02-27-2020, 06:51 AM
Gurus,
When last we heard from our hero, Newell had installed tie rod and drag link ends. You can read the rest of the story, but the bottom line is that the coach now drives great. Not just ok...but really, really good. So good that I was able to drive 13 hours back to Auburn. Before, I would have been toast after 5-6 hours of sawing the steering wheel.
Newell had aligned the coach, but I had not driven the coach. The machine said .03 degrees toe in on each wheel giving a total toe in of .06 degrees.
When I took for a test drive, the coach drove BAD! I mean the evil kinda bad. It would drive straight for a while and then make a strong pull for the ditch. Other times it would want to drive in the other lane...you know where the oncoming traffic is.
Newell put the coach back on the machine and found that the toe in was now a negative 0.1 degree. This means the wheels are now “towed out”....like duck feet.
The Newell guys think that it was a combination of an airbag leaking on the rear drive (another story) causing the ride height to be off....and the fact that the ball joints were brand new and had not broken in.
Once the toe-in was set again (.03 + .03) I test drove again. Second time was the charm.
The coach now drives like a big ole Cadillac. I can go down the highway with one hand on the wheel. I can easily pass trucks and not worry about wobbling too close to them. My normal speed in the coach is around 65. But on the way back, I looked down and I was doing 75mph. No sawing, no stress, just enjoying the view out the front window.
I would recommend having the ball joints done at Newell...but if you find yourself somewhere else, be sure to pay attention to make sure your coach height control valves are set perfectly. Mine were set at 11.5” measured at the frame in the wheel well. The geometry of the front end means that the toe will vary with the height of the coach.
Complicating the height issue is the fact that the HCVs have a hysteresis. In other words, they will settle into a different height depending on if the coach was too high or too low. The best procedure (and the one that Newell followed) was to drop the coach all the way down...then use shop air to allow it to come up to travel height.
Lessons Learned:
1. When you get an alignment, be sure to road test. If you feel something weird (Like the coach wanting to dive into the ditch)...take it back and figure out what changed.
2. Pay attention to your ride height especially in the front. It really has a huge affect on the front steering geometry.
3. I said it before and I will say it again. If your coach is more than 10-15 years old and you have not looked at the ball joints, do yourself a favor and put that on the list.
Cheers,
Bill
Ps. To save you the time from looking up all the old posts to see what I have done to make coach drive better. I will list them in descending order of what I think made the biggest difference. Your mileage may vary.
1. Remove the rag-joint in the steering column. (You may or may not have a rag joint)
2. Replace tie rod and drag link ball joints (6 total) and align.
3. Add Rear sway bar / repair broken front sway bar.
4. New shocks all the way around. (Not road-king...just plain ole truck shocks)
5. Fresh tires - more for ride than steering
Along the way, my steering box slack adjustment was set...but I am not sure how much that helped.
When last we heard from our hero, Newell had installed tie rod and drag link ends. You can read the rest of the story, but the bottom line is that the coach now drives great. Not just ok...but really, really good. So good that I was able to drive 13 hours back to Auburn. Before, I would have been toast after 5-6 hours of sawing the steering wheel.
Newell had aligned the coach, but I had not driven the coach. The machine said .03 degrees toe in on each wheel giving a total toe in of .06 degrees.
When I took for a test drive, the coach drove BAD! I mean the evil kinda bad. It would drive straight for a while and then make a strong pull for the ditch. Other times it would want to drive in the other lane...you know where the oncoming traffic is.
Newell put the coach back on the machine and found that the toe in was now a negative 0.1 degree. This means the wheels are now “towed out”....like duck feet.
The Newell guys think that it was a combination of an airbag leaking on the rear drive (another story) causing the ride height to be off....and the fact that the ball joints were brand new and had not broken in.
Once the toe-in was set again (.03 + .03) I test drove again. Second time was the charm.
The coach now drives like a big ole Cadillac. I can go down the highway with one hand on the wheel. I can easily pass trucks and not worry about wobbling too close to them. My normal speed in the coach is around 65. But on the way back, I looked down and I was doing 75mph. No sawing, no stress, just enjoying the view out the front window.
I would recommend having the ball joints done at Newell...but if you find yourself somewhere else, be sure to pay attention to make sure your coach height control valves are set perfectly. Mine were set at 11.5” measured at the frame in the wheel well. The geometry of the front end means that the toe will vary with the height of the coach.
Complicating the height issue is the fact that the HCVs have a hysteresis. In other words, they will settle into a different height depending on if the coach was too high or too low. The best procedure (and the one that Newell followed) was to drop the coach all the way down...then use shop air to allow it to come up to travel height.
Lessons Learned:
1. When you get an alignment, be sure to road test. If you feel something weird (Like the coach wanting to dive into the ditch)...take it back and figure out what changed.
2. Pay attention to your ride height especially in the front. It really has a huge affect on the front steering geometry.
3. I said it before and I will say it again. If your coach is more than 10-15 years old and you have not looked at the ball joints, do yourself a favor and put that on the list.
Cheers,
Bill
Ps. To save you the time from looking up all the old posts to see what I have done to make coach drive better. I will list them in descending order of what I think made the biggest difference. Your mileage may vary.
1. Remove the rag-joint in the steering column. (You may or may not have a rag joint)
2. Replace tie rod and drag link ball joints (6 total) and align.
3. Add Rear sway bar / repair broken front sway bar.
4. New shocks all the way around. (Not road-king...just plain ole truck shocks)
5. Fresh tires - more for ride than steering
Along the way, my steering box slack adjustment was set...but I am not sure how much that helped.
Bill Johnson
Birmingham, Alabama