Community Forums

mhughes · 03-24-2017, 08:21 AM

Bill,

"When putting the center pivot arm in place, make sure you pay attention to position the lower part of the arm towards the drivers side"

You want about 1/4" clearance between the jack and the bell crank at normal running height. The bell crank actually moves very little and 1/4" is more than enough.

You will also notice a notch in the back clamp plates. This locates the clamps by indexing onto the gusset.

To me the hardest part is dealing with the lock nuts and under coating on the 1/2" bolts on the jack. Wears out old arms.

USCGMech · 03-24-2017, 05:33 PM

Dennis and Mike, thanks for the tips! Wish I had a bigger compressor, I doubt my 6 gal pancake will drive an air ratchet.

DennisZ · 03-25-2017, 08:22 PM

Mike
You're right about those Jack bolts, that's when I broke out the air ratchet.
Took the rig out for a test drive yesterday, what a difference, the only thing it needs now is a new TRW steering box, that will go on order Monday.

Dennis

USCGMech · 03-29-2017, 03:30 PM

Cross bars went on yesterday, I installed the front Watts link today. Just as others have said not hard just takes a few hours for each upgrade. On the Watts link I was a little concerned about the tack welded nuts on the front jack but 3 of the nuts broke the welds when I backed out the bolts, the 4th stayed strong. On the 4th I backed the bolt out until the threads were flush with the nut and then smacked the bolt head with a ball peen, the nut popped the weld, no chisels needed! Now I need to get new tires, the Toyos that came on the coach are the wrong size, won't support the coach safely, so happy I got it weighed and found this out before we took off on a long trip. To bad these tires are like new!!!

USCGMech · 04-05-2017, 12:26 PM

I had new tires put on the Coach yesterday and today took her up I75 to try out the cross bars and front watts link. We had some cross wind, maybe 10-12 knots and it had no real impact on the coach. Tractor trailers no longer blow me around as they go by. I think for me any additional upgrades would not yield noticeable improvement. I am very pleased and enjoy driving the Coach now that it has the TRW steering box, cross bars and front watts link. Thanks again to all!

Regards,

Bill

Applefarmer · 04-21-2017, 04:58 PM

It finally warmed up enough to work on the coach.. We installed the front Watts Link kit what a difference in handling. It goes straight down the Interstate with no hands. It was well worth the time and cost to install,

2012 Monaco Diplomat 43DFT

DennisZ · 04-21-2017, 05:21 PM

Had the TRW steering box installed today, WHAT A DIFFRENCE! Between the front Watts Link, Rear Cross Bars and now the TRW steering box, the coach has never had this good of a ride.
Anyone considering these mods, they are worth every penny spent.

Dennis

mhughes · 04-22-2017, 07:11 AM

I'm still surprised that some tag axle coaches experience the same wandering issues. The general consensus was that they did not due to the rear axle helping control the coach.

Robert Henderson (Hendersons' lineup) has mentioned to me several times that some of them wander just a much as non tag axle coaches.

barmcd · 04-22-2017, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DennisZ

Had the TRW steering box installed today, WHAT A DIFFRENCE! Between the front Watts Link, Rear Cross Bars and now the TRW steering box, the coach has never had this good of a ride.
Anyone considering these mods, they are worth every penny spent.

Dennis

Dennis, did you have the work done locally?

deSanford · 04-22-2017, 10:12 AM

If they have the Sheppard OFF ROAD STEERING BOX they are not as good as they could be (understatement).

zmotorsports · 04-23-2017, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mhughes

I'm still surprised that some tag axle coaches experience the same wandering issues. The general consensus was that they did not due to the rear axle helping control the coach.

Robert Henderson (Hendersons' lineup) has mentioned to me several times that some of them wander just a much as non tag axle coaches.

I didn't have wandering issues at all on my tag axle coach, however, a few years ago I couldn't take the pull to the right any longer and finally corrected that by shortening up my street side rear trailing arms. That made a HUGE difference in the handling of my coach and allowed it to be steered with one finger going down the highway and staying in its own lane. After eliminating that constant pull the coach for the first time in the then 6-ish years I owned it handled great.

My only complaint after correcting the pull was the extra steering input needed on those long constant radius curves. That is where I noticed my coach needing some tweaking.

After I built and installed my front Watts link that is gone. On those constant radius curves now I come out of them with the same steering wheel position that I went into them. As an extra benefit though, I did notice slightly less body roll on curves after installing the front Watts link. The Watts link definitely has an effect on the roll center.

Mike.

mhughes · 04-23-2017, 10:10 AM

Lowering of the roll center due to the watts pivot location is a difficult concept to understand for some. However, the results are pretty obvious.

In test driving with folks one of the first things they notice is reduced body roll on sweeping turns. The Roadmaster guys mentioned it on the very first turn when they were test driving a coach at Henderson's with front/rear watts.

VinceB · 04-23-2017, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mhughes

Lowering of the roll center due to the watts pivot location is a difficult concept to understand for some. However, the results are pretty obvious.

In test driving with folks one of the first things they notice is reduced body roll on sweeping turns. The Roadmaster guys mentioned it on the very first turn when they were test driving a coach at Henderson's with front/rear watts.

I noticed that right off too.

But being stuck with a Sheppard M80, my coach still wanders more than it should. It is a great deal better than it used to be but I am still perusing Sheppard because TRW does not appear to be an option. Perhaps Sheppard has a better bolt-on box now. I have emails into their Safety, Engineering, and Executive departments.

One would think that by now Sheppard would have a mind to address the poor performance of their steering gear in an RV. I asked them to come read this thread so they can get a first-hand feel for what we are dealing with.

DennisZ · 04-23-2017, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barmcd

Dennis, did you have the work done locally?

I had the swap done at Southwest Brake and Alignment in San Antonio, dropped it off Tuesday and got it back on Friday afternoon, they even kept it plugged in so I didn't have to unload the frig and freezer. They charged the same as Josams in Florida charges, si=o I think it was a fair price. I did provide the steering box, so they didn't have to order one.

Dennis