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Brass fittings for a Steering gear box?

wheels87k5

wheels87k5

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Truckman4life said:
Not to burst your bubble but you might end up with leaks from that brass. Never use brass in hyd unless a short term emergency. You might pay a little more for actual steel hyd fittings but its worth it. This might be low enough pressure though but I'm not sure.
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No problem......The funny thing about this is I have the steel fittings but I also have a bin full of brass fittings so I decided to use that instead.

******Has anybody had any problems using brass fittings for porting their steering gear box?******

I thought it might be best to ask.

Thanks for the information. :waytogo:
 
I have used brass fittings and typical steel plumbing pipe elbows on my hydraulic plow pump control valve,but neither are rated for such high pressure,usually 600 psi is the max on those kinds of fittings,and the plow pump probably only puts out around that much..never had any issues so far,but I know its technically not "correct"..

A true hydraulic pump's pressure can exceed 3,000 psi in some applications,a P/S pump usually puts out around 1500-1800 psi..a surge in the system when a piston hits a stop or gets "stalled" under high loads can exceed that by a degree and cause a failure..most high pressure hydraulic hoses are rated for 4,000 psi minimum..
 
I would be concerned about using a soft fitting like that. Make sure you carry plugs so you can plug the box if you have an issue on the trail.
 
skunked said:
I would be concerned about using a soft fitting like that. Make sure you carry plugs so you can plug the box if you have an issue on the trail.
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This is a must anyway


My observation is that Cat, Deere, Komatsu, et al use steel fittings on all their hydraulic systems. Good enough for me
 
Uh oh........now the fun begins.

I replaced the brass with steel fittings, filled the system with fluid, lifted the front so I could turn the wheels. Now fluid overflows from the top of the pump when turned to the right. I worked with it until late last night and finally got tired of wiping up fluid off the floor. I had the wife turn the steering wheel for me so I could see what was going on. When you turned the wheels to the left.......the fluid would go down. When you turned the wheel to the right......the fluid would climb to the top of the pump and flow out. It seemed to do it with the motor off or running. The wheels have been turned numerous times to get all the fluid into the system so I'm not sure if there is an air bubble causing this or not.

What have I overlooked?
 
Cylinder might be plumbed backwards from the box
 
I find it interesting that brass fitting adapters often come supplied with a master cylinder,so one model can fit different applications..

If any hydraulic system is "critical",I'd think BRAKES would be at the top of the list...never seen one of those adapters fail,and brakes have fairly high pressure requirements and "peak" loads in panic stops,but I suppose a constant higher pressure on a pump system with some spikes in pressure would probably stress the fittings more..

As for bleeding the P/S system,have you tried jacking the front wheels off the ground and moving the tires by hand lock to lock several times with the engine off ?...often this method works when it wont self bleed by running the engine and turning the steering wheel lock to lock..some fluid might burp out of the pump while your moving the wheels side to side..
 
bent72 said:
Cylinder might be plumbed backwards from the box
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FWIW when I plumbed my ram backwards it would turn left when I tried to turn the wheel right and visa versa. When I turned the truck off it shot a quart PS fluid out the vent and 10' across the garage.
 
we used a brass adapter fitting to put a smaller hose end on held for years
 
Yes, the front of the truck is off the ground. No, it is not connected backwards. Before I hooked the ram to the tie rod I checked motion first. When I turned the wheels to the left it would extend like it should. That's when I hooked the ram up since that was the furthest to the left it would go with the wheels turned to it's maximum. I then turned it to the right to maximum then back to left. Over and over, back and forth to get all the air out. But it kept spitting fluid out whenever you turned it to the right. It did ok until you reached the center point and then as soon as it got past that it would puke fluid. Always does this when turning to the right, never to the left. It does this with the truck running or not running.

I unhooked the ram and plugged the ports on the steering gear box. Works fine without the ram. It doesn't spit out fluid and turns easy.

Ram bad? Would it make a difference if I added an extra reservoir?

It does have a cooler hooked up to it also.

EDIT: Looks like it does it without the ram hooked up, just not as bad. I may have to pull the gear box and see what's going on.

Just a side note: Even though I'm having issues with the gear box, working on it was not that bad. Removing it from the frame is the hardest part. :thinking:
 
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Don't overlook that the cylinders we use for ram assist are an unbalanced cylinder. Meaning they will displace more fluid one way than the other. When you turn right you shove the ram into the cylinder displacing the amount of oil the ram takes in space. When you right turn you push all the oil out of the side without the ram and fill the side that the ram goes in. But the ram takes up space so it doesn't take as much oil. That oil makes the level in the reservoir rise.
 
So it sounds like I need to extend the reservoir. With the reservoir extended, will it need more fluid or leave the amount alone and use the extension as a place for the displacement of fluid to go? I've seen where you can extend the reservoir with a piece of hose that adds about 12" of space for the fluid to go.

004-gm-saginaw-power-steering-pump-cap-p-extension-pro-werks-lpr.jpg
 
Yep bigger res will give that extra fluid somewhere to go. I do not know how full to fill it but I would say once you have the air out and get the fluid hot it will let you know if it is overfilled.
 
skunked said:
I assumed you had a secondary reservoir.
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Assume no more. I talked with @bent72 and got some more good input.

full


full


full


I've still got to trim a little off but there will be plenty for a secondary reservoir.

So far no more leaking or purging out the top. I'll take it for a drive and make all the adjustments for the install of the new tie rod and ends and check the steering.

After I bleed the brakes all that is left for my BB17 build is the roll cage. :woot:
 
wheels87k5 said:
Assume no more. I talked with @bent72 and got some more good input.

full


full


full


I've still got to trim a little off but there will be plenty for a secondary reservoir.

So far no more leaking or purging out the top. I'll take it for a drive and make all the adjustments for the install of the new tie rod and ends and check the steering.

After I bleed the brakes all that is left for my BB17 build is the roll cage. :woot:
Click to expand...

You'd be better off building a troll cage
 
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