Holiday Rambler Endeavor 10 Degree Slop In Steering

[lloydfry]

Driving the RV is very tiring because I am constantly correcting - it seems to have a 10 degree slop in the steering. The coach only has 13, 000 miles on it. Has anyone else had this problem and if so, how did you fix it.

[wolfe10]

lloydfry,

Welcome to the FMCA Forum.

What chassis you you have?

Have you identified whether the play is in the steering box or linkage? If not, easily done. Have a helper (engine off) turn the wheel side to side/back and forth while you look for any linkage between steering box and right tire that have play. If none there, it is in the steering box. Some HD steering boxes are adjustable, many are not. What brand and model steering box do you have?

[campcop]

With only 13k on the MH, I would suspect, front alignment, weight distribution and proper tire inflation....especially if this is a F53 chassis.

[Walt2137]

Sounds like he is talking about a post 2000 Endeavor if so Monaco only used two steering gear that I am aware of TRW that is adjustable and Sheppard that is not and I would suspect that if it is a Sheppard it will be M100 if after 2000.

[tcolburn]

Also, if the king pins have not been lubricated, the steering can be tight enough to require constant correction. I encountered this condition on our previous MH. Thought the steering was loose; took the coach to a truck alignment shop, where the technician advised me that because of the way the Steer Safe unit had been installed, the grease fittings were inaccessible. Since the king pins had not been lubricated, the front wheels would take a "set" and would require extra input from the steering wheel to change their direction even a little bit. This felt like loose steering and maybe poor alignment but the technician caught it right away.

I reinstalled the Steer Safe correctly (a pretty easy job, by the way) and pumped a bunch of fresh grease into the newly-accessible fittings. Made a huge difference in steering feel and responsiveness!

Interestingly, for convenience I had earlier had the coach serviced (oil change and lube) at an RV dealer, and they not only failed to lube the king pins, they never even mentioned the problem to me. So I learned (again) how important it is to check after anyone works on one's vehicle, and in fact how easy it can be just to do some things oneself!

Good luck in your quest!

--Tim

[dickandlois]

Sounds like he is talking about a post 2000 Endeavor if so Monaco only used two steering gear that I am aware of TRW that is adjustable and Sheppard that is not and I would suspect that if it is a Sheppard it will be M100 if after 2000.

Not knowing the year of the chassis, think that Sheppard had some issues with the M-100 steering system at one point in time.

Rich.

[lloydfry]

I had two truck and car repair shops who have a good reputation- they checked the alignment and both said it was OK. I called a company in Columbus, Ohio who rebuilds Shepard gear boxes and they said there was no adjustment on Shepard gear boxes. I read where Shepard and TRW were both used on Monaco Endeavors. What I need to know, will a TRW fit the same bolt pattern?

The chassis is a Freightliner. I really thank all for trying to help. This rv was a hand full in a 15 knot wind on our return trip from Florida to Ohio on the 1st of April.

Lloyd

[wolfe10]

Lloyd,

No first hand experience with this company, but a couple of very knowledgeable RV suspension guys recommend this company in Seattle for blue-printing the Sheppard box to remove play. One even bought a brand new Sheppard box and had them blue-print it for stock:

http://www.redheadsteeringgears.com/