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Full hydo ?????

BLZN4FN

BLZN4FN

1/2 ton status
Joined
Dec 19, 2000
Posts
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Location
Englewood Colorado
I have the chance to buy a full hydro setup minus the ram which is cheap.
I know there is no return to center or any kind of road feel with this set up.
I was looking at he ORD and others on Xover steering but for what I can get this set up for I will be better off $ wise in the long run no 2wd gear box no steering brace ect........... So back to my questions are if you have it what do you think is it worth it? and do you have any pics of it installed on your Chevy?
Sorry for this stupied question its just I'm kinda scared about going to this
you all know something new to me. O ya this will be mostly a trailer queen but would like to drive it to some trails or maybe the store :blush: I know alot of you are going to say damm you just have 37'"inch tires but the future will bring 42"
Swampers.


Thanks
 
I have seen full hydro in action and it is cool. It works well but personally I think it offers a few drawbacks that are pretty big in my opinion. It wont be street legal with full hydro from everything I have heard. That is not a big thing to me but the biggest problem I see is if you have a hydro pump fail or a hydro line fail. The other problem is if you are wheeling and something happens and the motor won't run. If the motor won't run or a hydro pump or line fails you are SOL. The truck can't be driven off the trail without the hydro working and if the motor won't run the truck can't steer. This means you can't even be towed off the trail. You can carry spares for the hydro lines and pump but if something happens with the motor that you can't fix your SOL.

With crossover steering with hydro assist you can still steer your truck if a hydro line, pump, or ram fails. It may not be easy but it can be taken off the trail. You can always block off the hydro ports in the steering box or still steer with manual steering or crossover steering.

Harley
 
WK is also a trailered offroad only rig. IMO, thats the only place full hydro should be used. Not because of legality issues (what cop is gonna even know?) but because if it does go belly up it'll be a lot easier to get home with a trailer. Not being able to steer at all will make it hard to get to the trailer even... but since no one wheels alone (riiiight?) there is always someone with winches / tow straps... you could get her to the trailer.

j
 
Actually you do get feed back if you drive it on the street and some orbital valves will still stear with the engine off. They have been using them on tracktors for years. If you blow a line your screwd, but I think the benifits outway the faults
 
i am running full hydro now- i went from stock steering to crossover and all i can say is wow. i can turn my 39's with no problem at even with the front 60 locked up . even when i couldnt get my rig to start i could fully steer it while being towed ,it was just a little tough off course but i love it. on the road it handles quite well- i can drive down the highway with one hand on the wheel as if it where bone stock but i always trailer it to go wheeling. full hydro no doubt lata ryan
 
I agree, I have full hydro on the jeep, and as long as there is fluid in the system it will steer without the engine running. It is difficult to turn without it moving but if someone is towing it, it will turn alright.
 
Full Hydro is the only way to go on an Offroad rig, even if it sees road use.

I put full hydro on my truck and the steering is great, any hydro setup will be perfectly safe with the correct components.
Most times you hear about a poor working hydro system is with unmatched components. You need to have matching components for a safe hydro system.

As far a if a hydro line failing, my dad has one of the little car lifts that scissor up for doing brakes on small cars. He has had the lift for about 12 years. The hydro line from the cylinder runs about 8 feet to the pump, it rides on the cement, and under a little walk ramp made of diamond plate. The lines is constanlty being walked on, rubbed by the little walk ramp, and having floor jacks pulled over it and what ever else you can think of in a muffler & brake shop. The line still hasnt failed after 12 years of use. That goes to show, if you get good quality lines, there is nothing to worry about. Besides, I feel a draglink end would fail before a hydro line, and what happens then, same thing as loosing a hydro line, but that doesn't make the mechanical steering Illegal, Does it?
Besides, there is not anything saying that full hyrdo is Illegal.
:crewcab: :truck:
 
I wouldn't drive full hydro on the road, but I don't see a problem with it for a trail only rig.

If I had it to do all over agian I'd have full hydro on my rig, but I have crossover/hydro and it's staying.
 
