WOW, you came up with a whole list of companies that dont know the real name of the part.
You must be right, you read about it on the internet!
Heres the company that invented the valve, Eaton/Char-lynn:
http://hydraulics.eaton.com/products/pdfs/C-STCU-TB003-E.pdf
http://www.eaton.com/EatonComJapan/e-index/Products/EFPL/SteeringControlUnit/TypicalSteeringwithOrbitrol/index.htm
And when you get away from the off-road industry and get into the industrial industry, the name magically changes to orbitrol.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=848824 <-- If nothing else, read this one.
http://stores.jrhydraulicsales.com/-strse-Eaton-Char-Lynn-cln-Steering/searchpath/109640053/start/10/total/28/Categories.bok
http://www.fpti.org/prod_cm-osv.html
Orbitrol® is a registered trademark used for Hydraulic Power Steering Apparatus For Vehicles and Machinery, Such As, Farm Equipment, Lift Trucks, Construction Machinery, and Boats and owned by Eaton Corporation, Char Lynn Company. Full trade mark registration details, registered images and more information below.
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orbitrol
Goods and/or Services:
Hydraulic Power Steering Apparatus For Vehicles and Machinery, Such As, Farm Equipment, Lift Trucks, Construction Machinery, and Boats
Serial Number: 72125149
Registration Number: 0743734
Filing Date: Aug 1, 1961
Last Applicant(s)/
Owner(s) of Record
Eaton Corporation
1111 Superior Avenue
Cleveland, Oh 44114 US
Char Lynn Company
2843 26th Ave. S.
Minneapolis, Mn US
The item in question was first made by Char-lynn (thats is why it will be called a Char-Lynn valve by old timers) and named an ORBITROL valve. Eaton later bought out Char-Lynn. It has since been referred to as an orbital valve by enough people who dont know what they are talking about that the name stuck. Call it an Orbitrol valve, a hydrostatic steering valve, steering control valve, etc; just dont call it an orbital valve around someone in the industry, it will make you sound like you dont know what your talking about.
How can you agree to one and not the other, you can not have it both ways, with FULL hydro steer, there is no linkage between you the steering wheel and the hydro set-up. The only way you have a direct link between you and the wheels is by way of Hydro Assist, which is hugh assistance to your stock set-up. So which is it?
I never said he should run FHPS on the road, I wouldnt. All I said was I have never seen the instant complete failure of an Orbitrol valve. Hoses can blow, cylinders can crack, pistons can break inside the cyl, gland nuts can explode right out of the cyl, rods can bend and jam. Any of these will leave you with no steering and I've seen them all happen. Thats why I said:
I do agree that you should have a direct link between the wheel and the tires if you plan on driving on the road.
Jon, I should have made a point in saying this in my first post. Dont do it, not on the road. I've seen a lot of failures in hydraulic systems over the years which would leave you with no steering instantly.
I do not question your ability to drive a forklift, most everyone in their career search phase in my era has driven them and know the difference between the 2 applications.
For the record -- I dont drive a forklift. I'm the head mechanic for a forklift repair company. I'm in charge of a fleet of 30 or so trucks in the main location, ranging from 5K to 25K lbs capacity. In total, I'm in charge of the repairs and maintenance of over 400 pieces of equipment (including forklifts, bucket loaders, bulldozers, empty and loaded container handlers, tractor-trailers, etc). I rebuild/restore older forklifts when we get slow at work, and I study their history.
. Responsiveness is dependent on the ratio [of volumes and flow rates] between the pump, its RPM, the steering cylinder, and the rate at which we would like the cylinder to move. This "responsiveness" does not factor in the force required from the cylinders - which often nulls down responiveness (causes the engine to bog down - which means flow rate goes down). The more force you need from the cylinder, the larger the cylinder you'd need (to stay within the operating limits of the hydraulic system's components, or else you'll blow a hose or something), which in turn means a larger pump to compensate for the increase in the cylinder's volume. The larger pump unfortunately means that the engine will need to produce more torque to actually provide the force at the cylinders. But of course all this doesnt really matter on the highway since the front wheels require very little effort to turn above a few dozen MPH (assuming that the vehicle has proper caster/camber specs).
