Broken Universal joint and drive shaft

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by Dan and Ann

Your post certainly seems to be "ragging" on me with your comment about "advanced math" and your capitalization of words. Yes, our coach is 14 years old but only has 60,000 miles and we do our best to take good care of it. The reason I asked the question is because the tow driver and the repair person both said it looked like there was no lubrication. Yes, anything man made can break, and yes, the coach is being repaired and as I said in my original post. I thought this was a forum to help each other and your post was not very helpful.

Oh good grief Dan,
Chill out. Folks capitalize words on forums every second on every forum in this universe because they are making a POINT! You can take it however you choose. Making a point sometimes has to be emphasized. The "Advanced math" was also making a point that you, the owner, (and most likely have had to deal with warranty, at some point in life, with something you've purchased) should realize that on repairs or issues like you encountered, have a very, very limited warranty, if any, when it comes to service, much less repair. This forum and many folks on here DO help in all sorts of ways. If you find my post/answer to your situation is not helpful, well, that's entirely up to you.

I and many others get the same kind of replies all the time and we handle it/them just fine.

If the folks that last "serviced" your coach, did not lube the u-joints, based on the time frame from when they did the service, and the miles you put on since, and now it breaks, of course you've have no recourse. It's obvious. Sorry if you get offended by a couple of words being emphasized but, it's a bit of norm on forums.
Scott

[BFlinn181]

This forum (and others) really need a sarcasm font.

[wildmanbaker]

Dan, Scott is on several RV forums, and I have not see him attack anyone, even when he was question quite vigorously. He is a good guy and very helpful.
Jim

[Dan and Ann]

Originally Posted by FIRE UP

Oh good grief Dan,
Chill out. Folks capitalize words on forums every second on every forum in this universe because they are making a POINT! You can take it however you choose. Making a point sometimes has to be emphasized. The "Advanced math" was also making a point that you, the owner, (and most likely have had to deal with warranty, at some point in life, with something you've purchased) should realize that on repairs or issues like you encountered, have a very, very limited warranty, if any, when it comes to service, much less repair. This forum and many folks on here DO help in all sorts of ways. If you find my post/answer to your situation is not helpful, well, that's entirely up to you.

I and many others get the same kind of replies all the time and we handle it/them just fine.

If the folks that last "serviced" your coach, did not lube the u-joints, based on the time frame from when they did the service, and the miles you put on since, and now it breaks, of course you've have no recourse. It's obvious. Sorry if you get offended by a couple of words being emphasized but, it's a bit of norm on forums.
Scott

Scott, it is a little hard to "chill out" after our experience yesterday. Someone could have been seriously hurt or killed. Thankfully, that didn't happen. Just didn't think your post was appropriate. Judging by your loquacious response you are the one who needs to chill. Your response seemed to assume I expected reimbursement. I paid for an oil change and lube at Camping World along with a tow package. I discovered the oil change and lube did not occur. I knew I had no recourse so hence do not assume I haven't been to the rodeo. The only reason I posted about the experience was to get an idea how many others have had this issue and to inform those who may not have had this experience to check after coach being serviced. Also on social media all caps indicate shouting and are meant to denigrate.

[Dan and Ann]

Originally Posted by wildmanbaker

Dan, Scott is on several RV forums, and I have not see him attack anyone, even when he was question quite vigorously. He is a good guy and very helpful.
Jim

Glad to hear that.

[BFlinn181]

O.K., now I'm confused. In post #1 you said "We had taken our MHto a Cummins dealer to have it checked out in December including chassis lube, check engine, oil and fuel filters, etc." Now you say "I ...paid for an oil change and lube at Camping World along with a tow package. I discovered the oil change and lube did not occur." Are you saying twice you've been charged for lubrications that didn't happen? On the same vehicle?

In your latest response to Fire Up (Scott) you say, "Your response seemed to assume I expected reimbursement." Well, I also thought that's what you were asking in Post #1 when you said, "My question is do we have any recourse? One of the definitions of 'recourse' is "the legal right to demand compensation or payment."

[Dan and Ann]

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

O.K., now I'm confused. In post #1 you said "We had taken our MHto a Cummins dealer to have it checked out in December including chassis lube, check engine, oil and fuel filters, etc." Now you say "I ...paid for an oil change and lube at Camping World along with a tow package. I discovered the oil change and lube did not occur." Are you saying twice you've been charged for lubrications that didn't happen? On the same vehicle?

