Loose steering - What to check, recommendations

Started by mrtweaver, May 17, 2021, 09:52 AM

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mrtweaver

Good day, my name is Martin, I just joined this site, in 2019 came across a deal i could not pass up, the wife and i bought a 1986 coachman, and since that time i have had it inspected twice. Both times it has passed, but i do question if the guy checks everything as he should. As I told them when i last took it in, if i am driving it 55 and lower it handles pretty good, not a lot of issues, but go above 55 and its a whole new ball game. After doing some research and finding this site one of the things that is mentioned is a steering dampener, which i am not certain if that is being checked or not. But another thing that has become of interest to me is these steering safety things, i know there is one by Safe T Plus and the other is by Steer Safe and there might be others as well. So i am writing to ask the other users in this forum the following questions:

How does one test the steering dampening to make sure it is working properly?

Has anyone here used these steering safety things, what are the pros and cons about them?

Which one(s) have you used?

Thanks for any information you can provide.

Oz

Loose steering can involve a lot more than a worn steering damper.  And, add-ons are only a band aid.  They don't cure the problem.

Loose steering -  ball joints, tie rod ends, steering gear wear.
1969 D22, 2 x 1974 D24 Indians, 1977 27' Itasca

eXodus

The good news is - it's probably fixable. The bad news it might be a expensive undertaking just throwing parts at it to check.

The p30 steering assembly has a bunch of parts, which you need to check for play and see if they are adequate greased.

https://www.wholesalegmpartsonline.com/showassembly.aspx?ukey_product=2777650&ukey_assembly=427964

With adequate safety precautions (Handbrake engaged, blocks under the wheels to prevent accidental rolling)
You need a helper at the wheel and you have to look at each of the joints.

The helper alternates between half a turn left and right - and you see if any of the connections have play. Everything with a grease nipple needs to be checked.

One of the things which wear out first, are the bell cranks (27 and 38 on the picture) and since all other components hangs from those things - they are crucial important for steering feel. They can not have play, not a single wiggle.
The driver side usually is broken first.

Get the replacement from SuperSteer Bell Crank for Workhorse/Chevy P3032 RV Chassis

Xephyr Xruxible

I'm with Oz on this. Here's why:

I had inherited a '77 Dodge Ram W100 PowerWagon 4X4 from my late grandfather that had loose steering the entire time I had it. I loved that truck but I was very low income, so, I decided to work on it myself. It's just steering. How hard can it be right!

The truck's service came to an abrupt halt after the problem finnaly revealed its self in the most expensive and nearly leathal way when the "Backing Plate" finnaly wore through pushing the axle out of the control arm destroying the: Control Arm, Disk Brake Caliper piston assembly, Brake Disk Rotor and various other parts. All because of, wait for it, bad bearings. Yea, like that.

Thankfully I was on city roads merely driving between lights, so, the result was more a miracle that it seemed at the time. There were no injuries and no colisions. However, it had to be scrapped. I got a measley $75 for an heirloom! I'm still fuming about that.

THE RUB: Don't take your life and the lives of others into your hands by trying to save money. It's not worth it. Have a genuinely experienced person inspect it. I'm just looking out for you. Not trying to scare you. It's just that, an RV is not a 3 Ton, snub nosed bane to anything it comes across. It's more like a 5 Ton +, Top-Heavy, Tissue Box. I still pucker when making turns. *shiver*

Be Safe,
Xephyr Xruxible
(Pronounced: Zephyr Crucible)

Oz

Wow, excellent account of the incident.  You were truly lucky that it happened under those conditions.  And, I bet that incident will always be a very sore memory for you.  Very sad to hear, but very glad you, and no one else, were hurt.
1969 D22, 2 x 1974 D24 Indians, 1977 27' Itasca

ajb483

Good afternoon, all:  what I notice about my steering is that the tiniest little movement sends the rig off in that direction, requiring a compensating "tiny little movement" to get it centered again. This gets more pronounced with speed.  Is this what you mean by "loose steering"?  It would be nice to just aim at the road and have it stay on course! But I'm reading the previous cautionary posts and thinking maybe this isn't a feature of an older ('85) rig, more of a bug that I should address...thanks in advance for your thoughts.
~Amanda Bee

eXodus

Get it checked out - I usually give mine to an alignment shop with the work order that they should check everything in the front end before doing the alignment.

If it's proper aligned and still wandering (what you describe, sounds like "road wandering" or "darting")

When you got neutral toe or even toe out on the alignment - the darting gets worse - it reacts then very fast to small direction changes.
The shop should put it to more toe in (even when the "specs" are stating neutral -) a little toe in makes it more center seeking instead of following road imperfections

Race cars have toe out - makes them eager to turn into corners - something we don't want in an RV which should drive primary straight.