Hi, my loader has an issue with steering. Seems worse when on pavement. Will not drive a straight line. Any suggestions?
Worn linkage, center pivot, steering cylinder pistons
It's a rigid frame machine, the ball joints would be a good place to start, but there's a lot of linkage that is probably well worn too. Have never worked on a Clark, but that's where I'd be starting out on a rigid frame Cat machine.
Just checked the hydraulic fluid level due to a pretty significant leak. Are the steering cylinder pistons reliant upon the fluid in the main reservoir? Any chance this is contributing? Sorry, not as familiar to heavy machinery as i am with aircraft. Is there any way to test the ball joints?
(you have probably already solved this but)start by topping up the hyd oil, then check the manual linkage starting at the steering box, this is best done with the aid of a helper, with the engine stopped, have your helper turn the steering wheel and watch for excessive travel in the mechanical linkage, it there is excess slop, the hydraulic assist will over compensate and cause steering wonder. our 85A suffered from a loose pitman arm when we first got it. it behaved like you described.
Strait frame machines are sensitive to several unseen items. tire inflation one side to the other, crown on a paved road can cause a little drag on one side, jack up one wheel at a time and check rolling resistance, a dragging brake shoe can drag one wheel effecting steering going down the road, even internal leak in the steering valve. After you have checked all the stuff in the firs couple of posts and can't find anything, time to go further, those machines seem to always wander a little so you probably won't get straight line steering without some steering wheel work by the operator, get every thing adjusted the best you can and any loose linkage fixed, check the items at the start of this post. is the best you can expect