84_Chevy_K10 said:
I wouldn't drive full hydro on the road, but I don't see a problem with it for a trail only rig.

If I had it to do all over agian I'd have full hydro on my rig, but I have crossover/hydro and it's staying.
Click to expand...
Have you driven a properly set up Full Hydro rig?
 
Well guys I think i'm going to take the plung and do it.
I was talking with the guy that has all these parts and he said it even comes with extra hoses. And talking with some people about it where the K5 is going I just as well do it right the first time. I will take a lot of pics and keep you all up to date on how its going.

thanks
 
INTERCEPTOR said:
I have the chance to buy a full hydro setup minus the ram which is cheap.
I know there is no return to center or any kind of road feel with this set up.
I was looking at he ORD and others on Xover steering but for what I can get this set up for I will be better off $ wise in the long run no 2wd gear box no steering brace ect........... So back to my questions are if you have it what do you think is it worth it? and do you have any pics of it installed on your Chevy?
Sorry for this stupied question its just I'm kinda scared about going to this
you all know something new to me. O ya this will be mostly a trailer queen but would like to drive it to some trails or maybe the store :blush: I know alot of you are going to say damm you just have 37'"inch tires but the future will bring 42"
Swampers.


Thanks
Click to expand...

Full hydro is not street legal for passenger vehicles to my knowledge so a trip to the store may be unwise.
 
Bo,

Legality is a state-by-state issue. As for Colorado, steering must be mechanical. Full hydro doesn't meet this, but I beleive cross-over w/ hydro would. FYI, I am going crossover w/ Hydro.
 
Blazr77400 said:
Have you driven a properly set up Full Hydro rig?
Click to expand...

Yes, I have. I still wouldn't drive one on the road, but if others do it in a properly equipped rig I don't see a major problem with it.
 
not trying to be a stick in the mud, but one thing to keep in mind IF you drive a hydro'd rig on the road is that if you end up getting in a huge wreck... and the insurance company figures out that you have a non DOT-appoved steering "device", you may end up with a 6000 pound paper weight and not a dime from the insurance company. Just a thought. I know no one thinks they well ever get in a wreck, but 40,000 people die every year on the highway, so obviously big wrecks happen. Totalling a rig, 100% loss would suck ass... now imagine what the other guys lawyer is going to do to you. Yeah. Your life is basically over... and all that so you don't have to have a drag link.

j
 
84_Chevy_K10 said:
Yes, I have. I still wouldn't drive one on the road, but if others do it in a properly equipped rig I don't see a major problem with it.
Click to expand...

How come you wouldnt? Just wondering.

not trying to be a stick in the mud, but one thing to keep in mind IF you drive a hydro'd rig on the road is that if you end up getting in a huge wreck... and the insurance company figures out that you have a non DOT-appoved steering "device", you may end up with a 6000 pound paper weight and not a dime from the insurance company. Just a thought. I know no one thinks they well ever get in a wreck, but 40,000 people die every year on the highway, so obviously big wrecks happen. Totalling a rig, 100% loss would suck ass... now imagine what the other guys lawyer is going to do to you. Yeah. Your life is basically over... and all that so you don't have to have a drag link.
Click to expand...

Where is the DOT approved sticker on your crossover steering?
What are the requirments for DOT approved steering?
Where does it say in the DOT book that it has to be mechanical?
 
Blazr77400 said:
Where is the DOT approved sticker on your crossover steering?
What are the requirments for DOT approved steering?
Where does it say in the DOT book that it has to be mechanical?
Click to expand...

crossover steering is stock on many factory rigs, Im not saying my x-over has a DOT stamp, just that its mechanical steering in a system similar to some factory rigs. Im not sure whats DOT approved, I aint a lawyer. All I do know is that insurance companies have an army of lawyers, try to avoid paying out any $ at all if they can avoid it, and are the types who think "no" is always the answer. Call my cynical, but I'd rather not bet the rest of my life on the hope that the insurance company is a bunch of good guys and will "help a brotha out". If you are, thats cool, whatever.

j
 
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