Community Forums

Unicorn Driver · 03-21-2018, 07:15 PM

Hi all,

Today I took my 2005 Damon Daybreak out for its first deive since October.

After jumping the battery using the emergency start all was fine. I got out on the road and noticed the steering was pulling very heavily to the right. It was not wind related. After a few miles it went back to normal, so much so it tracked straight with my hands of the wheel, before that it felt like it was heading for the ditch.

I thought maybe something was frozen in the wheel or steering.

Any ideas?

WinnieView · 03-21-2018, 07:32 PM

Could it have been an air pocket in the power steering pump?

TeJay · 03-21-2018, 07:41 PM

Hi,

Since I know where you live I'd bet on setting some of the winter and having a steering joint kind of seize up temporarily. It's not uncommon for today's so called technicians to not always assure that grease is getting into a lubrication point. The F-53 chassis has 9 grease points and if the rig was neglected as far as having the chassis lubed maybe a lube grease fitting was stopped up and got neglected.

To assure that grease is getting in especially on the king pins (very much like a door hinge) A good technician always wants to see some of the new grease pumped through and out.

Second guess!! Do you know the history regarding the front wheel bearings???? Have they been serviced since you bought the RV??? The front wheel bearings are serviced around 60.000 miles if I'm correct. That is an area where one could have dried out and was more difficult to turn causing the drag and resultant pull to the right. Since you were in Lost Wages, NV last October (I think) I doubt it would be a wheel bearing but it is possible.

My guess is a frozen king pin. Find a decent truck shop that knows how to do a correct chassis lubrication and tell the tech what you experienced. My guess is he'll find a king pin that is either slow or won't take grease at all. That won't cost you to much $$$$$$$. Let me know what you find, Thanks!!!

Unicorn Driver · 03-21-2018, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2008Seneca

Could it have been an air pocket in the power steering pump?

Hi Seneca,

I will get that checked out.

Unicorn Driver · 03-21-2018, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TeJay

Hi,

Since I know where you live I'd bet on setting some of the winter and having a steering joint kind of seize up temporarily. It's not uncommon for today's so called technicians to not always assure that grease is getting into a lubrication point. The F-53 chassis has 9 grease points and if the rig was neglected as far as having the chassis lubed maybe a lube grease fitting was stopped up and got neglected.

To assure that grease is getting in especially on the king pins (very much like a door hinge) A good technician always wants to see some of the new grease pumped through and out.

Second guess!! Do you know the history regarding the front wheel bearings???? Have they been serviced since you bought the RV??? The front wheel bearings are serviced around 60.000 miles if I'm correct. That is an area where one could have dried out and was more difficult to turn causing the drag and resultant pull to the right. Since you were in Lost Wages, NV last October (I think) I doubt it would be a wheel bearing but it is possible.

My guess is a frozen king pin. Find a decent truck shop that knows how to do a correct chassis lubrication and tell the tech what you experienced. My guess is he'll find a king pin that is either slow or won't take grease at all. That won't cost you to much $$$$$$$. Let me know what you find, Thanks!!!

Hi Tejay,

Good to hear from you.

I was thinking it was winter related.

I am due to get it in for a service and oil change in the next 2 weeks. I doubt the wheel bearings have been checked as it only has 41k on the clock.

Will report back,

Cheers,

twinboat · 03-21-2018, 08:42 PM

You had a dragging brake. You will need to lube the caliper slides.

That's one of the few things that will make it pull.

A pull is caused by one wheel not rolling as freely as the other.

A very low tire or bad wheel bearing will also cause a pull, but not clear up after driving a while.

Steering pump problems and or frozen steering parts will make for stiff steering. It could make you drive to the right but would not cause the steering wheel to pull to the right.

If the steering was tight and was drifting to the right, a turn by you, to the left would make it then stick to the left.

With steering, both wheels are connected and moving together.

Unicorn Driver · 03-21-2018, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinboat

You had a dragging brake. You will need to lube the caliper slides.

That's one of the few things that will make it pull.

A pull is caused by one wheel not rolling as freely as the other.

A very low tire or bad wheel bearing will also cause a pull, but not clear up after driving a while.

Steering pump problems and or frozen steering parts will make for stiff steering. It could make you drive to the right but would not cause the steering wheel to pull to the right.

If the steering was tight and was drifting to the right, a turn by you, to the left would make it then stick to the left.

With steering, both wheels are connected and moving together.

Thanks Twinboat,

I will get that checked out.

Thanks,

Chevelle427 · 03-22-2018, 05:57 AM

I would start with tire condition.
Then start looking elsewhere .
Dragging brake is common also

1998 BOUNDER owner

marjoa · 03-22-2018, 06:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinboat

You had a dragging brake. You will need to lube the caliper slides.

That's one of the few things that will make it pull.

A pull is caused by one wheel not rolling as freely as the other.

A very low tire or bad wheel bearing will also cause a pull, but not clear up after driving a while.

Steering pump problems and or frozen steering parts will make for stiff steering. It could make you drive to the right but would not cause the steering wheel to pull to the right.

If the steering was tight and was drifting to the right, a turn by you, to the left would make it then stick to the left.

With steering, both wheels are connected and moving together.

Hey TB,

Could it also maybe be a delaminated rubber brake line which causes the line to collapse when you let up on the brakes? His coach is going on 13yrs. old.

twinboat · 03-22-2018, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marjoa

Hey TB,

Could it also maybe be a delaminated rubber brake line which causes the line to collapse when you let up on the brakes? His coach is going on 13yrs. old.

That is another good possibility but usually not self correcting.

The problem appeared after long term storage and went away while driving, leading me to suspecting a rusted caliper slide or a stuck caliper piston.

TeJay · 03-22-2018, 09:00 AM

twinboat, a stuck caliper was my third possible cause but when I finished with the second cause I forgot the third. Good catch. The RV and owner do live in the rust belt and winter salt is awful. They did just come back from a trip in October and maybe the salty travels home added to the mix. Man I hated what the salt did to our vehicles.

Waiter21 · 03-22-2018, 11:21 AM

self correcting tends to lead my to believe a stuck caliper that became unstuck.

Next time you service the brakes, consider replacing the hoses, also re-pack and inspect the bearings. This is all on my list for this spring.. Re-pack, new pads, new hoses.

Chevelle427 · 03-22-2018, 11:31 AM

When we bought ours a frount wheel went to smoking, it never locked up
But after it got towed to 2 shops it had cooled down they found nothing wrong but some rust.
We went on home (70 miles) no issues .
I did change out both flex hose ,calibers, brakes, berrings on bad side, as of today no issues.

triplewide · 03-23-2018, 03:11 AM

My vote would be caliper sticking, have had this issue on other older vehicles.

I had a loose steering damper cause pulling. It would slip off neutral point when turning wheel hard while backing and maneuvering to get out of garage, then it would pop back to neutral when driving. Should be able to hear noise if this is the culprit.