In your latest response to Fire Up (Scott) you say, "Your response seemed to assume I expected reimbursement." Well, I also thought that's what you were asking in Post #1 when you said, "My question is do we have any recourse? One of the definitions of 'recourse' is "the legal right to demand compensation or payment."

Yes, apparently we were charged twice for services that did not occur. The first at Camping World a while back, then at a Cummins dealer in December. Have learned we are too trusting - will check every time from now on.

And yes, we had hoped there might be a recourse, but were not expecting one and did not assume there would be one. Just hoped after being burned and disappointed that you can't trust anymore.

[brobox]

Originally Posted by CJ7365

Not sure age would come into play on a u joint, now mileage and lack of grease yes.

14 year old U joints will not be "like new" U Joints. Retainer springs break, especially if exposed to salt environment. None of us know what those U joints have been exposed to over 14 years, but they were not in "as new" condition was the reason for that statement.

After loosing a set of U joints on an 8 year old coach, shaking the drive shaft just before lubing is part of my pre-trip inspection now. I had been lubing the U Joints at 10,000 miles during chassis lube. Spartan now states the U joints are to be lubed every 5,000 miles.

[PJStough]

I am curious as to how you know the services were not performed, and when did you discover same?

[Old Scout]

This is a tough one to assess blame for. You would like to think that if you pay an expert to perform a service, you would get what you paid for--but not so. Short of crawling under the rig to verify service, you are at their mercy. Even then, it is in MHO, difficult to assess damage to these large component drivelines. Nearly impossible to induce/test for movement [wear] in joints and existence of grease at the seal ends may or may not tell the story. Think you have be thankful no one was hurt and move on with life......

[Kenaleslie]

Originally Posted by Dan and Ann

Your post certainly seems to be "ragging" on me with your comment about "advanced math" and your capitalization of words. Yes, our coach is 14 years old but only has 60,000 miles and we do our best to take good care of it. The reason I asked the question is because the tow driver and the repair person both said it looked like there was no lubrication. Yes, anything man made can break, and yes, the coach is being repaired and as I said in my original post. I thought this was a forum to help each other and your post was not very helpful.

I will agree with you on from being a bashing post rather than helping i too lost all 3 driveshafts after asking they be checked. Found out they wasnt checked or greased. Cost me $1600.00 for repairs it was a gas unit. Just read the post on this form and youll see there's a lot of rich or wont to be rich with high dollar rigs telling others how to buy a rv and what to look for in buying one while theirs is in the shop being repaired. The pay $250k up for rv and bitch when some trucker runs his engine at a rest area or wall mart. Kinda like reading a fiction novel. So read but dont take there advice most know what someone told them.

[nehog]

Originally Posted by vdubbugman53

... I have never seen an OEM U-Joint that was greasable. Just because it is greased(if it could be) doesn't mean it can't fail. Unfortunately this one is on you.

My Ambassador has greasable U joints, and slip joints. Several other heavy vehicles I've had in the past have also had them (all from the factory.)

Agreed: OP is footing the bill on this one.

[hoosierrun]

Definitely check the owners manual to see what they say about lube locations and frequency. 60,000 is early for the bearings in the joint to totally dry out to the point of failure. I am suspicious that something else caused such a failure. I hope the parts were saved so that an inspection can be made. Dried joints should show evidence of needle bearing disintegration, gouging, and blue color from extreme heat.

[Caliber]

U-joint failures are very rare, the cross rarely breaks. I have seen the shaft get twisted and tear in two , this is usually from overload, dumping the clutch or bang hard against a dock. ( I don't think anyone on this forum needs to worry about these types of damage) Failure from lube takes a while to develop and is easily found during a service. During service the mechanic needs to check the joint for looseness and make sure fresh grease purges from all 4 of the dust shields in the caps. The slip joint is also checked the same way.
There is sealed units, that don't have zerks. These first started appearing on the market around 2010. They still need to be checked for looseness.

The number 1, failure I've seen most of in my career is lack of maintenance.

The number 2, is failure to replace the strap kit on the u-joint after being removed. These are a single use only. If you ever had your RV towed, the towing company removes the drive shaft to prevent any damage during the tow. But when it is reinstalled it needs a new strap kit with bolts torqued to the proper spec's. The stamped steel strap stretches to fit the bearing cap when tighten. This is why they are single use.
Now for you guys with the big horsepower, if you have the machine strap kits, you can reuse the straps, but the bolts still need to be replaced.