Several weeks ago I made a post in " alignment" and stated "THE TOY" might get a SteerSafe for Christmas. Ed(MWrench)suggested checking the king Pins, that a SteerSafe might not cure my steering problem. Since moving back to Florida, I found a super mechanic who got this old man down on a creeper( tough to get me up) and showed me what was wrong. We agreed to rebuild the front end,Tie rods, etc., replace all shocks and an alignment. The slight air leak was spooky to me(the air valves and chambers had 18 years of corrosion)so I had the air system replaced. Since I'm not a DIY'guy, this was a bit pricey, but the results far exceeded my expectations. The ride, handling steering and enjoyment is worth every penny. So my sincere thanks to ED(MWrench) for steering me in the right direction.................PS. The brakes have a whole new feel, positive and so smoooth.............................

I can imagine, Carl. During my pre-westcoast-excursion inspection at Complete Truck Repair, one of the defects they found was the steering gear having loose mounting bolts. Having that taken care of made a noticeable improvement in handling. Before it had been sort of vague. Worse yet, there had been a couple times when the loose front end had gone into a scary oscillation, shaking the steering wheel and almost causing my pants to be soiled
So, your complete steering/suspension overhaul must have practically turned back the clock twenty years.

Front end check should be top of the list for any old coach. I was pleased to find mine in pretty good shape for 85,000 miles. The shocks were upgraded to Bilsteins before I got it. All components were fairly tight, no alignment problems.

I did replace the front antisway bar with a heavier Hellwig bar, with excellent results. The sway bar made a BIG difference.

Florida calls to me...

Steve, I recall something on here about beefing up the shock mounts if installing Bilstiens. Was yours done? My front anti sway is really beefy, but I don't know what kind it is. I also have a damper shock, which is pretty stiff.
Shocks and bags are in the future for me, but I'm not sure about Bilstiens because of the mounts.
If you make the left side of Florida give us a holler.

quote:

Originally posted by Danny Z:
Steve, I recall something on here about beefing up the shock mounts if installing Bilstiens. I'm not sure about Bilstiens because of the mounts.

There is an issue with Bilsteins on the rear of some GM P series chassis, but nothing up front that I know of. They have been good for me for over ten years.

Thanks, Bill. Danny had me concerned because Carl has the same chassis mine.

The Spartan chasses don't have the shock mount issue.

I didn't look look that closely at the rear mounts but I'm fairly sure the front mounts were not modified. The shocks were installed by a PO at unknown time but have about 25,000 miles at least from the last PO.

Bags are easy to change. Don't know how big a difference they make. (When I got the coach one side was flat. Replaced both, aired up to spec pressure, haven't touched since.)