Steering Box Play- Sheppard M100 SHIM or Swap for a TRW ?

[CrazyKnight]

MAN DOWN........MAN DOWN !!!

I am going to post this here and in the Wandering thread.

Brent...from WELLER, you know the helpful steering box guys, has been admitted to the Mayo clinic and they are running test.
I am asking that you PLEASE keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers during this time of need.

I have been in touch with Tom, head of WELLER steering, to confirm this information.

Thanks TEAM

Craig

[Alan Wilson]

Originally Posted by CrazyKnight

MAN DOWN........MAN DOWN !!!

I am going to post this here and in the Wandering thread.

Brent...from WELLER, you know the helpful steering box guys, has been admitted to the Mayo clinic and they are running test.
I am asking that you PLEASE keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers during this time of need.

I have been in touch with Tom, head of WELLER steering, to confirm this information.

Thanks TEAM

Craig

Craig, this is not good news. Tell them we are all thinking of him and he is in our prayers.


Alan Wilson

2001 HR Scepter 38 PBD

[deSanford]

Mayo Clinic is one of the BEST in the country. Hopefully they can diagnose the problem and get him on the mend. He has been very helpful to us all on the "box" change out. Sanford

[rlbow43]

The swap is almost complete, I hope. When I jacked the coach up to set the poppets I discovered the driver's side tire did indeed rub the drag link. I had seen a rub mark on the drag link before the Sheppard was removed, but when I checked the full right turn it appeared there was 3-4 inches of clearance. Must have done something wrong, but all is not lost. A local shop is going to reset the axle stop for the right turn tomorrow and reset the poppets. I'm also going to have them set the torque on the mounting bolts just so I'll know they're right. Everything else looks good. The drive to the shop will be the first one after the swap.

This is all coming together none too soon. Saturday we leave for the Rose Bowl to see our Ducks play Florida State. After that we have only 3 things planned: see a taping of Wheel of Fortune, go to Quartzite, and meet up with local friends in Death Valley. Looking forward to meeting the Monaco group. Planning on staying at the Monaco site.

Merry Christmas to all. Hope to see many of you at Quartzite.

[CrazyKnight]

Originally Posted by rlbow43

The swap is almost complete, I hope. When I jacked the coach up to set the poppets I discovered the driver's side tire did indeed rub the drag link. I had seen a rub mark on the drag link before the Sheppard was removed, but when I checked the full right turn it appeared there was 3-4 inches of clearance. Must have done something wrong, but all is not lost. A local shop is going to reset the axle stop for the right turn tomorrow and reset the poppets. I'm also going to have them set the torque on the mounting bolts just so I'll know they're right. Everything else looks good. The drive to the shop will be the first one after the swap.

This is all coming together none too soon. Saturday we leave for the Rose Bowl to see our Ducks play Florida State. After that we have only 3 things planned: see a taping of Wheel of Fortune, go to Quartzite, and meet up with local friends in Death Valley. Looking forward to meeting the Monaco group. Planning on staying at the Monaco site.

Merry Christmas to all. Hope to see many of you at Quartzite.

YAHOO !!!! Glad the swap is THIS CLOSE to being D O N E done !
Safe travels on your trip
Merry Christmas to all and see you in Q

[deSanford]

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas and have a GREAT New Year like the Monaco readers and doers in 2014 who benefited from all the chassis modifications shared on this thread. Sanford

[Maddog7]

I MUST acknowledge Craig once again for his knowledge and unselfish commitment toward helping his fellow Monaco coach owners be safer when driving their motorhomes!!! With his guidance (and a lot of physical labor), he and I completed a SWAP on my coach yesterday and truly "tamed the Cheetah"!!

Craig gained is now well known "handle" as "Crazy Knight" as a result of seemingly "acting Crazy" (to his DW) when simply "trying to control' his Monaco Knight, just after purchasing it in Chicago and driving it back to Arizona!! He had to "see-saw" the steering wheel all the way...........and immediately began his quest to improve the drivability of his new coach. He found the answer...SWAP!

He had driven my coach "before" the swap and said, "my coach was the worst he had ever driven" (but said it nicely only after we completed the swap)! Now it IS tamed......i.e. it goes exactly where I want it to without 2+ inches of "dead space" when moving the steering wheel. What a HUGE difference the TRW has made!! Perfect timing for completing my SWAP, as I will soon be heading to Naples, Florida for my wife's birthday (so it will get a real 1,800 mile test).

