Ok I have a 76 Winnebago brave 21ft. I bought last fall which had a scary steering problem but thought it could be fixed. I have used the search and found many helpful topics but nothing has helped the problem. Ok I am turning the wheel very aggressively to keep the rig straight at low and high speeds (45mp being the highest, to scared to drive past that).
What I have done so far. I had new tires put on, I have had a new steering box put on, I have put on rear air bags, I have put on steering damper. None of these things have done anything to make it safe to drive. I have also had two tire/front end places check out front end to see if they can see anything broken or worn or anything of concern, both have said it looks good. The last place said they wanted to put it on alignment but lift wont fit my rig. next place will probably be a semi-truck place. I wouldn't think it would be an alignment since it aggressively swerves both directions, but Im no expert.
Any ideas
Sounds like an alignment wouldn't hurt.
Has work been done in that area recently?
I don't know I this would apply to you. I had a 1 Ton ford van that was all over the road. The king pins felt tight. A shop said it was good. I toke it apart apart my self and found the king pins were dry and seized in their bushings. I was fighting the seized pin.
An alignment gets my vote. A garage that handles large trucks will be able to do it. Sounds like the caster adjustment may be out.
ok had an alignment done today, and they said it did need adjusting but the wander is still there. My next question is if there is more adjustment in the gear box than just the allon screw on the side? which I have adjusted and it did take out the steering column movement, just dont know if there is another adjustment that needs made. The RV place who put it in said there is no adjustment on steering boxes, so I wont be going back there.
This thread has an excellent description of how to adjust the steering box on the vehicle. Have a look.
https://www.classicwinnebagos.com/forum/index.php?topic=2092.0
Ok I have adjusted the gearbox and no change. When I get a remanufactured gearbox is it just resealed or is the guts gone through as well. can a new gearbox be purchased. if so where can I get one? I put on new kyb shocks, no change. I was told by a friend that he found in a forum that wheel bearings could be the problem, has anyone run into this. I am mostly running into problems finding anyone that will touch my rig, I dont have a way to jack up or support to do bearings if that is what it is.
If your wheel bearings are THAT bad, it would be very easy for any shop to have figured that out. Very worn bearings would cause very unpredictable steering swerve.
Certainly worth checking.
how do I go about finding a gearbox myself. I have found some online like napa or oriellys but the connections are wrong. where can I find one that is the same
May be the same as used in the same year pickup truck?
I had the same problem and replaced kingpins and runs straight and true now.
well heading to I think the 7th or 8th shop to tackle this swerving issue. I think I am into the steering issue probably more than the rv is worth, but now I have to much money into it and feel like I am so close. second gearbox, alignment, new shocks, damper, new wheels, kingpins and tie rods checked for the 4th or 5th time. still no shop has been able to figure it out, but the new shop thinks they can get it, but so have the last 5.
Damn frustrating. I hope it gets nailed down soon!
If it will make you feel any better your now a club member of the " Man I got more money in this thing than it's worth." Everyone of us has had to chase a problem like this. But the rewards are worth it. I no opinions are like arsholes everybody's got one. You've eat'n the cost of new tires and an alignment. You've eat'n the cost of a new steering box (wished you hadn't messed with it. Since your in this deep why not just replace the tie rod ends and ball joint's. Now you have a hole new front end. I no moneys hard to come by these days but your in this far. Process of elimination. Hm?
Have the alignment shops given you some kind of a printout of the angles as measured before and after? Also, double check that the specs they are trying to hit are for the correct vehicle. Have the alignment shops actually measured the squareness of the front and rear axles with respect to each other? Springs and shackles/bushings?
Is there a lot of play in the steering wheel while it is wandering? Does the steering wheel have to move very far before it starts turning? I think if a steering box gets adjusted too tight it loses it's on center feel and gets twitchy. I try not to adjust them at all and if I did it would be a very little bit. Since it was aligned it should be close enough to track straight. Do the front wheels have any drag from sticking brakes? I hope you can keep the old girl on the road, good luck.
well the shop called and said that they got it fixed. I will pick up later and see for sure. They made it through 4 gearboxes before finding one that was good. Another of my RV friends said that he read when they rebuild them most of the time they just reseal them. So if the gears are bad you are getting a bad non-leaking gearbox. Well I had three bad ones and then they got a new one, hopefully that fixes it.
I hope that was it!
well another 2 shops cant fix it, it now has new not reman gearbox, but still has play in steering. I was going to look into replacing tie rod ends but dont know for sure which ones to get, most places dont have m300 but do have d300 or w300, but they are different ends? any help appreciated. I think I may make it through 2 camping seasons and not have used my rig yet.
D300 truck parts are used as reference for tge M300.
Try napaonline.com I just had a look and they had parts listed for an M300. The other thing to remember is that this is not a rack and pinion set-up. There will always be a certain amount of play in the steering.
well I understand play I have driven old vw buses all my life, but I am scared to drive over 40 in this due to loss of control.
Does anyone know where I can get a drag link for my rig, I just noticed it is a one piece link. I think Ill try replacing that and tie rod ends and if that doesnt work Ill just park it and let her settle back into the dirt, since I will never get my money back out of it and have missed my chance at a good road trip this year.
