full hydro question

broncomania

broncomania

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Location
ASHEBORO,NC.
can someone explain to me the benefits of converting to full hydro steering ? i see it on a lot of trail only rigs. im really interested in it.
whats the pros and cons of the set up ????????
thanks.
 
Freedom of suspesion design, travel, and lack of frame-tearing steering box. Plus the ability to turn the largest tire your knuckle/steering arm will allow.

For a lot of people though, it's being able to do away with the tracbar and tie rod.
Doesn't have to be trail only either if you're smart in putting it together, but can be (very) expensive. Cons are cost and no mechanical linkage, also lack of feedback and no steering without the engine running/pump working depending on your orbital/steering valve.
 
it makes is really easy to steer in the woods. with full hydro i can steer my 49" iroks locked up front and rear with one finger. besides that u lose the draglink that could bind if u have alot of wheel travel. the cons are that if u lose your power steering pump it makes it really hard to steer. however u can steer some to get you off the trail
 
91oneton said:
it makes is really easy to steer in the woods. with full hydro i can steer my 49" iroks locked up front and rear with one finger. besides that u lose the draglink that could bind if u have alot of wheel travel. the cons are that if u lose your power steering pump it makes it really hard to steer. however u can steer some to get you off the trail
Click to expand...

or up the steps on carnage...
 
I just did a full hydro setup on my yota buggy, and I have to say it is the best offroad steering setup i have ever used. I actually bought my setup off of ebay From a guy named mike. screen name 39boggers. He was very helpful with tech, even giving me his phone #, and I could not reccomend his kit more. The setup was for a chevy, but all i did to modify it to work on my yota was run a 6 inch ram, run a chevy power steering pump, and add a tranny cooler. It steers suprisingly well even with the engine off. I actually ran out of fuel, and had to be pulled down off the mountain in harlan last month, and It was just like any normal vehicle that has power steering when the engine dies. I also found that i could leave the tranny in gear and while being pulled, even if the engine was only turning 100 or so RPM it steered just like it did at 3000 RPM. The only down side for an offroad only rig that i can see is if a line breaks, then you have nothing. Just in case I carry a spare line, and pleny of PS fluid. I by no means know everything about hydro steering, but I am just shareing my personal experience. Hope it helps.
 
thanks for the tips. right now im running a tapped psc fullsize gearbox, psc ram,saginaw power steering pump. is steers very good but we always want a better design for our rigs purpose. my rigs purpose is solely rock crawling/trail riding.
i have ripped gear boxes off the frame on my old rig and i'd like to ditch most of that stock style set up. so this full hydro is sounding to me like the way to go. carrying spare lines and fluid would be smart.

big thanks to all that replied.:beer:
 
Pros - No internal gears to strip out or break. Also no drag link which limits steering when flexed out. No stress on the frame since it's all attached to the axle.

Cons - If you develop a leak then you have zero steering. The fluid can overheat and puke, then you get air in the lines and need to let it cool.
 
For the record. Greg Slades brother Garth was having running issues at the Dixie Run a couple years ago. Goliath has full hydro. We just put it in High range high gear(straight drive) and it turned the pump to still have steering. I towed him from way into trail one all the way back to almost Main cam which was below Crawfords. I stopped only when I was running hot. It is a VERY heavy rig!
 
I finally converted to full hydro a couple of years ago on the '68, used a double ended PSC ram. BEST mod ever. You won't believe how much less tired you are at the end of the days after turning 40s. Just using a chebby canned ham pump, runs it good. I am going to put on an external cooler with switched fan and a gauge eventually.
HTH,
Shannon
 
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