I have stated this before, but worth repeating....Craig (aka Crazy Knight) has not only helped a lot of Monaco coach owners be able to "truly enjoy" driving their home away from home, but probably has saved lives AND marriages!!!

Thanks again Craig for your commitment, your dedication, and physical labor helping me on my SWAP, and more importantly....your incredible friendship!! I couldn't have accomplished this task without your help!!

SWAP ON everyone.............and REALLY enjoy the drive!!

Mike

[Alan Wilson]

I am curious if anyone has an update on Brent and if his trip to Mayo produced a good outcome.


Alan Wilson

2001 HR Scepter 38 PBD

[deSanford]

X2 Alan and Mike..........Sanford

[CrazyKnight]

Originally Posted by Maddog7

I MUST acknowledge Craig once again for his knowledge and unselfish commitment toward helping his fellow Monaco coach owners be safer when driving their motorhomes!!! With his guidance (and a lot of physical labor), he and I completed a SWAP on my coach yesterday and truly "tamed the Cheetah"!!

Craig gained is now well known "handle" as "Crazy Knight" as a result of seemingly "acting Crazy" (to his DW) when simply "trying to control' his Monaco Knight, just after purchasing it in Chicago and driving it back to Arizona!! He had to "see-saw" the steering wheel all the way...........and immediately began his quest to improve the drivability of his new coach. He found the answer...SWAP!

He had driven my coach "before" the swap and said, "my coach was the worst he had ever driven" (but said it nicely only after we completed the swap)! Now it IS tamed......i.e. it goes exactly where I want it to without 2+ inches of "dead space" when moving the steering wheel. What a HUGE difference the TRW has made!! Perfect timing for completing my SWAP, as I will soon be heading to Naples, Florida for my wife's birthday (so it will get a real 1,800 mile test).

I have stated this before, but worth repeating....Craig (aka Crazy Knight) has not only helped a lot of Monaco coach owners be able to "truly enjoy" driving their home away from home, but probably has saved lives AND marriages!!!

Thanks again Craig for your commitment, your dedication, and physical labor helping me on my SWAP, and more importantly....your incredible friendship!! I couldn't have accomplished this task without your help!!

SWAP ON everyone.............and REALLY enjoy the drive!!

Mike

Mike,

You are most welcome ! I am a bit sore this morning...coffee and aspirin anyone. Thank you for the kind words.

Mike is right, his Cheetah had more steering gear "non motion", free play, "dead space" than my own coach...a BUNCH, 2" is a good guess as I drove his coach before the SWAP and it was loose. The Cheetah Sheepard PMN 34 had a few miles on it but still having a 4 bag coach and NO H frame issues to deal with I think the TRW swap was the hot ticket for improving this coach.

BOY did it drive NICE on the short test drive.

I think this was the FIRST 4 bag coach we have done on the TRW SWAP thread.

We swapped a Sheppard PMN34 for a TAS65052 and Pitman arm 84242502 which in this coach placed the pitman arm to drag link position at almost OEM spec.

PLEASE give us a full long trip report on the SWAP when you get around to it.

Thanks again for the kind works, the wonderful friendship and cold beer after we were done ! Safe travels my friend

SWAP ON !!!! ( if you want to)


PS....I will check on Brent with Tom at Weller today....thank you all for keeping Brent in your thoughts and prayers.

[onechaddude]

Originally Posted by CrazyKnight

Mike,

You are most welcome ! I am a bit sore this morning...coffee and aspirin anyone. Thank you for the kind words.

Mike is right, his Cheetah had more steering gear "non motion", free play, "dead space" than my own coach...a BUNCH, 2" is a good guess as I drove his coach before the SWAP and it was loose. The Cheetah Sheepard PMN 34 had a few miles on it but still having a 4 bag coach and NO H frame issues to deal with I think the TRW swap was the hot ticket for improving this coach.

BOY did it drive NICE on the short test drive.

I think this was the FIRST 4 bag coach we have done on the TRW SWAP thread.

