'89 Crown Royale - Roadmaster chassis, need brake/axle part info

[Yahooligan]

Hi,

So I have a problem with both the front and rear axle seals leaking on the passenger side. I got a quote from a local shop to replace the seals and brake shoes and they quoted me over $2,000. I'm very mechanical, just new to "heavy" mechanical work and for something simple like brakes and axle seals I see no reason not to do it myself and save some money.

The problem/question I have is...short of taking everything apart to get to the existing parts, how can I determine the seal and brake part numbers or where to source them? The RV is kept in storage where I can't work on it and I can only park the RV at my house for 72 hours.

Does anyone know where I can locate the part numbers or know of a company that would be able to look them up?

Thanks!

[rgreen45]

Calling Roadmaster with your VIN is probably your best bet to get part numbers. Also, in respect to you being mechanically savvy, do you know it takes special tools to properly install heavy chassis hub seals? If you're VERY lucky and hit it just right, it can be done with a large hammer and a wood block IF you don't have the type of seal that requires a spindle ring. There's simply no way to install those without the proper tools.

With all that said, your quote of $2000 sounds a bit high if you just have 4 wheel positions. Based on recent memory, $20 a wheel for a seal and $80 for a brake shoe kit so that's $400 for parts and I could do it in 6 hours or less. At our labor rate of $110 that's $660 so just over $1000.

Shop around.

[Yahooligan]

Thanks for the info, I made calls around to various local shops on Friday, a couple said they'd call me back right away...and never did...so...I guess I'll have to try again. $1000 I can deal with, though.

I've also tried calling Monaco about part numbers but apparently they don't have much of anything from before the bankruptcy/merger with Navistar and nothing going back to 1989. :( Tried that route to get airbag part numbers.

Would there be any benefit or reason to see if a truck shop would do the repairs?

Thanks for the info on the hub seals, knowing that the job shouldn't cost me $2k (I believe I was actually quoted around $2200-$2300) but closer to $1k is easier to swallow and, unfortunately, confirms my suspicion that the shop that did some other work is trying to rip people off (I asked how much it would cost to do maintenance on the genset and fix the hard-start when cold, they claimed I needed a new LP regulator among other things and I think they quoted $500. I cleaned the bowl and adjusted the mixture, amazingly it starts just fine now.)

Thanks again and I'll report back any updates or other questions.

[rgreen45]

A truck repair facility is where I'd take it. They can get the part number off the old seal to obtain new ones. Sometimes they're not a stock item and have to be ordered.

[walt2137]

You should be able to get your axle S/N and name off of both axles just need to do a little scraping, but as Ray has said it should not be a problem for a truck repair shop as seals and bearing # are universal.

[Yahooligan]

After calling around, I think I found a decent local truck repair shop with reasonable prices. I'll be taking it down there this afternoon so that they can pull the drum off and locate the parts, but they estimated about $400 in labor to do the brakes and seals, so assuming another $400+tax in parts that's right under $1000. Fingers crossed!

[walt2137]

If they are replacing the front seals i assume that you will have them to repack both front bearings.

[rgreen45]

Originally Posted by walt2137

If they are replacing the front seals i assume that you will have them to repack both front bearings.

They should be floaters. IOW, a hub cap with a window and a plug so you see the oil level in the spindle assembly.

[walt2137]

Monaco never installed oilers on the front axle that i am aware of only later on the tag, of course they could have been converted later by one of the owners. I converted both Monaco's that we have owned.

[Yahooligan]

Got word from the shop today, really happy with how they operate and their pricing is awesome.

In the end it's going to be about $920 for...

New shoes all around
Brake hardware kits for all corners
Turning the drums
Replacing the seals
Topping off the axle fluids

So by the time they're done I'll have the brakes in top working order for less than half the cost of what an RV shop quoted.

[Yahooligan]

Just an update, don't have the RV back yet but mainly because I'm having them do some other work while they have it. All the brake work is done, I added on finding/replacing the front airbags and adjusting/replacing the steering box due to play.

By some miracle they were able to do what I and an RV shop were unable to do, locate replacement bags locally at a reasonable price with no 6-8 week wait due to having to be special ordered from Firestone or Goodyear.

They were also able to adjust the steering box and get rid of the excess play so now it should be much more of a pleasure to drive (Already has a Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer).

The other part of this is that I'm still in shock at how much cheaper this diesel shop is than the RV shop just up the road.

RV shop quoted about $500 EACH for the airbags in just parts, they're going to end up being $198/ea + labor (Quoted about 2 hours to do both).

Once done the coach should be ready for anything, though we do have a bit of other work to do ourselves but mechanically it should be rock solid. Exciting!

[Yahooligan]

Well, another update. They got the bags, but they weren't the correct ones. :( They're still searching, but for now the RV is put back together.

[Loren Rice]

Have your driven your unit with the new brakes? I'll be curious of the source of the replacement air bags if they manage to find the right ones. I have a 95 sig and can if I look a bit could tell you the number on mine since I had to have one removed a year ago in order to do other work. So I wrote that number down in a place that at the moment is hidden from me--- but I could find it if you want it.

Loren

[Yahooligan]

Originally Posted by Loren Rice

Have your driven your unit with the new brakes? I'll be curious of the source of the replacement air bags if they manage to find the right ones. I have a 95 sig and can if I look a bit could tell you the number on mine since I had to have one removed a year ago in order to do other work. So I wrote that number down in a place that at the moment is hidden from me--- but I could find it if you want it.

Loren

I haven't driven it yet, no. I want to give them every opportunity to find the correct bags since without them I'm not sure I want to venture far from home. They've called Neway but since Neway has changed hands a number of times since the coach was built there's no real historical parts lists available. I have an idea of what the correct part is, and have sent the info/specs to the shop to see if they can at least verify the dimensions, so we'll see what happens. I just don't want to go on a hunch and spend 6-8 weeks waiting for the wrong bags.

I think these are the bags...but not sure.

http://www.firestoneip.com/site-reso...W013589650.pdf