1965 601 thiokol steering issues

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum, but am happy to have found it. Recently I purchased a 1965 601 series thiokol. She seems to be in great shape, tracks, bogies, etc. However I am having some steering issues.

At first I couldn't get the thing to steer left almost at all and it would take a country mile to do a full circle to the right. However after tightening he large nut on the hydraulic cylinders in the OC-15 steering differential it made the issue less severe.

However I still am applying over a hundred pounds of pressure on the stick to get it to turn hard. I was told I can get boosters but wanted to see if there was an easier way first. From some of the photos I've seen from Weatherby's rebuild it looks to be a simple braking system....not sure if those are pads or what inside, but could those need to be replaced?

I also notice some differences in my track system and the positioning of my cab. The guy I bought it from wasn't a ton of help. From what he knew, it was sort of frankensteined together using some Nodwell parts, however, I know that Nodwells also used the OC-15 differential and maybe he's confused. I'll try to include a photo of the machince if I can figure out how.

I also need a part number for the clutch cylinder...took it in for a rebuild but was sent away. I've been told these are all american made parts that one could find at a part store, so I'm not sure why this would be any different. There are no numbers on the cylinder itself.



thanks in advance!!!



http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e204/stevencampanella/thiokolfront.jpg

CC,

Welcome to the forum.

Sorry I cannot help you with your braking questions. That is one unusual looking cat. It looks like the cab has been remounted way rear of what I've seen on others.

Are the photos current? Where are you to be lucky enough to still have snow?

what it looks like to me is that you have a thiokol cab on top of a nodwell chassis with nodwell tracks. these would make for a great swamp rig as nodwell grousers are built like a brick $hit house

@Undy Well I live in Alaska, and although we had record snowfall it is all gone below two thousand feet. I took those when I was thinking of buying it. thanks for the message.

@dds That was one of my theories, but I wasn't sure exactly what was from the Nodwell and what was from the thiokol. It's definitely a solid cat.

looks like everything below the cab is nodwell. like i said nodwells are tough machines built to work ground pressure might be a bit high for true deep snow but i bet it would be quite a good hunting rig for up around gunsite mountain

steering issues may be caused by the wrong oil in the gearbox you need an oil that is made for wet brakes or friction surfaces there are manny threads about the right oil to add you may also want to talk to ray walsh off of i believe 75th and old seward he used to be the formoste dealer in anchorage.

I actually brought it over to Ray's place a few weeks back. He heard the word thiokol and immediately told me he knew nothing about them.however I ws speaking to him over the phone. I'll try im again and tell him I have a Nodwell with a thiokol cab, that may peak his interest.

I'm currently using 76 hydraulic/tractor fluid based on a recommendation by one of brad's colleagues from mn-outdoors. Based on the specs from their website it seems to fit the bill. I'll look into it further though.

You are on the right track with the oil. If you have just changed it you may have to wait it out till the oil soaks into the brake bands, which may not happen. It must have had 90WT in it as that will always cause your steering issue. It could be though that the new oil will take care of the issue over time (six months or so)
Paul

This was a very common issue with the Weasels. Owners would change the oil in the rear differential with detergent type oil and it would coat the brake bands. The result was bad to no steering friction. One trick that helped a little was to drain the oil and fill with kerosine. I would drive about 1/8 mile dragging each brake on and off. Then drain kerosine and refill with non detergent oil. This did not totally fix the problem but it did improve it. The only real fix was to pull the brakes and reline them. A big job to say the least.

What happened to the rest of the 601?

That's a great Q. I have no idea what happened to the rest, bust for my application, water haling, the Nodwell Chassis works! I am sorry to the thiokol purists out there

I drained the old oil and ran is with diesel before adding the new lube. If I can avoid a brake job I will!

Here's a video I took on her first test drive. hold your applause.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/YwGCesASg1U?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Interesting hybrid. Missed this one... good video. "Niokol"

A suggestion- you folks with greater experience think about this and offer up criticism.... Would friction modifier for a positrac differential added to his new oil give him the grip he needs to make it steer? Again, just a suggestion.

We had a customer that had recently relined the steering bands in a Imp and didn't have good steering so they added some kind of posi friction modifier and it made the steering worse. Turned out they were using the wrong oil and a super cheap grade of lining. New quality relines and the right oil returned the machine to normal operation.
Maybe they used the wrong kind of friction modifier?
Also it seems like once the linings get contaminated they are never quite the same again.
-Pat

Yeah, sometimes you end up getting your t-- in a wringer on some suggestions, so ya gotta be cautious and hope a "lubritorial engineer" can direct you. Been around a lot of junk over the years, fixed a lot of stuff with abnormal applications of other stuff. But telling somebody something without knowing for sure will make you a zero, instead of a hero.