We swapped a Sheppard PMN34 for a TAS65052 and Pitman arm 84242502 which in this coach placed the pitman arm to drag link position at almost OEM spec.

PLEASE give us a full long trip report on the SWAP when you get around to it.

Thanks again for the kind works, the wonderful friendship and cold beer after we were done ! Safe travels my friend

SWAP ON !!!! ( if you want to)


PS....I will check on Brent with Tom at Weller today....thank you all for keeping Brent in your thoughts and prayers.

Craig, I am glad to hear of the swap on the 4 bag chassis. I have been following very closely since this thread started. I would really love to do the swap myself I'm just unsure of my ability. I am very good with my hands and installed the Source ride enhancement kit on my coach myself. I just don't know of all the lingo you guys speak of and what's required for indexing and so on.

A big question I have is how can my coach drive so awesome when there is no or very little wind. Once there is a slight breeze up to a full blow wind it becomes an absolute "turd". I can just assume that it's the play in the steering that's letting it waller around. That's all I can figure. If the TRW swap would cure that then this coach would be awesome. I honestly can't understand how it can go from so good to so bad with a slight breeze.

I live in central NC not far from vanwill and wondered if anyone knew of a guy close by willing to come to my heated indoor shop to help me with the install of which I would definitely pay. Also, what's the ballpark cost of the swap for everything involved. Just as general idea so I know what's involved. Thanks so much for the info and the drive to get this done to help everyone.

Chad

[CrazyKnight]

Chad,

I would start by measuring your "free play" in your Sheppard. It is not a hard procedure you just need a little help with turning the steering wheel, you will be the lucky one laying under the coach. You will see him much the pitman arm moves at the drag link connection point...or does not move..in each direction from center based upon steering wheel inputs.
I used a piece of cardboard taped just under the wheel to measure with...photos are back in the thread.

A Sheppard with more than even 1/2" of non motion can induce a driving "wallow" or see saw driving experience. You are chasing the back of the coach with the front..ie steering wheel and with "non motion" or dead space it only makes it worse.

Do you know your model number Sheppard ?
If you installed the Source REK you will have NO problem installing the TRW steering gear.
If you, or someone helping you...more on that later, you can expect a TOTAL cost of around $850 to $1000. TRW steering gear (Sheppard as a core), Pitman arm (new one is $$ used one is $) fluid, new bolts, ect.

Keep us posted !


Craig

[onechaddude]

Originally Posted by CrazyKnight

Chad,

I would start by measuring your "free play" in your Sheppard. It is not a hard procedure you just need a little help with turning the steering wheel, you will be the lucky one laying under the coach. You will see him much the pitman arm moves at the drag link connection point...or does not move..in each direction from center based upon steering wheel inputs.
I used a piece of cardboard taped just under the wheel to measure with...photos are back in the thread.

A Sheppard with more than even 1/2" of non motion can induce a driving "wallow" or see saw driving experience. You are chasing the back of the coach with the front..ie steering wheel and with "non motion" or dead space it only makes it worse.

Do you know your model number Sheppard ?
If you installed the Source REK you will have NO problem installing the TRW steering gear.
If you, or someone helping you...more on that later, you can expect a TOTAL cost of around $850 to $1000. TRW steering gear (Sheppard as a core), Pitman arm (new one is $$ used one is $) fluid, new bolts, ect.

Keep us posted !


Craig

Thanks for reply Craig. I am in Florida right now for few more days then must head home to get back to work. I will see if I can figure the free play in the wheel and which sheppard that I have and go from there. I would be more than willing with that cost if it solves the windy driving difficulties of my coach. Thanks again. I'll be back with answers so as I can get them. You and Van have a safe trip to Q.

Chad

[onechaddude]

Originally Posted by onechaddude

Thanks for reply Craig. I am in Florida right now for few more days then must head home to get back to work. I will see if I can figure the free play in the wheel and which sheppard that I have and go from there. I would be more than willing with that cost if it solves the windy driving difficulties of my coach. Thanks again. I'll be back with answers so as I can get them. You and Van have a safe trip to Q.

Chad

Craig, just happened to think monaco sent me a data card right after I got this coach years ago. Sure enough it has it listed as a Sheppard M100PPN31. Doesn't give serial # though. I think I've read that is a somewhat common to others box possibly. Thanks

Chad