The d300 drag link is not the same as the one on my rig
You can try these ones from Dana/Spicer:
https://www.danaaftermarket.com/commercial-vehicle/commercial-axle/steering-drag-link/list?cat1=CVB&cat2=HA&cat3=DRAGLINK&from=0&size=10&filters=%5B%22DODGE%22%5D&filterObject=%5B%7B%22name%22:%22General%20Application%22,%22type%22:%22STRING%22,%22values%22:%5B%22DODGE%22%5D%7D%5D&sort=1
my friend just went to an RV rally and had a suspension vender say that if drag link is to tight it can cause swerving. has anyone heard of this, or had experience
does anyone know if there much difference in m300 between 74 and 76.
i ask because lots of places list 74 but not 76
According to the Dodge Parts Catalog, the M300,400 & 500 from 1975-77 use the same drag link, Dodge part # 4026505 which crosses to Moog DS881. The simplest way to tell is measure the drag link center to center and compare that to the specs.
https://www.finditparts.com/products/400546/moog-ds881?sctx=eyJzIjoiIDA4MDA2NjE0NjAxMCAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAiLCJzb3VyY2Ui%0AOiJzZWFyY2hwYWdlIiwicHJvZHVjdF9pZCI6NDAwNTQ2LCJyZXN1bHRfY291%0AbnQiOjEsInJlc3VsdF9pZHgiOjB9%0A&ga_list=Search%20Results%20v2
Excellent, Rick! :)ThmbUp
I have movement at steering column above gearbox, does that mean new (not remanufactured) gearbox needs adjusting. I took video but i cant get it to post. movement isnt below gearbox. it was this way before but new gearbox didnt change anything.
what am I missing???
here is where i grabbed
Is the movement between the "pot coupling" and the shaft above it? Although I've never had it apart, there is a bearing of some sort inside that coupling that allows the column to tilt. I wonder if the problem is in that area? I can't imagine that the lower input shaft is still available but looking at the drawing in the parts catalog, it appears to be possible to disassemble the coupling.
I grab the pot coupling (im not sure what it does) but it moves above and below the coupling
I have been looking up all day trying to find a pot coupling, but am having no luck. Even the dealer said I cant look things up that far back. Probably dont want to is the reason. I am going to pull off column later when I get home and see if top of gearbox moves or not. is there other moving parts above gearbox???
The pot coupling is clamped directly to the input shaft on the steering box. There should be no play there. The coupling allows the steering column shaft to move laterally but shouldn't have any play radially. I think you will find they are made of "unobtainium" but looking at the diagram in the parts manual it appears that the coupling can be disassembled. Once apart, you may be able to repair or rebuild it. The other option would be to eliminate the coupling but then the tilt feature of the column would be gone as well.
ok if i rebuild or eliminate pot but top of gearbox still moves did i get anywhere? does a new gearbox need to be adjusted?
I guess the question is, is the pot coupling moving on the input shaft, or is the input shaft moving without moving the pitman arm? When you said that the garage found a steering box with no play, I assumed that meant that there was no (or little) play between the input and output shafts on the steering box. Maybe the best thing to do would be to disconnect the pot coupling from the input shaft and test it for yourself.
ok not sure if I did it right, but I played with adjustments. pot seemed ok. I could move side adjusting screw in and out all the way and it had no affect on looseness. So then I tapped on the top adjustment and it barely moved but the play is gone. No idea if it is fixed or not. I do still have some small movement but I think it it more tie rod drag link stuff.
Great!! Sounds like you've got most of it fixed.
Let us know how it goes
Hello I have a 1972 M300 chassis and just went through a similar situation. Mine would grab the rugs in the road and wonder around at any speeds above 50 . I put new radial tires on which helped . I completely inspected the front end and it was all in good condition. I had my wife go into the rv and start moving steering wheel back and forth , what I found was the bracket that holds the steering box to the frame was slightly loose . I tightened all the hardware and took her for a spin , the wandering is gone !! Worth checking yours .
I fought this on a M500, 1976 for years. The old Dodge chassis' were nicknamed "wiggle wagons" for a reason. Now you need to ask yourself how much you love the rig and want to keep it long term, because you can be going deep on this one.
You did an alignment and a steering box, so you can rule those two out.
Tires. How old are they and are they fully up to proper pressure?
With the age, it is a good idea, if not manditory idea to pack your front wheel bearings and replace the king pins. Just do it. It has sat for years on those pins and bushings.
Tie rod ends. Are they fully greased and tight?
If all the above has been properly addressed, then proceed below...
Leaf springs and bushings. If the busings in the springs are shot, it can sway left to right.
Rear leaf springs, the same applies and will directly affect your steering.
Do not add any aftermarket stabilizers, air bags, etc., until all the rest is addressed. Once the suspension and steering components are all 100%, here is what I did to get mine to steer straight and true:
Added more castor to the alignment. I think it is at 6 degrees. Some improvement
Upgraded to 225/75/19.5 tires. Big improvement
Bilstein shocks. No steering imprvement, but the ride was better.
Air bags on all four corners. Huge improvement
I did the same with mine except for the tire size change and castor. It was like a whole new, enjoyable driving experience!