Allis Chalmers WD 45 power steering conversion

[biker4jc]

I'm not planning to do this anytime soon, I think, or maybe I will, but my old WD 45 can be a real bear to steer when I get a 1000# bale of hay on the spear which is bucket mounted. This particular unit does not have power steering, and making any turns sharper than a very gradual arc is virtually impossible without the use of the brakes. I'm thinking that power steering of some sort would be a nice upgrade. Recently I had to replace the steering rack in my daughters little car, and as I was doing this I had one of those "ah ha" moments, aka an epiphany, and thought that with some retro engineering, a few welded brackets and mounting plate, extended tie rods, a p/s pump mounted to run off the fan belt and I might just have a chance at success. Has anyone else ever tried something like this? How heavy duty a vehicle that I "borrow" the steering rack from might I need? And of course, any other insights would be appreciated. As always, Thanks in advance to all who contribute.

[Soundguy]

could do something like make it power assist.. IE.. have your steering draglink have a slightly flexible connection to a spool valve on a DA cyl.. have one end of the cyl anchored to a pivot on the engine rail, and the other on the pittman arm..e tc..

look at a ford rowcrop single cyl setup.. it's a valve in cyl design...

other ways is to go with an orbital valve... etc..

[Soundguy]

ps.. hyds are usually very effective with the mechanical advantage they have on that steering arm.. even a smal yl or rack setup should be an imense improvement over your current armstrong steering.

might I also suggest re-habbing the steering gear you currently have. excessive thrust play and sector or worm wear and damage in other components like bushings and hubs can make a bear out of otherwise merely 'tough' steering..

[Gary Fowler]

There was a factor option for power steering for a WD 45. My Dad had one with it. Might still be a kit available.

[biker4jc]

I have kept an eye out for one of those aftermarket kits, but the only ones I've found were rusted up so bad they were ceased. ......... I guess they are either still in use, or ........ junk.

[ctlguy]

Old farm trucks are cheap, the old man had the same issue with a simialr vintage machine. Took an old farm truck front axle assy and modified it to put in place of the tractor front axle. Utilized the power steering components from that application. Other than the time involved in the welding and fabricating it worked out pretty good. It does take away from the "original" appearence of the machine but I thought it looked pretty good.

[Soundguy]

at shows i've seen some pretty odd stuff!

[biker4jc]

Well ......... I've found a fairly substantial crack in the existing steering box. The bolts from the front axle pivot to the steering box must have been shorn off, or taken some serious damage and the oil seeps out around them. At some time in the past someone welded the pivot onto the steering box to reinforce it, all in all a bad cobble job, but when I bought the tractor I really didn't know better, and since then it's proven to be a good tractor all in all so I've decided to keep it ........ for now. My plan is to eliminate the steering box entirely, leaving it as the front frame spreader and counter weight, and mount a steering rack to the frame under the front of the motor. From what I can tell there seems to be enough room to do this, but I'm not sure if a power rack and pinion will be strong enough for the pounding the tractor takes on some rougher ground. Any ideas on that?

[Soundguy]

what about an orbtal valve and steering motor?

[biker4jc]

Um ......... ok ..... I have no idea what an orbital valve is, and how it might work with a steering motor ...... It may be a great idea, but I just don't understand it at this point. I'm more than happy to learn how all this could work if you are willing and patient enough to try to teach me.

Thanks!