For some years, I've wondered about using hydrostatic steering in a rod -- the kind that's used on some construction equipment. Today I saw a crane/loader type machiine that had license plates (Colorado) suggesting it could be driven on the street and it has hydrostatic steering. I thought hydrostatic steering was not alowed on street vehichles. Any thoughts?
from everything I've ever seen it's NOT DOT approved. Nor do I think you'd want one in a street vehicle. It's very numb, and there is no return to center. They're PERFECT for offroad vehicles with tires larger than 40" cause the steering effort is minimal, but on a street vehicle I'd think it would not be worth the effort. Any particular reason you'd consider it?
If you want to steer with a hydraulic cylinder, how about using a Monroe ram setup from an early Rambler ? Connect the pitman arm to the built-in valve and connect the draglink to the cylinder end. It's compatible with Chevy pumps too.
I would not do it. Even on a well balanced two sided ram, there is no perfect return to center. The steering wheel does not end up back at the same spot at center. There is no solid connection anywhere in the system. Not to mention it is ugly as homemade sin on any thing but a rockcrawler. There are many other options, and all of them are better than full hydro. I have yet to see what is so hard about steering on a hotrod. Most cars are running 2-5inches of suspension travel. It is not that hard to get steering linkage to work in that kind of range. I am not trying to be a ****, but there are two places that require sound design on any car, steering and brakes. Oribital valve steering has no place on any street driven vehicle.
Well now that you guys bring it all to my attention, its a good question. Why would I consider this? The answer is, I don't know. And, as you point out there is no good reason............ ah, never mind (Emily Latella - Saturday Night Live)
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