hydro steering problems (1 Viewer)

[kc_chevota]

just finished up taping and adding a lion 2500 ram just like in the tech write-up. the problem is the ram only moves when the steering box hits its full turn stops, and then only very slowly. new box and pump w/ pressure upgrade (gm). anyone got any ideas?

thanks rob

 

[66fj40x2]

Rob, are you testing it with the tire on and on the ground? Try that

 

[Medusa]

Backward hoses

 

[kc_chevota]

tried it with the tires on the ground and off. when the tires do turn they do turn turn the correct direction. i had to disconnect the pitman arm to see any movement

 

[Bossman]

what medusa said-

 

[chattfj40]

hmmm Mine did that when I broke the drag link and was limping back...wonder if mine's hooked up the same way? Guess I figure is out when I install the new PSC gear next week. Anyone think this is the same issue?

 

[kc_chevota]

will try swaping the hoses tonight. but i thought that backwards hoses would just make the ram run in reverse. mine dosent move at all till you push the seering wheel to its stops and hold it there, no movment any where else while turning back untill you hit the other stop

 

[FoYoChe]

switch to a real orbitrol valve, yes I know orbitrol is a eaton specific name, you should check to see if you can build pressure on the cylinder lines before the end of the stroke is reached, if not then it probably isn't ported correctly. after reading the tech write up, I still don't believe it's ported correctly, steering boxes work on hydraulic assist, the piston inside floats and if you drive the center either direction it opens a valve that stays open till the piston catches up again, this is kind of a simplification, but what it means is that there is only oil flow to either side of the piston while the wheel is actively turning until you hit the ends of the stroke and the piston is stopped short of actually catching up and closing off the valve, then you get constant pressure, which pops the relief built into the pump housing and causes the noise.
oil will only flow out of the caps if the assist valve is open, so only when the wheel is actually being turned untill the piston closes it back up. it's pretty much the same as the old ram assist steerings on the old fords. what I'm trying to get at is that it won't ever work correctly, the way it's set up, but it appears to work because you can drag the cylinder back and forth with your pitman arm. and when you hit the end of the stroke, the cylinder will start to push with actual force. I may be wrong, but ...

 

[bustanutley]

sounds normal to me. The ram works on bypass fluid, so it doesn't add assist to the system until your box is stalled out. hook it up bleed for a long time and park with your tire against a wall and try and turn, your steering should push the truck sideways no problem.