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Full Hydraulic Steering


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  • 2 weeks later...

I read through the thread but wasn't all that helpful as far as components and setup goes. I'm doing a Dana 44 up front and decided since this is going to be a full time trail rig wasn't going to worry with the typical steering setup. I have some of the hydraulic steering components that were donated by an old forklift at work so guess going to have to get it all  mocked up on  axle to see what kind of travel i need in cylinder. Am taking pictures of the work as I go but don't know how to upload here as the file sizes are so small.

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I suspect there's more info for mounting hydro steer to a D44 on forums for vehicles that came with D44s, or more commonly get D44s swapped into them. If you're thinking of using the stock steering pump, and have a spec for the forklift pump (or a pressure limit on valves or hoses) to compare it against, the service manual says the WD21 steering pump is supposed to make 1109-1194 PSI at idle. (The R50 pump is rated for 1251-1337 PSI, though it specs this as "maximum pressure" rather than "at idle," so it could be the same pump for all I know.)

 

I have no idea how big orbital valves are, but there's not much room to work with where the steering box is now. I guess you could put it just about anywhere you can run lines to, though, and with the IFS out of the way, you may have a lot more room for activities.

 

The best way to do pictures here is to host elsewhere and link them in, unfortunately.

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Performance Steering Components PSC FHK110 PSC Full Hydraulic Steering Systems | Summit Racing - Free Shipping on Orders Over $99 at Summit Racing

Looks like plenty of kits available, I don't think there is any getting around doing your own measurements and calcs to get the right stroke length.

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The donor forklift has a pump pressure of between 2500-3000 lbs. so the Nissan pump doesn't come close to exceeding what the orbital valve, hoses etc. could withstand. That same forklift weighs 21567 lbs. unloaded according to manufacturer specs . I figured the math on the steering cyl ( 4") at 2500 psi to be around 31,400 lbs. so if my calculations are correct using the Nissan pump to supply a 2" double acting cylinder should put me at a minimum of 3450 lbs. of pressure. Think that would be plenty of steering power under any circumstances without straining the pump but this is all in theory until i actually hook it all together and test.

 

Mounting it will actually take up less space than the existing steering box and will require a simple L shaped bracket that mounts to the same holes Have the steering shaft from the forklift as well so with a little measuring and welding will make an adapter to the existing steering. it seems most of the kits I've seen come with 6" or 8" travel on the cylinder. There are longer travel cylinders available but wondering what others have went with .Also curious about coolers, reservoirs, etc. that go along with a hyd. steering setup and if they've had any issues but Slartibartfast your right, I need to talk to more ppl that have set this up and ran it a while. Just wanting to build a once and done system because breaking your steering in the middle of an off road trip ruins the day even if it does give you a reason to drink more beer.

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Sounds like a hell of a forklift! Understressed is good. I guess now you just need to grab a tape measure and compare the knock-to-knock distance on the ram and the D44.

 

I get wanting to do it once and be done with it! Good luck and let us know how it goes.

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