Newell Gurus

We are now officially Newell classic hoarders.  We just bought coach #129 (1987, 37') in Maine and ran into a couple issues on our drive home to San Antonio.  BTW Michael, the engine is a silver 8V92 and it is mechanical, no DDEC.
As we were leaving a cramped RV park in Pennsylvania, I made a hard right turn and heard a POP and then no power steering and a few seconds later my wife informed me that there was red fluid on the ground under the coach.  The hydraulic line from the steering pump feeding the steering box had burst just over the rear air bag.  
We had the coach towed to a nearby diesel repair facility.  They said the hose burst where it apparently was rubbing on the frame and they repaired it.  We took it for a test drive and as we made a hard turn onto the shop driveway... POP again.  The same hose burst but this time up front just before the steering box.  They repaired that and then the same line burst again up front but not where the repair had been made.
They suspected that the steering pump had a relief valve that was not working and sent the pump to a "hydraulic specialist" who checked the pump over and said it looked fine but he could not see any type of pressure relief valve in the pump.  The plan is to replace all of the hydraulic hoses with true, crimped hydraulic hose (the existing appears to be a steel reinforced fabric hose) and in the process look for some type of relief valve in the system that isn't working.
I called Newell and spoke to 2 of the Jims there and they said they didn't know about an '87, but newer models have a distribution block after the pump.
Does anyone know if there is a relief valve somewhere in the steering system on '87s?  Any ideas why the hose all of the sudden is bursting over and over??  The previous owner had this coach in storage for at least a few months this summer and only drove it in the wintertime to go south.  He told us the only repair that he had done in the time he owned it (about 3 yrs) was to have the steering pump O-ring replaced because the pump was leaking a little.

Thanks for the information Dave. I appreciate it. Congrats on being a 2 Newell owner.

Isnt the relief in the steering gear box?

I don't know Richard.  Is it usually there?  I'll have them check.  Thanks.

https://www.trwaftermarket.com/globalass..._guide.pdf

Two different things to look at. The first is the "poppets" which are intended to relieve when the wheels hit the axle stops. The second is an internal relief valve. Both are mentioned in the manual.

I suspect based upon your description of the hose popping when making a sharp turn that you turned hard enough to force the steering knuckle against the stops and the poppet did not work as intended. It is entirely possible that when the o ring was replaced that the steering gears poppets were not reset. They need to be reset if the steering gear box is removed.

Wow!  Finally something that makes sense.  I was not looking forward to driving back to TX and not really knowing why the hose kept bursting and just replacing it and hoping.
Thanks again for all your advise Richard!

In your initial description, you said the hydraulic line burst over the bag. I think Richard experienced something similar and it caused premature air bag failure. Is that true Richard?

My situation with the bag was a long term unnoticed leak from a hose going to the rear slideout. The long term exposure to the fluid degraded the rubber in the bag

Richard, the mechanic just emailed me and stated he was aware of the relief valves in steering boxes related to the stops but that all boxes differ in adjustments.  He asked if I knew where to find specific adjustment procedures for this box.

Send him the link in my first reply