View Full Version : Flat Tow W/ Full Hydro
Chris Geiger
07-01-2002, 07:10 PM
This weekend I tried flat towing my Buggy with a tow bar. The full hydro steering is just too hard to turn and the front tires just get pulled to the side. It's like trying to tow a rig with the steering wheel locked. Just thought I would post this in case anyone does a search. It woudl work to get a rig home but seems like it would be really hard on the front tires and may be too much of a side load on the tow bar.
RockRanger
07-01-2002, 09:12 PM
Assuming you have a tierod connecting each wheel, what about disconnecting the ram and doing it that way. any problems with that? I know some of the double ended rams this might not work for but a single end one that attaches to the tierod there shouldnt be much of a problem right?
Matt
Do you have a load reactive steering valve? if so then i woudl sa disconnect your ram. if not then get that style steering valve and it will allow you to have some road feedback and allow the tires to turn when you flat tow it.
Chris Geiger
07-01-2002, 10:39 PM
I don't have a seprate ram. My ram is my tie rod. If I removed the fluid from the lines I can turn the front wheels by hand, but with fluid in the lines, the only way I can move the front axle is to turn the steering wheel.
soo what kind of steering valve do you have???
Toyota_Jim
07-03-2002, 07:19 PM
Originally posted by TR
soo what kind of steering valve do you have???
I bet its an orbital valve... :flipoff2:
Ya i know its a orbital valve. I just want to know if the valve is load reactive.
Chris Geiger
07-04-2002, 02:53 AM
Originally posted by TR
Ya i know its a orbital valve. I just want to know if the valve is load reactive.
I don't know for sure. It's the valve Howe recommends using with this ram. It's supost to make it easier to steer with less chasing the wheel. It sure does drive great.
It was easy to turn the front tires by hand before it got fluid, now I cant turn the wheels at all without using the steering wheel.
I took the torch to my trailer and cut 150 lbs off. I don't need no stinking ramps to get up on my trailer!
Sloan
07-04-2002, 11:45 AM
What about a tow dolly?
fabricator
07-06-2002, 02:13 AM
Couldn't you fab up something that bolts
to your steering arms, something like a tow bar.
seems like it would work.
just unbolt the 2 bolts and bolt this tow bar on.
I don't know , just a thought.
Big91RustyBucket
06-29-2007, 07:29 AM
I would say that if you disc'd the hose's and left the port's open it would steer. But most with full hydro don't flat tow.
Trailer Guy
06-29-2007, 07:52 AM
True, most the time, anyone with full hydraulic steering is probably gonna have a trailer. But this is a great discussion for a few reasons. Mainly one really came to mind as soon as I read the thread.
At Moon Rocks (Mem. Weekend) someone broke an outer knuckle. Will, that someone now needed a trailer, there was no way they where gonna get flat towed home. What if he was the only guy wheeling with someone like me? It would be easier to make mounts on my buggy and get rolling, but my hydraulic steering would be an issue.
OK, so what do you do? Well, if you have a single ended ram with a complete full width tie-rod, then yes, removing the ram from the tie-rod is a perfect solution. But if you have a double ended ram (which is what I have), that won't work. You could try building a new tie-rod, but you would also have to remove the ram assembly because most likely it would be in the way. You could remove the hoses, it would be a mess, but it would allow the ram to move back and forth. The problem I would have with that is that the o-ring seal on the piston inside the ram may get hot and with no oil in the ram, in may burn up that o-ring seal. I think that the better thing to do or try would be to disconnect the hoses at the valve and couple them together without removing the oil from the ram. This would allow the fluid to pass from one end of the ram through the hoses to the other end of the ram without the resistance of the valve. And this would keep the o-ring and the inside of the ram lubed. Of course, I have no clue if this would work, but in a pinch, I would have no problem trying it. The big problem with that situation is that I don't carry a union to connect two hoses. Hell, I don't even carry spare hoses or fittings. If you had the right two fittings and a spare hose, then you could make a hose that went from one end to the other end of the ram. Anyhow, something good to discuss and ponder for a Friday. This also make for some great superfluous knowledge to put in the back of my mind along with the rest.
**edit** Oh, and I don't think that it would matter between a load reactive valve and a non-reactive valve. I just think there would be too much resistance to try and force the fluid through the valve either way.
Big91RustyBucket
06-29-2007, 08:01 AM
True, most the time, anyone with full hydraulic steering is probably gonna have a trailer. But this is a great discussion for a few reasons. Mainly one really came to mind as soon as I read the thread.
At Moon Rocks (Mem. Weekend) someone broke an outer knuckle. Will, that someone now needed a trailer, there was no way they where gonna get flat towed home. What if he was the only guy wheeling with someone like me? It would be easier to make mounts on my buggy and get rolling, but my hydraulic steering would be an issue.
OK, so what do you do? Well, if you have a single ended ram with a complete full width tie-rod, then yes, removing the ram from the tie-rod is a perfect solution. But if you have a double ended ram (which is what I have), that won't work. You could try building a new tie-rod, but you would also have to remove the ram assembly because most likely it would be in the way. You could remove the hoses, it would be a mess, but it would allow the ram to move back and forth. The problem I would have with that is that the o-ring seal on the piston inside the ram may get hot and with no oil in the ram, in may burn up that o-ring seal. I think that the better thing to do or try would be to disconnect the hoses at the valve and couple them together without removing the oil from the ram. This would allow the fluid to pass from one end of the ram through the hoses to the other end of the ram without the resistance of the valve. And this would keep the o-ring and the inside of the ram lubed. Of course, I have no clue if this would work, but in a pinch, I would have no problem trying it. The big problem with that situation is that I don't carry a union to connect two hoses. Hell, I don't even carry spare hoses or fittings. If you had the right two fittings and a spare hose, then you could make a hose that went from one end to the other end of the ram. Anyhow, something good to discuss and ponder for a Friday. This also make for some great superfluous knowledge to put in the back of my mind along with the rest.
**edit** Oh, and I don't think that it would matter between a load reactive valve and a non-reactive valve. I just think there would be too much resistance to try and force the fluid through the valve either way.
Agreed about the vavle. I just searched for flat tow and this came up. I thought I would post as I have never seen it mentioned before.
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