Monaco Dynasty Steering Problems

[jimkate]

Last year I bought a 1995 Monaco Dynasty. The steering is vague (what you feel at the wheel has nothing to do with what is actually happening). It will not run a straight line. It hunts right and left constantly. Wind makes it worse. I have had alignment work done. It used to have 1/8" toe in. They changed it to almost none. I'm going to change it back to 1/8", although I must say that either adjustment seems to steer the same. I've had every steering and suspension component checked, changed tie rod ends because rubber seals were cracked. Checked every Bilstein shock. Changed two because one was leaking, and we assumed that its mate might have been overstressed. I've had new tires installed. We're in the middle of a 4000 mile road trip, and I'm exhausted. We can't cover the ground because most days we simply can't get the miles in. If there's any wind (and on this trip that's been fairly strong winds almost every day), it's impossible to drive more than 45 miles an hour, and slower when semi's pass us. It rides firm. It does not lean in the wind. It seems that as far as the suspension is concerned, this coach wants to get out and go, which seems to be what every other coach does as I watch them pass us at highway speed. We're buffaloed. One day, we arrived in one city, stopped at a red light, and the steering wheel seized. I could not turn it. I increased the engine speed in neutral, pulled hard on the wheel, and it 'broke' free and worked fine after that. A big frustration is that NOBODY has ride height and alignment specs for this vehicle. The alignment experts are guessing! With Monaco down, I haven't been able to get any info out of them, except on one call I was told that no info or parts for anything older than 2000. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[mfire1339]

Sounds to me that the steering gear control valve is sticking. That means a gear box overhaul. Find a good truck chassis shop to diagnose problem first.

Mike

[jimkate]

Thanks Mike, I'll have that checked out when we get home. I'll let you know.

[hardy1000]

My friend has an 06 Dynasty and had the same problem. He had it aligned with no change and after fighting with it for 3 months he took it to Colton truck and they found 2 problems. The first was the ride hight, the back was 1 inch higher putting alot of weight in the front and the second was wandering like yours. They adjusted the steering to get the play out of the wheel and it fixed the problem.

Good luck