Manual steering and full hydro

[paradisepwoffrd]

I know this is not the norm here, but i am building an offroad rig that can also be driven quite a bit on the street by the wife.

With that being said i am trying to figure out what to do for steering.

I know that std power steering isn't going to cut it offroad, and haven't ever been impressed with hydro assist at speed.

I was thinking about running a manual (or ps) box to get the mechanical linkage for on road "feel" & control, but having the column/box connected to the orbital valve input so that a ram was powered to move along with it.

I think that it will work if everything was sized correctly, but might bind?

I'm open to suggestions, or recommendations for something i may have over looked or discounted already.

 

[TBItoy]

If you size your hydro assist ram correctly, it will drive fine on the road and still have plenty of power off road.

I can't really understand how what you are describing would give you road feel?


You might consider running a double ended ram as your tie rod and assist cylinder, still using a tapped power steering box as you would with a "standard" hydro assist setup.

^ That would give you balanced displacement, and consistent speed in both directions, and in some cases will be easier to package than a tierod and separate single ended ram.

 

[ridered3]

My old CJ7 had full hydro. While it was technically illegal to drive on the road, I figured it out very quickly and was good enough with it on road that it didn't drive much different. Stick a buddy in there that wasn't used to hydro and he was ALL over the place fighting the wheel back and forth.

So before you go sticking your wife in the rig or building it so she can drive it, make sure she understands and is able to drive it correctly.

 

[fordcontraption01]

You could but I'm not saying it will work but you could get a manual box and get what they call a torque generator looks kind of like an orbital valve with only an in and out for pump hoses it goes in line between the steering wheel and the box that's what's on my big chaindrive buggy and you can steer it with one finger

 

[Elliott]

My Rockwell rig has psc's 3" double ended rams and krc pumps that flow 3.7 gpm's which really aren't fast enough but it drives like a new car on the road, it is possible to go full hydraulic and make them drive right might just need to oversize the rams and undersized the flow of fluid. The good thing about the krc pumps is it takes prob 2 minutes to swap out valves to make adjustments to your pressure.

 

[paradisepwoffrd]

i have driven a few full hydro rigs on the street. While i have no issues with them, the limited feedback would deter my wife. She has driven lifted vehicles and such before, just nothing with full hydro.

If you size your hydro assist ram correctly, it will drive fine on the road and still have plenty of power off road.

I can't really understand how what you are describing would give you road feel?


You might consider running a double ended ram as your tie rod and assist cylinder, still using a tapped power steering box as you would with a "standard" hydro assist setup.

^ That would give you balanced displacement, and consistent speed in both directions, and in some cases will be easier to package than a tierod and separate single ended ram.

What i was thinking up in my head was full manual steering, with a connection to the orbital from the steering shaft to control a ram that is also attached to the axle. It is crazy thinking im sure.

I figure that there is a fine line with hydro assist that i have just not experienced yet. The biggest thing that has detered me from hydro assist in the past is the sluggish feeling when trying to make quick maneauvers offroad.


I did notice this steering servo: http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Sweet-Mfg-301-30235-Power-Steering-Servo-235-Lite-Medium,1963.html
Looks like it is basically what i was thinking of.

Wonder how it would work with a PS box vs a manual box?

 

[fordcontraption01]

That's what a torque generator looks like

 

[crawlin85cj]

I could be way off on this but IMO you are going to have a near impossible times thing the speed of the gear box to the speed of the orbital. That doesn't even factor in any slip in the orbital.

I think you would be real happy with a proper hydraulic assist. All of the 4500 and 4600 cars are running gear boxes by the rules. Some of them are saying they will never go back to full hydro after driving a well setup hydraulic assist.

Call Lance at PSC, he has been working with this for a good while and knows his stuff.

 

[cannondaletim]

i had hydro assist on my jeep and took it off it is for sale it worked great until i put 44 inch tires on it im selling the gear box with hydro ports drilled in =to it by redneck ram hydro assist let me know if interested