XC chassis steering - no more wander

[Darryl]

It seems there is no shortage of threads about bad handling motor homes on any board you care to visit. They aren’t reserved for older models either. You will find as many on 1 and 2 year olds as there are on 8 year olds. The unfortunate reality is that while most have similar symptoms, the causes can be many. Sometimes it's one thing and sometimes it’s a combination of many things. If an owner is lucky enough to find “the fix” for his unit, not everyone can duplicate “the fix” and get the same result. It can be very frustrating, and sometimes expensive. I’d love to know how many motor homes are traded just to get rid of handling problems after the owner has become frustrated and are not enjoying the drive any more. I suspect it is a large number.

I don’t want to make this a book, so I’ll get to the point. I have an older Endeavor on an XC chassis, Cat engine, and 59,000 miles. It is a well kept unit, has a very comfortable floor plan, and I like it. I am very deligent about proper maintenance. I do many of my own repairs, but my coach goes to Gaffney every year just like yours. All my maintenance is up to date and current. I could leave tomorrow for a 5,000 mile cross-country trip and not worry. I do not short change maintenance.

But, despite good maintenance, my handling was just fair. Not bad (and I know what bad is --- I once had a GMC Eleganza that you couldn’t hold in the road), but just not particularly good. I read all the information I could find on the RV forums about my problem. Mostly, my coach would wander and there was too much play in the steering wheel. Not bad, but not good either.

I think this is not an uncommon problem. I put all the knowledge together from all the posts I’ve read and started addressing one thing at a time. Here’s the things I did and the order in which I did them:

Checked the ride height – I did a “quick check” with a ruler in the appropriate places to see if it was grossly out of spec. It didn’t appear to be, but I couldn’t tell for sure since I park on gravel. You need a flat shop floor to really tell, since the variance of ½ inch is significant. Gravel is not good enough. I would have to take it somewhere to get this done correctly.

Front end alignment – I began my efforts by going to a good heavy truck alignment place with lots of experience and great equipment. Before doing the alignment, they had me pull onto a “shaker” machine that shakes the whole vehicle side to side and up and down while the tech is underneath in the pit. You can really see the suspension movement and find problems with worn parts like this. No problems on mine though. The tech told me they rarely see suspension problems in the freightliner XC chassis. I was glad to hear this.

The next thing they did was to check the ride height. My coach was completely in spec, so no adjustments were necessary. I also brought the factory settings with me on paper, in case there were any questions --- both for the height and the alignment. They did the alignment. I was completely in spec. My toe was 0. I had previously read a post on the freightliner board that one of the tech’s at Gaffney told the owner (who also had a wanderer) to set the toe at -2. This is one degree more than the spec I believe, but motor homes run so few miles, any extra wear on the tires is insignificant. So I had it set to -2 degrees. When I left and drove home, I could definitely tell a difference. I had much less wander. I was very happy, but I still had too much play in the steering.

Shocks - My shocks were original and marginal I thought. They allowed too much rebound in my opinion. I ordered new shocks online and installed them myself. Not too hard, but the rears are a pain. I went back with Bilstein’s, the original manufacturer. There’s a lot of differing opinions on which brand is the best, but they seem almost equally split from my reading. Besides, new has to be better than my originals. After taking off the old ones, they were not “shot”, like I had imagined. But it’s hard to tell on big shocks like these unless they are completely gone. In subsequent trips, I could tell there was a definite improvement in my bouncing. It was much better, but not as much as I had imagined there would be. It did not help my wander at all though.

Super Steer Bell Crank – One of the things I kept coming across online was that Freightliner used a bell crank that seemed to wear early. The bell crank rotates with your steering changes. There were reports that some had wear and allowed the steering to move slightly. Any side to side movement causes steering slop. Others were seizing in spots and did not allow the steering to come back to center easily. I had someone shake my steering wheel back and forth as I watched for side to side movement. But, I didn’t really see any. However, there is no way to tell if it was seizing in a hard spot without taking it off. So, I went ahead and ordered a new one from Super Steer. They have a great replacement unit that has ball bearings unlike the factory unit that only has a bushing and tends to wear early. I installed it myself. Not too hard, but you need to have some basic shop knowledge how to get it broken loose.

Upon inspecting my old unit on my bench, I could tell there was a tiny bit of side-to-side movement in it. It wasn’t noticeable on the coach, but I could feel it in my hand. Not a lot, but some. Well, this was a good call to replace it. I installed the new unit and took it for a test ride. I had a noticeable improvement. About 50% of my steering wheel slop was gone. I drove it like this for the last 6 months, happy that I had gotten rid of half my steering problem. It wasn’t perfect, but a lot better.

Steering box adjustment – This is the last item I addressed and the most dreaded one. The steering box adjustment is a bit fickle. Too little and there is still play. Too much and you’ve really got handling problems (binding). The shops are very reluctant to adjust these, probably because it is a fine art of trial and error, and also because they don’t want the liability. Most will only replace them. From what I read, some of the new factory ones have as much slack as the ones they are replacing.

As a side note, there is a company in Washington State called Red-Head Steering gear that rebuilds these with very precise custom parts to give you the best experience possible. They’ve been doing it for over 20 years and have a great following. I decided to give mine a try (adjusting) to see if it made any difference. If it didn’t, I was going to pull mine and send it to Red’s for a rebuild.

