mrblaine is offline
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Frank, two thoughts, and please take this as it is intended. Why would you buy a locker designed, marketed, and dreamt up as an alternative to the hassle of air activation and convert to such?

Secondly, I think it's a cool idea. I know that my buddy at the gear shop has converted his because of the cable hassle.

You may want to call him for some pointers. I can provide numbers if you are interested.

It is impossible to ascertain the value of something until you have paid for it a few times.
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  #3  
Old 03-28-2002, 07:57 PM
Art Welch Art Welch is offline
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mrblaine:
Why would you buy a locker designed, marketed, and dreamt up as an alternative to the hassle of air activation and convert to such?

[/quote]

I had the same question but my guess is so that he can get a super 44 which I think is available for Detroit and OX only.

As a diehard ARB fan I love to see air-actuated lockers, even if they started life as that evil cable actuated variety .
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  #4  
Old 03-28-2002, 07:57 PM
Daless2 Daless2 is offline
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Hi Blaine,

While I can't say I have had any problems with the Ox Locker, Cable or Shifter, I just don't........... I don't know. Can't justify that cable!!!!! It is always in the way.

About the only negative I can give on the cable is that it must be readjusted every time you take the rear cover off. No big deal, but I like to take the cover off and look inside when I change gear oil.

I am a "closet ARB Guy! "

I have one in theD-30 up front and would have put one in the back too had they made one to fit the Super 35 axles.

Maybe this is all a part of some subconscious need to be different. I can be a flake sometimes.

That would be great if you could email me your friends numbers Blaine.

I'd like to make this work correctly and with as few problems as possible. If he can shed some light on what he did it would be very helpful to me.

If you could send the info to email.id@worldnet.att.net I would appreciate it.

Frank

PS. I had to give back those ceramic brake pads I had for evaluation. They looked brand new after 17K miles and stopped pretty darn good.

I am expecting to get another set shortly and have asked again for a second set. If they come through with them and you are still interested they will be coming your way.
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Old 03-28-2002, 08:19 PM
mrblaine mrblaine is offline
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I am highly familiar with Bimba and American air cylinders. I do understand most of what you are doing.

That said, consider using a short, lighter weight cable and relocating the cylinder to a more protected place on the axle. You only need about .500 of max travel from the cylinder. More than the travel, you will need about 40 lbs of force to move the shift fork correctly. By the time you get all of that put together, it will be a lot of parts and some of the simplicity may be gone.

Why the double set of springs? Why not a single acting cylinder with an internal spring return? I know I have seen them somewhere. That combined with a short cable should be alot simpler.

I have a cable company that can build most anything and they do a lot of morse cables for boat controls. Nearly identical to the Ox cable.

Let me know on the pads. Very interested.

Give John Lemeaux a call at 909-277-1037. His number is also listed in the aftermarket company section. Awesome gear guy.

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  #6  
Old 03-29-2002, 04:19 AM
Daless2 Daless2 is offline
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Hi Blaine,

Thanks for your thought provoking questions. As always I find this valuable.


Here is a picture of the five Air Cylinders I currently have.




The unit on the top is the one I was thinking of using.

The next two down are as you mentioned, one-way “Spring-Loaded” IN.

The fourth down is One-Way “Spring-Loaded” OUT.

The last is just too small for practical use in this application.


All spring-loaded units require 12 PSI to overcome the spring pressure, which shouldn’t be a problem.

I did give some thought to using a spring-loaded unit but couldn’t come up with a good way to address the cylinder vent. Each has a small vent hole drilled in the stainless steel cylinder that allows air to enter or escape as the piston operates.
%
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Old 03-29-2002, 04:38 AM
mrblaine mrblaine is offline
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Daless2:
Hi Blaine,

I did give some thought to using a spring-loaded unit but couldn’t come up with a good way to address the cylinder vent. Each has a small vent hole drilled in the stainless steel cylinder that allows air to enter or escape as the piston operates.
%[/quote]

How do you handle the vent on your differentials?

Same principle. In this case, some 1/8" air shock line should work.

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Old 03-29-2002, 04:53 AM
Daless2 Daless2 is offline
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Good Morning Blaine,

Yea I can handle the hose part of this. The problem as I see it is how to connect the vent hose to the air cylinder.

I should have explained this. The cylinder walls are made of stainless steel and from what I can see they appear to be quite thin.

I think I will take one apart today to see if there is any way I can get a thread cut on the vent hole, but I doubt it.

If not, maybe I can get an expert welder friend to work a little magic there for me and weld on a nipple for a vent hose.

Frank
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Old 03-29-2002, 06:26 AM
William William is offline
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Daless2:
PS. I had to give back those ceramic brake pads I had for evaluation. They looked brand new after 17K miles and stopped pretty darn good.

