Community Forums

rmcb · 03-31-2014, 10:42 PM

Bob,
Yes, I didn't think mine was too bad but the new cross braces really made it better. This project was quick, easy and satisfying. Wish I could say the same for tracing water leaks.

Roy

Vanwill · 04-02-2014, 04:36 PM

Roy, your U-bolts appear to be plated. Where did you get them? Are they Gr5 or better? I never found plated ones that were anything but Gr2, but even Gr2 IMHO would have been OK.

Van W. 2000 Dynasty 36 pulling one Harley
Eastern NC

rmcb · 04-02-2014, 09:46 PM

Van,
I just painted them with Rustoleum galvanizing paint. Thought it might help delay rusting. I painted a steel gate I welded up with it about 8 years ago and it is still pretty rust free.
Roy

rmcb · 04-02-2014, 09:47 PM

I got all my parts from your sources.

rmcb · 04-02-2014, 09:57 PM

Oh, the blue tape was for clamping in the vice. I had to run a tap through one of the bungs to clean up some flash from welding.

Vanwill · 04-03-2014, 09:46 AM

Roy, nice job! The galvanizing paint is a good idea. The U-bolts do rust quickly. And I failed to warn about having to sometimes run a tap back through the bungs after they are welded--about half the time, they distort just enough to make it hard to screw in the rod ends. That will complicate things for some folks who do not have access to the taps--ESPECIALLY the LH ones. Also be aware that the bungs are made from 1045, and if welded with stick or a wire welder, they will sometimes harden enough to make it difficult to run the tap back through. If you TIG them, that probably won't happen, but TIG is surely slow! I've had a couple of instances where I had to reheat the bung with a torch and let it cool slowly to temper the hardness back to a level the tap could cut. I don't know why the bungs are not made from 1018 ("mild steel") so they can't get hard. When I was making my own, 1018 is what I used. But the bungs from QSC are cheap enough that I just buy them.

Van W. 2000 Dynasty 36 pulling one Harley
Eastern NC

kketterling · 04-03-2014, 04:12 PM

Have a question. I was looking at making the cross braces and crawled under the coach to see what length I would need for the DOM and came up with about 42" so looks like I would order the 48" pieces. In talking with Roy I found out his trailing arms are behind the axle on a Roadmaster frame with 8 airbags. My trailing arms go forward of the axle and I too have a Roadmaster frame with 8 air bags and a side radiator. Only difference between ours is that Roy has a 38 ft coach and I have a 40ft. Has everyone that's done this modification had their trailing arms go behind the rear axle?

Has anyone done the cross bracing when the trailing arms go forward the rear axle and if so was there any clearance issues with the air pots (not sure what they are really called) mounted on the axle for the brakes.

Help.

rmcb · 04-03-2014, 08:37 PM

Van,
I used TIG for that very reason. I'll share a little secret. I didn't actually use a tap since I didn't have the exact size. So, I just ground a short cutting edge on the end of the rod end so it acted as its own tap. Worked great.

Roy

Happycarz · 04-03-2014, 11:31 PM

My trailing arms are to the front also. When I did the math I came up with the same measurement as you. Van is sending me the brackets first. After installing them, I will have an accurate measurement for the braces.

Looking at my setup, I see no interference and should install just fine.

kketterling · 04-03-2014, 11:39 PM

Thanks Harry I was beginning to think mine was an oddball chassis due to the bankruptcy.

YC1 · 04-04-2014, 05:27 AM

Before welding could you just screw the ends in place and cover the exposed area with something to protect from splatter? They would have a much harder time warping I suspect. I'm not a welder of course.

Vanwill · 04-04-2014, 07:59 AM

Roy—using a rod end as a tap: I’ve done tapping with a bolt, too! Only I used a Gr8 bolt that was high enough alloy and carbon content to harden it quenching in water. I assume you did that with the rod end? I can’t imagine that working using the rod end unhardened, but I’ve never tried it that way. Yer a purty ingenious feller! Still working on your scissor arm fix?

YC1—that’s a good idea, putting the rod end in first, but I’m afraid the warping might permanently grip the rod end so tightly you would have to saw the bung apart to get it out.

Van W 2000 Dynasty 36 pulling one Harley
Eastern NC

Vanwill · 04-04-2014, 09:03 AM

For those of you with post-2000 coaches that still have some degree of wandering, even after installing crossed braces, stay tuned. Those who have followed this thread a long time know that the crossed brace fix would be the best way to approach stabilizing the front H-frame, just as it does in the rear. However, on coaches made after 1993, it is almost impossible to put crossed braces on the front, due to genny placement. On my 1993 Dynasty, I was able to install crossed braces front and rear, and I’ve yet to drive any coach that handled as well as that one, after all bushings were replaced with the ATRO bushings, and the braces were installed.

However, in replacing bushings and getting folks’ results from doing so, it became clear some time ago, that simply replacing the bushings in nothing but the rear P-rod with the ATRO bushing yielded surprisingly good results, even when nothing else was done. Similar improvements, but not as dramatic, came from replacing the front P-rod bushings with ATRO bushings. If you look at the last pix in Post 601, you’ll see a “P-rod stiffener” installed on my 2000 Dynasty. Since that coach had no significant wandering (some, but barely noticeable), it was not a good test coach. I also installed the crossed rear braces at the same time, so drawing conclusions as to which device contributed most was even more difficult. A very few coaches are able to install a stiffener like the one in the pix on BOTH sides of the original P-rod. That is about as far as one can take the “stiffening the P-rod approach”… I thought. But an idea from Chuck (previous poster) was to tie the original P-rod to the stiffener rod and make the two act as a solid girder, rather than as two independent members, each with a “flexible” joint at their ends. The stiffener is “flexible” because it has a spherical rod end attached, and it can move freely. The P-rod is “flexible” because it has a rubber bushing in each end. But tie the two together, and they are unable to “parallelogram” on one another. In theory, at least, this would increase the amount of force necessary to move the assembly in a horizontal plane by a considerable amount, perhaps even orders of magnitude.

I’m going to try to attach pix of the device I have out for testing on two coaches. One of the coaches is only 31’ long, but has room for the stiffeners both ahead and behind the front P-rod. Those are the top two pix. The other has a stiffener only on the rear side of the front P-rod. I’m making parts for a third installation of double stiffeners on a post-2000 coach with double sets of the aluminum connectors that bind everything together. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Van W 2000 Dynasty 36 pulling one Harley
Eastern NC

rmcb · 04-04-2014, 10:24 PM

Van,
I did use the rod end since I didn't have a left hand tap of that size. I took a chance that the flash wasn't too hard and it wasn't. I put a little Kroil on it and carefully threaded it in, backing out every turn or so to clear chips. If it had seized, I would have had to buy or make a LH tap, but I didn't want to do either. Luckily it worked.
Roy