So, 2 days ago I got under my front end, found the adjustment, and noted where it was set. Mine was in a 12 O’clock vertical position. I loosened the jam nut and turned it until it hit the end of the slack. I backed it off about 2/16ths and tightened the jam nut. I went back inside and shook the steering wheel. A huge difference. It felt tight, with no slop in the steering wheel. I opened the side window and stuck my head out so I could see my wheels. Any movement in the steering wheel had a corresponding wheel movement. Could I have possibly cured the rest of my steering wheel slop?

I hoped for the best, realizing that if tightened too much, it causes binding and the wheels will not return to center. It was too late in the day to go for a ride, so I put if off until another day. That day was today. I took the coach out to get fuel and to face the moment of truth. I’ll just say this ----- I am overjoyed with my drive quality now! All my slop is gone. The steering wheel is tight in both directions and it drives like a new one. I can’t imagine this coach driving any better, even when new. Plus, it looks like I saved $600 on a steering gear rebuild.

Sorry for the long post. I hope some part of this post helps someone just beginning to deal with these issues. At least it might point them in the right direction for determining a solution to their problem.

[Clonetrooper]

Darryl, I have a Discovery 38' with XC chassis a few years newer than your Endeavor. Do all my own maintenance also. Had a little slop in steering and adjusted my box also. Made all the difference in the world. Was ok before but now it steers better than my Z71 Suburban. Glad you found the same cure.
KC

[azloafer]

That was a great post. We can all learn from the info. Joe

[Darryl]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the replies!

One thing i forgot to mention is the very first thing I did was get a 4 wheel weigh on every wheel. I was okay on axle weights, but I did move a few things from one side to the other for better balance. With full fuel, full water, and everything I normally take with me, I am still 2,000 lbs under GVW. Although I moved some things for better balance, it did not affect my handling.

[RickO]

Great post! Thanks.

Two years ago I took my coach to Henderson's Line Up in Grants Pass, Oregon and they worked wonders after doing a Road Assessment Test, 4 corner weight, Bell Crank, Alignment check, installation of a Safe T Steer stableizer, and adjusting the steering gear.

I love the results I got but envy the experience you gained by working it all out yourself! Good job!

[powerboatr]

great post
i wonder about our slop now,

[Wingman02]

I had seen on the internet that Gaffney did not do alignments. The first trip we made there I forgot to ask. The second trip I was setting in the waiting area when somone came in for an alignment. So, my next trip I will be getting an alignment.

[Darryl]

I can confirm, as of last fall, they were doing alignments.

[embmac]

Darryl,

I have this wandering problem with my 01 Winnebago. When I called the Freightliner Rep and asked him about adjusting the steering box, he said there was no adjustment. I had the alignment checked by an alignment company and the guy there also said there was no adjustment. I installed Motion Control Units on my coach and all that I can say about that is it rides very rough now. There does seem to be some slop in the steering. I also have the Howard Steering System on the coach, but it doesn't seem to work very well. I am thinking about having Henderson Front End in Oregon have a look at it. Thanks for a great post. I may have another look to see if I can see an adjustment for the steering box.

[RickO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nancylatic If you are in the center or east coast part of the country, I strongly suggest taking it to Precision Frame & Alignment in Minnesota. They have a wonderful shop and specialize in RVs alignment and driveability problems. We have had work done at the shop and heard the owner, a fellow by the name of Dick Lornston speak at several rallies. He really knows his stuff. He sells all of the Henderson products, Koni shocks and tires as well. Hendersons is a good shop too but after being in their shop and Brazwls, I'll go out of my way to visit Precision for our next coach or if we need further work on this one. Check out their website RV suspension and tires are our specialty Good luck! Nancylatic

Nancylatic: maybe I'm just getting suspicious in my old age but I've noticed something about your posts. If I'm not mistaken, 15 of your 16 total posts on IRV2 end up recommending Precision Frame and Alignment.

Is this just an example of a very satisfied customer or are you affiliated with this company and misleading members of this forum?

[Fred Cooper]

Darryl,
Thanks for your timely post. I have a 2000 HR Endeavor on the Freightliner Chassis. I've been working on improving the steering for a while. I've done the individual wheel weights, ride height, front end alignment, and new Koni FSD shocks. It really tracks pretty good, but always felt as if the center point of the steering was a little loose. After reading your post, I went hunting for the adjustment. I've adjusted many old cars in my past life, so this was not much different. I probably would not have found the adjustment if you had not posted about the hole in the frame rail, however. My first thought was to look on top of the steering gear box.

I could get fairly good access through the front generator area. I had some trouble getting the lock nut free from the adjustment screw, but once that was free the adjustment was easy. It really made a difference in the driving.

Fred

[Darryl]

Glad to hear you made the adjustment Fred! I had the same trouble with my lock nut. Hearing of all these steering gears that need adjustment at such low mileage, makes me wonder about the quality.

[wmmaryyoung]

Darryl, thanks for the great article. I have a 2003 Dutch Star on the Freightliner XC. I to have a wander problem. My plan was to go straight to the steering box and adjust it. The problem I have is that when I crawled under the coach I could not find any thing to adjust. I am used to a locknut with a worm screw in it, but could not find anything. So can you or anyone else give me an idea of where on the steeing box the adjustment screw is or what it looks like? Thanks Bill Young

[Darryl]

The adjuster is just as you described, and located on the inside of the frame rail through a hole drilled through the frame, opposite the steering gear. Get under there with a light. You'll see it.