If you have too much stroke

The rockwell with stock steering and tie rod has approximately 9 inch stroke when using a single ended ram attached to the tie rod. I had to do an internal stop to limit the stroke of my 10 inch ram to 9.
First I attached the ram and fully extended it. I the. Moved it back about a 1/4 inch. I prefer the ram being the stop not the stops on the knuckles. That way your ram is not pushing against your tie rod and heims. Then I marked the shaft with a sharpie.

The ram I used was an inexpensive ag ram from tsc. It is easily disassembled by removing the four long rods holding the ends on.

The ends are removed with a small hamer as they are just held in with O rings.

Putting the mark back I the same position it was made. You can measure from the piston to the end cap. Cut a piece of piece of tube that length. (See pic)

Then remove the piston fron the rod. • Do not remove the clevis from the end of rod and pull it through the seal• this wil damage the seal. Place tube over shaft and replace piston. Reassemble ram.

As always it is important to do this in a clean area, as to not get any debris in the cylinder.

I'm sure there are better write ups on shortening a ram. I just wanted to try a little write up, maybe it will help someone out. It was really simple as long as you don't damage the O rings. Don't be afraid to buy a longer ram and shorten it, if that helps you get the correct stroke you need.

I will be doing the same to mine soon. Thanks for the info

I don't know why you had to do that to yours I had rocks for years and I run 10" full stroke rams on both ends with no problems

What was your limiting factor? The ram or did it hit the stops on the axle?

Just the stops on the axle for me. But if you use high steer arms that bring the tie rod closer to the houseing I could see it taking less ram due to the length of shorter arms

My front setup and rear

I took out like 7/8 of an inch just because I prefer the ram to be the limiting factor not the stops. Because at full turn the ram is pushing on the tie rod and heims. Also I left my stops in the stock position I didn't try to turn the stops in for more turning. I probably could have gained a 1/4 inch each way if I had maxed out the axle shafts.