I was just reading up on the history of CP steering. Apparently developed in the 60's but can't find a source to tell me when it appeared on Petes. Good Eye!
For those too shy to ask...From another forum:
"To answer your question, not sure who invented it but it was an option on Fords in the '60s and believe International also offered it. At the time it was promoted as providing improved steering ease and the real sell was the cost difference between this option and full blown power steering. Functionally, it worked proportional to vehicle speed, offering marginal assistance if the vehicle speed was low (such in city delivery, etc.).
Mechanically, the concept was simple. Looking at the steer axle from the front of the vehicle, if you took an imaginary line, through the centre of the steering kingpin and projected it down below the road surface and constructed a similar centre line through the tire, these lines would meet someplace below road surface. The centre-point steer axle, moved the kingpin further out in relation to the tire centreline (hence the almost chariot like hubs) decreasing the distance below the road surface the imaginary angles intersected.
Other than the aspect of cost savings, interest was created due to a degree of unreliability with power steering systems. At the time, the power steering option was not "integral" like today's but used a mechanical box, a control valve (which sensed need) built into/ replacing the traditional drag link and an assist cylinder to provide the power. Other than the pump, all of the power steering was contained within the wheel well and, from my experience, was the root of the problem.
In service, we experienced two issues; seemingly no matter how often you greased the "drag link mechanism" the internal reaction valve would seize requiring the driver to fight the hydraulics with the mechanical box to keep steerng control. Secondly the lines, due to road salt corrosion and the general high degree of flexing sustained, had a service life of a little over a year. As an offset to these issues, we systematically rebuilt the system every year, lines and valve...it was a lot of money but the only way to stay safe. I seem to recall the parts came to more than the original option cost. Further to the "seizing" of the control valve; one of the unique problems we experienced was during early Winter or Spring days, when the streets would be wet yet the temperatures would drop to freezing over night. If water had infiltrated the valve, when it froze, the ice would exert pressure on the control valve and when you started the vehicle, the steering wheel would spin wildly to the axle end-stop. We got used to never holding the wheel if you were starting lest you loose a finger...wakes you up more quickly than strong coffee!
A few years later, working for another fleet that got a good deal on a fairly new "repo" Mack tractor. The whole fleet had those old style manual steer boxes and, when news of this "new" unit spread through the company, quite a few of the senior drivers were interested in it...until they found out it had power steering. I asked one of them why they changed their minds so quickly and he stated "power steering is suicide", having lived through similar power steering episodes as related in the previous paragraph. Luckily, this unit had intergral power steering and it proved highly reliable and paved the way for all new purchases after that to be so equipped.
Once again, thanks for the opportunity to reminisce."
interesting stuff
MY 1969 PETE ON YOUR STEPDECK? SHOT IN THE DARK!!
Discussion in 'Flatbed Trucking Forum' started by BIGZILLA, Mar 9, 2016.
Page 14 of 36
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Wholly mother of saftey snafus
. That truck got loaded, shipped across the country and unloaded withou a single lug nut holding on the drives!
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Page 14 of 36