Solid Axle Conversion Tech

[TylerZ281500]

lmao thats awesome

 

[90chevstepside]

Atleast it wasn't when he was goin down the road.

 

[TylerZ281500]

yeah thatd be really bad.

 

[bggrnchvy]

Kind of right. You have an orbital valve that controls the fluid left to right. Otherwise it would always be turned, never center. The orbital I have is self centering. This isn't technically legal, but it is nice when you want to avoid clearance issues since there is no hard line to the tie rods. Just a flexible hose. The reason it isn't legal is because there is no solid link to the steering wheels so if you have a pump failure you have no way of controlling the wheels. Another HUGE benefit is that you can mount the orbital anywhere. On the frame where the box was is the most common but you can mount it to a fender, the firewall, anywhere. This means no header clearance issues, no gear box slop and a cleaner engine bay.

Most orbital valves (steering valves) actually have a check ball inside that allows you to manually operate them without the pump turning. It's quite a bit harder and you end up turning the wheel a few more time lock to lock to get there but it's doable if you're rolling. Try it on a small indoor forklift at a stop, works fine with the little tires.

It's also not illegal in most places, alot of people are just uncomfortable with it because of all the hydraulic hose failures they've seen on 30+ year old equipment in the field.

 

[90chevstepside]

I wouldn't have a problem running hydraulic steering. I'd probably check The lines every two weeks to a month just to be safe, but I'd trust it..

 

[Tempted]

Everywhere I've checked it is illegal to use full hydraulic on the front wheels, and most steering orbitals even state that they are not for highway use. It is legal to use them on the rear wheels, same as a full electric system(Quadrasteer).

 

[90chevstepside]

I'm gonna run full electric steering.

 

[92GMC]

anyone use this kit? http://www.offroaddirect.com/88-98-Chevy-Solid-axle-swap-Bracket-kit-_p_94.html