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Possible source of steering play in 2003 coach
#1

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Gurus,

Before you read this post, read the related thread regarding play in the steering gear.

I just got back from Richard Entrekin's house.  One of the things we talked about was the amount of play in my steering.  We discussed the u-joints as a possible source of play (as described in previous post).   The rest of this post will walk you through our efforts and may present an opportunity if your steering gear is like mine.

If you have steering slop caused by the universal joints, it is most apparent by feeling the u-joints with the steering shaft removed.  Alternatively you can hold the upper u-joint in one hand and rock the steering wheel withe the other.  You are trying to feel a mechanical "lash" or looseness.  If you have looseness, it could be the u-joints bolts are loose or the bearings in the u-joints are worn.

We were trying  this technique on my coach when we noticed something truly puzzling.  When we turned the wheel, the boot moved!  The movement of the steering wheel should result in the steering shaft rotating only...not moving left and right.  

   

We blocked up the coach and Richard crawled under and removed the bolt holding the lower U-joint to the steering gear box.  I removed the screws holding the boot and undid the top bold and then  pulled the steering shaft up through the hole in the floor.

   

Before I explain what we found, let's review how the steering column does it's thing...

   

The steering wheel is fixed and only allowed to rotate.  The steering gear box is also fixed.  Between the steering wheel and the steering gear box there is a shaft with a u-joint on either end.   SO, IF BOTH ENDS ARE FIXED, THERE SHOULD NOT BE ANY MOVEMENT IN SHAFT OTHER THAN ROTATION.  The Steering gear box converts the rotational input to a front-back movement via the Pitman arm.  The Pitman arm connects to the driver's wheel via a drag link.  On my coach the rest of the steering gear seemed to be tight, but what about that weird thing right above the lower u-joint?

   

SOURCE OF STEERING SLOP

That is called a "Rag" joint and is used to dampen road vibration.  From the factory it has almost no "twist"...but after 250,000 miles, it has developed twist, twirl, shimmy and shake.  In other words it is LOOSE!  Richard and I tried to find a replacement but came up empty.   Rag Joint Wiki

HOW TO DE-WOBBLE A LOOSE RAG JOINT

Richard added a small steel plate to the top of the rag joint.  In the following picture, it is easy to see the steel plate.  (Richard later cut off the corners so that it would fit back through the hole in the floor).  

   

This removes all of the play from the rag joint.  It also reduces the effectiveness of the road rumble damping, but it is a small price to pay for the gain in steering precision.

We reinstalled the steering shaft and verified that all the bolts were tight.  

RESULT

The results were simply amazing!  Before when a big truck passed me, I would have to "saw" on the wheel to maintain my position in the lane.  Now, I can use one hand with no "sawing" to hold my position.    The coach is far, far more stable. 

DO YOU HAVE THE RAG JOINT?

To see if this fix will work for you, block your coach.  Take a bright light and look above the steering gear box.  If you have a "rag" joint, you may very well have this problem.  

     

Thanks to Richard and others for the previous work on figuring out loose steering.   This is simply another piece of the puzzle.

Bill Johnson
Birmingham, Alabama
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#2

Nice writeup, will help someone in the future.

I think the "rag" joint was a feature on that column to act as a vibration absorber. As Bill said, the years took it's toll on the rubber stiffness. It was now a worn out wet dish rag joint.

Richard and Rhonda Entrekin
99 Newell, 512
Maverick Hybrid Toad
Inverness, FL (when we're home Cool )
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