wandering neurons
Active member
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- Location
- Fallon, NV
First post for long-time lurker...
My M35A1 was sold way back in 2005 and I'd hankered for something for a while. Teased my wife about getting a Tatra 813 KOLOS but that never happened. That's where I found SS though.
Several months ago I surprised my wife with my 2nd military vehicle - A 1994 M1081 LVAD, nicknamed Goliath. A local person had bought the truck at auction, fussed with it for a short period, and sold it to me for what he paid at auction. Drove it home, about 25 miles and scared myself with the steering. Made it, but have had problems with it from first drive.
Driving straight down the road, the steering wheel takes about a half-turn either direction to keep the truck centered on the road. The truck wanders back and forth across the lane, with me sawing back and forth on the steering wheel. And that's not going over 40 mph. Once in a turn, the steering feels OK, but the truck refuses to hold when going straight and there's the obvious ton of play or slop in the steering.
Additionally, at low speed, sometimes the steering is very heavy, like there's little power assist to it, even moving slowly such as doing a three-point turn.
Shortly after getting the truck home, I had a problem where the steering would "lock", where I could only turn the steering wheel 1/4 turn, little movement of the tires, before the wheel would stop turning, like the steering had hit the left and right stops.
At first, the truck had three inches of toe-in. I dialed that out to near-zero before doing anything else.
I've replaced the supply hose from the reservoir to the power steering pump, it was bleeding fluid due to age. I also replaced the return line from the steering box to the reservoir. The reservoir was filled and drained several times, and refilled with 10W hydraulic fluid.
I've replace both the drag link and tie rod ends with new components, toe-in adjusted to zero since (using an old-fashioned carpenters ruler)
Tire pressures are good, tires are in decent condition.
Steering column has been removed, inspected, and reinstalled, no faults or issues found there.
Left front wheel gets hotter than the right front after driving - I'm guessing hung brake, though I don't know if that is a factor.
So now I'm looking to the FMTV community here for help and recommendations. Should I:
Use a pressure gauge on the pressure line into the steering box and check pressures a-la the 34-2, section 12-3, Steering Gear Adjustment?
Replace the steering box?
Replace the main pressure line from the power steering pump to the steering box?
Replace the power steering pump?
In the meantime, I've done a bunch of other things to the truck, it's a never-ending fix-it and upgrade project, to be humble-bragged about later. But I'm not going to try to get the safety inspection done till the steering works correctly.
My M35A1 was sold way back in 2005 and I'd hankered for something for a while. Teased my wife about getting a Tatra 813 KOLOS but that never happened. That's where I found SS though.
Several months ago I surprised my wife with my 2nd military vehicle - A 1994 M1081 LVAD, nicknamed Goliath. A local person had bought the truck at auction, fussed with it for a short period, and sold it to me for what he paid at auction. Drove it home, about 25 miles and scared myself with the steering. Made it, but have had problems with it from first drive.
Driving straight down the road, the steering wheel takes about a half-turn either direction to keep the truck centered on the road. The truck wanders back and forth across the lane, with me sawing back and forth on the steering wheel. And that's not going over 40 mph. Once in a turn, the steering feels OK, but the truck refuses to hold when going straight and there's the obvious ton of play or slop in the steering.
Additionally, at low speed, sometimes the steering is very heavy, like there's little power assist to it, even moving slowly such as doing a three-point turn.
Shortly after getting the truck home, I had a problem where the steering would "lock", where I could only turn the steering wheel 1/4 turn, little movement of the tires, before the wheel would stop turning, like the steering had hit the left and right stops.
At first, the truck had three inches of toe-in. I dialed that out to near-zero before doing anything else.
I've replaced the supply hose from the reservoir to the power steering pump, it was bleeding fluid due to age. I also replaced the return line from the steering box to the reservoir. The reservoir was filled and drained several times, and refilled with 10W hydraulic fluid.
I've replace both the drag link and tie rod ends with new components, toe-in adjusted to zero since (using an old-fashioned carpenters ruler)
Tire pressures are good, tires are in decent condition.
Steering column has been removed, inspected, and reinstalled, no faults or issues found there.
Left front wheel gets hotter than the right front after driving - I'm guessing hung brake, though I don't know if that is a factor.
So now I'm looking to the FMTV community here for help and recommendations. Should I:
Use a pressure gauge on the pressure line into the steering box and check pressures a-la the 34-2, section 12-3, Steering Gear Adjustment?
Replace the steering box?
Replace the main pressure line from the power steering pump to the steering box?
Replace the power steering pump?
In the meantime, I've done a bunch of other things to the truck, it's a never-ending fix-it and upgrade project, to be humble-bragged about later. But I'm not going to try to get the safety inspection done till the steering works correctly.
