Quote:
Originally Posted by 67fisher
This article I read may or may not have anything to do with the gearbox swap. I can't remember where I saw it. It was about an owner that was going thru all the motions of correcting the wandering issue. He had his gearbox checked and it did not need shimming. He found that that the universals in the steering column itself had excessive play and he was able to replace the center section of the column and it completely fixed his wandering issue. I have a 2001 Endeavor 38PBD. I don't remember what coach he had but I'm pretty sure it was in the Monaco forum somewhere. None of my searches produced anything relevant to the steering column universals.
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That's the exact post I steered you to above:
"Driving into a very strong crossing head wind for about 250 miles convinced me I had tame "the beast." I began following this and the Steering Box Play- Sheppard M100 SHIM or Swap for a TRW ? thread.
It was my thought that I was one of the lucky ones in that my unit already had the TRW steering box. First, the TRW was adjusted. Next, I added the VanWill X-braces. Then, the front watts link (adapted from the Nodine drawings). Finally, a rear watts link (from my adapted front watts link design) was added. I saw incremental improvement with each addition, but not to the degree others were reporting.
Even after all these improvements there was a small amount of movement in the wheel: about a half inch. This would cause a continual "sawing" back and forth in anything but the calmest of conditions.
Shortly after purchasing the unit two years ago I had the front end aligned when new tires were installed. At that time the technician confirmed my visual inspection; no wear in the tie rod ends or the rest of the linkage.
After confirming that this play was not in the steering box, I began trying to find other causes for this movement. I isolated the steering column from the rest of the steering linkage including the steering box. I found a small amount of play between the steering wheel and the u-joint coupler at the steering box. In other words somewhere in the steering column.
A call to Monaco support (great people--always very knowledgeable and helpful) and they confirmed this was a Douglas Autotech steering column. I called Douglas Autotech and spoke with a young engineer by the name of Ryan. Ryan advised that the probable source of this movement was in the "intermediate shaft." This shaft joins the steering box via a splined u-joint and on the steering column (inside the motorhome) in the same manner.
Ryan said there are two potential sources of lash or movement. Also, the best way to examine the "I-shaft" is out of the motorhome. This was accomplished fairly easily by removing the two bolts which retain the splined u-joints to their respective shafts. Penetrating oil works on the outer joint. A slip joint allows the I-shaft be taken off one of the splined joints (I did the joint at the steering box first). Once out the I-shaft can be placed in a vise and inspected.
My I-shaft unfortunately showed no sign of wear in either u-joint. I say unfortunately because the middle section of the contains "isolation material" which is inascessable and not rebuildable. In other words, if the wear or lash is in this area a new I-shaft is required. Monaco and Douglas Autotech are very proud of this piece.
Anyway, three working days later I received the replacement I-shaft from Monaco (Douglas Autotech doesn't sell direct to a consumer). After a couple hours of cleaning and insuring everything was lined up as it should be and I was ready for a test drive.
Finally, I experienced the improvements that others have reported. There was a quartering head wind of about 15 mph. Only a`minimum amount of pressure was required on the wheel to hold my lane; even when the road was not in perfect condition. Finally, I believe the bronco has been turned into a thoroughbred..
This has been posted in both threads because I believe it applies to each of them. Thanks to all those that have dedicated so much time, effort and expertise. "
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