I am expecting to get another set shortly and have asked again for a second set. If they come through with them and you are still interested they will be coming your way.[/quote]
Hi Frank,

I'm in the need for better front brake pads. I was going to buy the preformance friction ones, as many people have had nothing but good experiences with those. Now, I've seen the ceramic pads at Napa. I wasn't sure about thier preformance. Can you eloborate a little on them?

William "Unless you're William" Karstens
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"I'm not Bill"
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Old 03-29-2002, 06:47 AM
TObject TObject is offline
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I am not familiar with the elementary base, but wouldn’t it be easier to find a powerful enough solenoid and skip the air all together?
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  #11  
Old 03-29-2002, 07:04 AM
mrblaine mrblaine is offline
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Daless2:
Good Morning Blaine,

Yea I can handle the hose part of this. The problem as I see it is how to connect the vent hose to the air cylinder.

I should have explained this. The cylinder walls are made of stainless steel and from what I can see they appear to be quite thin.

I think I will take one apart today to see if there is any way I can get a thread cut on the vent hole, but I doubt it.

If not, maybe I can get an expert welder friend to work a little magic there for me and weld on a nipple for a vent hose.

Frank[/quote]

Do away with the vent in the thin wall of the cylinder and put it in the end aluminum nosepiece. Much easier to deal with.

Look at the air adjuster fitting for a Rancho 9000. It should work just fine. It even turns the line back parallel to the cylinder.

Did you calculate the force using that small cylinder? I am guessing in the neighborhood of around 35 lbs of force dependant upon your air supply pressure. Am I close?

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Old 03-29-2002, 08:55 AM
Daless2 Daless2 is offline
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by William:
Quote:
Hi Frank,

I'm in the need for better front brake pads. I was going to buy the preformance friction ones, as many people have had nothing but good experiences with those. Now, I've seen the ceramic pads at Napa. I wasn't sure about thier preformance. Can you eloborate a little on them?

William "Unless you're William" Karstens
AKA
"I'm not Bill"[/quote]

Hi William,

I have a client that all I can really tell you is in the aerospace industry. They are currently doing some engineering and testing of disc brake pads made of some type of ceramic compound that they developed for another use. In this scenario they are basically exploring the possibilities and or potential to enter this market, but as of this date no decision has been made.

They asked me if I would like to try a set and return them with an evaluation after a period of time. I said yes so they built me a custom, one off set.

I wish I had put a micrometer on them prior to putting them in. When I took them out after 17K miles they looked like they did when I put them in.

As for stopping power I can't say they were any better then the Performance Friction pads, but I can say, no matter what I did with them I always had the same breaking, wet or dry, cold or over heated.

I never once experenced any noticable brake fade.

Wish I could share more with you on this, but that is all I can really say.

I do know that Napa has ceramic brake pads, as does Raybestos (Spelling?)

However I don't know anything about them. I may go buy a set just to see how they compare to what I just took out and shipped back.

I'd be happy to let you know what I think of them.

Frank
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  #13  
Old 03-29-2002, 09:12 AM
Daless2 Daless2 is offline
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Hi Folks,

I finished up a little bit ago testing the output pressure for a given input air pressure.

As suspected, it can be calculated mathematically based on air PSI and Square Inch Area of the Piston inside the cylinder.


However I did measure it.

I put each piston shaft in my drill press and put a bathroom scale on the drill press plate, applied air pressure and measured the transfer to the scale.

The cylinder I wanted to use will work, but would require at least 100 PSI (upper limit) to operate at 44 pounds of output pressure. (every pound of PSI in translates to .4415 lbs out at the piston shaft.)

This cylinder has a 3/4-inch diameter piston.

The larger cylinders have a 1.5 inch diameter piston.

Each of these resulted in a pressure multiplication of about 1.75 lbs of pressure out for every pound of PSI air I applied.

(for example 20 PSI in results in 35 pounds of pressure out.)

As I said, what I actually tested came in pretty close to what can be calculated. There does not appear to be much loose to friction or leakage.

I believe I will go with one of the one-way, spring-loaded units, for the spring return and the benefits of operating at a lower pressure.

If I need 40 pounds to operate the Ox reliably, I will need only 23 PSI of air to operate it.


I've made several attempts at find a 12vdc electric solenoid to employ as the heart of the Ox Shifter. I could not find any that would have the power to operate it (pulling strength) without drawing an incredible amount of amps.

If anyone has any ideas on this or know of an electric solenoid that might work I would appreciate you pointing me in that direction.

Frank
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  #14  
Old 03-29-2002, 09:14 AM
Daless2 Daless2 is offline
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Blank post in error
sorry
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