Broke The Steering

[Avenger]

Nice video. That's a pretty thick piece of cast and my thought was maybe it was just a bad cast??

Anyway your back up and running.

Not sure exactly what happened. A commenter on the video pointed out it may be due to the longer steering bolt stops I put in. That the stop bolts are hitting with throw left in the steering cylinder that keeps pushing on the arm causing unnecessary wear and stress. This makes sense to a point. If hydraulic pressure is exerted on a tab or fitting that is being stopped by pressure from a bolt or something, over time something has to give.

However

Two thoughts come to mind about this. If this were true, then any adjustment of the stop bolts would break that tab. If you shorten the stop bolts, the cylinder would bottom out, not requiring the need of the stop bolts. If you lengthen them, then it would break the tab, and that design would be recalled or rejected.
The other thought I had is how the steering cylinder works. There must be a by-pass or something that allows fluid to return from the cylinder. This is why I had to crack the fitting and bleed off pressure to move the tire back into alignment. There is no return line on those cylinders. There is a push/pull type of thing going on. If the other cylinder was pushing against the tie rod (that broke) and the other cylinder that is not receiving fluid, and came up to the stop bolts, that bypass should initiate. This would put pressure against the stop bolt but not tons of force (if that makes sense) and everything should be able to withstand that pressure.

I guess there is a third reason too. When the arm broke, the steering cylinders pushed the tires way out, to where they were completely jammed up against the frame. Much tighter than they were with the old stop bolts. Keep in mind, the stop bolts were useless when this happened. If longer stop bolts were the cause, then any bolt (or even no bolt) would cause this to break. The steering cylinder has much farther to go. They were not bottomed out, least not that I was aware of. Just so tightly jammed up that they were impossible to move.

What are you thoughts on this?

I think it broke because I was (still am) wearing chains that articulated up during a turn and got bound up and snapped the arm before I could stop. OR faulty casting in the arm that just happened to break right there. OR it is something that I caused with the stop bolts. OR something else entirely??
Thoughts?

 

[PCABE5]

Not sure exactly what happened. A commenter on the video pointed out it may be due to the longer steering bolt stops I put in. That the stop bolts are hitting with throw left in the steering cylinder that keeps pushing on the arm causing unnecessary wear and stress. This makes sense to a point. If hydraulic pressure is exerted on a tab or fitting that is being stopped by pressure from a bolt or something, over time something has to give.

However

Two thoughts come to mind about this. If this were true, then any adjustment of the stop bolts would break that tab. If you shorten the stop bolts, the cylinder would bottom out, not requiring the need of the stop bolts. If you lengthen them, then it would break the tab, and that design would be recalled or rejected.
The other thought I had is how the steering cylinder works. There must be a by-pass or something that allows fluid to return from the cylinder. This is why I had to crack the fitting and bleed off pressure to move the tire back into alignment. There is no return line on those cylinders. There is a push/pull type of thing going on. If the other cylinder was pushing against the tie rod (that broke) and the other cylinder that is not receiving fluid, and came up to the stop bolts, that bypass should initiate. This would put pressure against the stop bolt but not tons of force (if that makes sense) and everything should be able to withstand that pressure.

I guess there is a third reason too. When the arm broke, the steering cylinders pushed the tires way out, to where they were completely jammed up against the frame. Much tighter than they were with the old stop bolts. Keep in mind, the stop bolts were useless when this happened. If longer stop bolts were the cause, then any bolt (or even no bolt) would cause this to break. The steering cylinder has much farther to go. They were not bottomed out, least not that I was aware of. Just so tightly jammed up that they were impossible to move.

What are you thoughts on this?

I think it broke because I was (still am) wearing chains that articulated up during a turn and got bound up and snapped the arm before I could stop. OR faulty casting in the arm that just happened to break right there. OR it is something that I caused with the stop bolts. OR something else entirely??
Thoughts?

When you make a turn one cylinder is pressurized and the other returns to the tank. That is all done in your steering valve. Since these are single acting cylinders one needs the other to retract. When yours broke, if you turned the wheel both ways you pressurized both cylinders extending them until they reach their internal stop.

 

[Avenger]

When you make a turn one cylinder is pressurized and the other returns to the tank. That is all done in your steering valve. Since these are single acting cylinders one needs the other to retract. When yours broke, if you turned the wheel both ways you pressurized both cylinders extending them until they reach their internal stop.

Exactly, what I was trying to say.

The more I think about this, the less I believe it was the steering stop bolts that could have caused this malfunction.

 

[kingrace78]

I think I broke mine on my xr4046 by bumping the right wheel, while turning, into a dirt pile. There were no stops on the right side, so it pulled the tie rod against the flange on the left side, against the stop and broke the flange. That is just my guess. It broke twice in the first 50 hours. The dealer installed a new housing on the right side that had the provisions for stops and installed stops on the right side. I have over 300 hours now with out any more flange failures.
John