Full hydraulic steering help

tonybolton · Oct 28, 2014

Steering setup:

Some sort of Eaton Char Lynn steering valve
Stock Chevy Vortec 350 PS pump
O'Reily's hydraulic fluid
Smallish 12x6 cooler
Generic tractor supply type single ended ram.....looks to be the typical 2x8.

Whats happening is that at say 15-20mph it turns with no issues to the right, but when turning the left it seems to want to bleed back and go back to center. If you turn the wheel somewhat quick to the left it will turn like normal. It only needs the extra turns when turning slowly to the left.

It does fine out on the trails and maneauvering around. It's just on the access roads is where I notice it(when at speed).

No leaks, has plenty of power to turn a 43" tire up against or onto a rock in either direction. Any clue as to what might be going on? This setup has been fine for 8 or so months....just started noticing this issue a few weeks ago.

matth_85 · Oct 28, 2014

I would say you have an internal seal bad or a blockage somewhere causing it.

tonybolton · Oct 28, 2014

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Right....but cylinder or steering valve? If the pump was ify then I'd imagine it'd be a problem in either direction. ...right?

matth_85 · Oct 28, 2014

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tonybolton said:
Right....but cylinder or steering valve? If the pump was ify then I'd imagine it'd be a problem in either direction. ...right?

Definitely in valve or ram. Don't really have a good idea on how to check that. The ram should be pretty easy to pull apart and check the seals.

tonybolton · Oct 28, 2014

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I may jus replace the ram. The brand name on it says "value time".

Don't most have good luck using the red Grizzly rams from Tractor Supply?

TBItoy · Oct 28, 2014

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If I remember correctly your ram extends to the left, so it will always take more turns of the wheel to turn left, and less to turn right. It's usually not noticeable crawling, but at speed on smooth (ish) roads it will feel funny.

Not saying that you don't have a problem... But you may not have a problem

tonybolton · Oct 28, 2014

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I've heard that as well...but didn't know if it was speed of input dependant.

The only reason for the "red flag" is that I've not noticed this issue the previous outings.

TBItoy · Oct 28, 2014

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I've got a 2x8 grizzly ram you can try

tonybolton · Oct 28, 2014

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Cool....I'll ride it this weekend and see where I wanna go from there. Thanks for the help!

TacomaJD · Oct 28, 2014

One place we go wheeling, you have to drive down a paved road that's curvy for a few miles, and my **** recenters itself noticeably bad, turning both directions. I just figured it was the belt slipping on the pump pulley. I've just said fawk it until something really fawks up, then I'll know what to fix lol. My steering sucks.

TBItoy · Oct 28, 2014

Re: Re: Re: Full hydraulic steering help

TacomaJD said:
One place we go wheeling, you have to drive down a paved road that's curvy for a few miles, and my **** recenters itself noticeably bad, turning both directions. I just figured it was the belt slipping on the pump pulley. I've just said fawk it until something really fawks up, then I'll know what to fix lol. My steering sucks.

Pretty sure you have a load reactive orbital and it's supposed to recenter.

I have a non load reacting on the gremlin and I like it. Zero recenter, zero kick back. I just need a decent pump instead of the $12 pull a part xj pump I'm running.

I like that I can completely take my hands off the wheel when crawling through a rock garden or up a ledge and the wheel/tires stay exactly where I left them

TacomaJD · Oct 28, 2014

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TBItoy said:
Pretty sure you have a load reactive orbital and it's supposed to recenter.

I have a non load reacting on the gremlin and I like it. Zero recenter, zero kick back. I just need a decent pump instead of the $12 pull a part xj pump I'm running.

I like that I can completely take my hands off the wheel when crawling through a rock garden or up a ledge and the wheel/tires stay exactly where I left them

No I mean recenter when I still have the wheel cut. Like have not moved the steering wheel mid-curve and it starts straightening back out. My rig is dangerous above 20ish mph lol

John Galbreath Jr. · Oct 28, 2014

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TacomaJD said:
No I mean recenter when I still have the wheel cut. Like have not moved the steering wheel mid-curve and it starts straightening back out. My rig is dangerous above 20ish mph lol

When mine did that, it was a bad orbital. Good time to change ratio lock to lock if needed. Mine got horrible before I replaced it, in a turn, I would have to keep turning. When I wanted to go straight, I could just hold it and it would straighten on its own. PSC told me they did not rebuild them.

TBItoy · Oct 28, 2014

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TacomaJD said:
No I mean recenter when I still have the wheel cut. Like have not moved the steering wheel mid-curve and it starts straightening back out. My rig is dangerous above 20ish mph lol

Oh ****. Yeah your orbital is bypassing!

tonybolton · Oct 28, 2014

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Sounds similar to what I'm experiencing. ...seems like my orbital is more to blame.

Thanks for everyone's feedback!

TacomaJD · Oct 28, 2014

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JohnG said:
When mine did that, it was a bad orbital. Good time to change ratio lock to lock if needed. Mine got horrible before I replaced it, in a turn, I would have to keep turning. When I wanted to go straight, I could just hold it and it would straighten on its own. PSC told me they did not rebuild them.

Exactly what mine does. Hasn't always done it, just over the past year. Been doing it a while. Prolly about time for a new orbital AND a new pump molaugh

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack!

tonybolton · Oct 28, 2014

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No thread jack...i was looking for others experiences.

Toddy · Oct 28, 2014

If it was cylinder it would do it both ways. But might be more noticeable if it's by passing the o rings in cylinder on the Rod side. Less area so it takes less fluid leaking by to make it move.

Cylinder should take about 30 mins to figure out if o rings are bad.

bee513 · Oct 28, 2014

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TBItoy said:
If I remember correctly your ram extends to the left, so it will always take more turns of the wheel to turn left, and less to turn right. It's usually not noticeable crawling, but at speed on smooth (ish) roads it will feel funny.

Not saying that you don't have a problem... But you may not have a problem

wouldn't it depend on how you ram is mounted either for pass side diff or driver side diff.

TBItoy · Oct 28, 2014

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bee513 said:
wouldn't it depend on how you ram is mounted either for pass side diff or driver side diff.

Not sure I understand what you're asking...?

You can mount the ram in any orientation (in front/behind axle/left/right/etc)

But yeah, a single ended ram takes more fluid to extend than retract, therefore more turns of the orbital