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Breakaway Steering box
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Supporting Member of Barthmobile.com 03/08
"First Year of Inception" Membership Club
Picture of Eric Herrle
posted
The steering box on my 93 Breakaway is leaking P/S fluid all over the place, engine on or off any suggestions?
 
Posts: 216 | Location: Kailua Kona, HI & E. Waterboro, ME | Member Since: 06-27-2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Supporting Member of Barthmobile.com 03/22
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Seems to be a common problem, I had to have mine rebuilt. It is the main seal on the output shaft that gives up and yes it will leak with the engine on or off. It cost me $400 for the rebuild and I did the removal and installation.

Make sure that if you do a rebuild that it goes to a well known shop. I have to take mine back as it started to leak again and they will cover everything this time.


Ed
94 30' Breakaway #3864
30-BS-6B side entry
New Cummins 5.9L, 375+ HP
Allison 6 speed
Spartan chassis
K9DVC
Tankless water heater
 
Posts: 2177 | Location: Los Gatos, CA | Member Since: 12-08-2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Supporting Member of Barthmobile.com 03/08
"First Year of Inception" Membership Club
Picture of Eric Herrle
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Thanks for the advise. Have you had any problems with sticking brakes? just curious.
 
Posts: 216 | Location: Kailua Kona, HI & E. Waterboro, ME | Member Since: 06-27-2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Supporting Member of Barthmobile.com 03/22
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Yes I did when I first bought the Barth! When the previous work done on the calipers the mechanic did not lubricate the sliders and the calipers were bound up tight! So much so that the non sliding brake pad was worn nearly out and the bound up side was almost new. If you were to disassemble the calipers and clean all the corrosion off and lub the sliders, you notice a much improved braking function and no more brake drag.

Make sure that you flush and bleed the brake system fluid while you are at it, mine had never been done as far as I can tell, badly discolored fluid, lots of air also.

HTH


Ed
94 30' Breakaway #3864
30-BS-6B side entry
New Cummins 5.9L, 375+ HP
Allison 6 speed
Spartan chassis
K9DVC
Tankless water heater
 
Posts: 2177 | Location: Los Gatos, CA | Member Since: 12-08-2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Ed mine leaks as well a little and I got underneath and looked and that looks like a tuff job. Is there any special tools required to do this ? Maybe think you could give a brief explaination how do this ?


92 Barth 30' breakaway
5.9 Cummins
4 speed Allison
Dana 80
Basement Air
 
Posts: 47 | Location: nevada,tx,collin | Member Since: 09-11-2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Supporting Member of Barthmobile.com 2/16
Captain Doom
Picture of Rusty
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It may not be as tough as it looks. On mine, the Saginaw 710 is bolted to the front axle by four bolts. Only those bolts and the linkage would have to be removed.

If I had to do that (which I haven't), I'd remove the linkage at the end of the Pitman arm, rather than removing the Pitman arm itself. But then, I have a variety of ball-joint separators, so for me it's no big deal (especially since my steering box works perfectly and I don't have to mess with anything).

Anyway, you would need an air compressor, husky impact wrench, and sturdy ball-joint separator to pull the thing apart*. Forget the ball-joint separators that use a hammer to wedge the connections apart. Nothing good can come of them....

* You may have room to get a long-arm ratchet drive into the space, but I'd guess that you'd need an 18" 1/2" drive with a manhelper to break the nuts loose.


Rusty


MilSpec AMG 6.5L TD 230HP; built-to-order by Peninsular Engines:  Hi-pop injectors, gear-driven camshaft, non-waste-gated, high-output turbo, 18:1 pistons.  Fuel economy increased by 15-20%, power, WOW!"StaRV II"

'94 28' Breakaway: MilSpec AMG 6.5L TD 230HP

Nelson and Chester, not-spoiled Golden Retrievers

Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not.
In either case the idea is quite staggering.
- Arthur C. Clarke

It was a woman who drove me to drink, and I've been searching thirty years to find her and thank her - W. C. Fields
 
Posts: 7734 | Location: Brooker, FL, USA | Member Since: 09-08-2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Supporting Member of Barthmobile.com 03/22
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I did not remove any ball joints, I marked the input shaft with a center punch to make sure that I could get the shaft line up correctly on re-assembly, loosened the big bolt on the piman arm that clamps the arm to the output shaft and used chisel to spread the seam a bit, it slid right off. The I removed the hoses and used rubber glove fingers over the hose ends to keep dirt out (and oil in) then removed the attachment bolts (3) that hold the box to the flat plate. Not real bad and as Rust says a impact wrench will help a lot. Reassemble in the reverse of this.

One thing that I noticed on my coach was that the input drive shaft was about 1/2 inch to long and was bottoming out at the slide joint at the front of the shaft. I cut 3/4 inch out of the drive shaft and welded it up again, now I can get full motion of the axle and the steering driveline doesn't bind up.

HTH


Ed
94 30' Breakaway #3864
30-BS-6B side entry
New Cummins 5.9L, 375+ HP
Allison 6 speed
Spartan chassis
K9DVC
Tankless water heater
 
Posts: 2177 | Location: Los Gatos, CA | Member Since: 12-08-2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Supporting Member of Barthmobile.com 03/08
"First Year of Inception" Membership Club
Picture of Eric Herrle
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Thanks for the advise. I'll take it out next week and see what to do next. I did find a complete rebuild kit for it for $49.00, maybe i'll try it.
 
Posts: 216 | Location: Kailua Kona, HI & E. Waterboro, ME | Member Since: 06-27-2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Supporting Member of Barthmobile.com 03/22
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Well, I have replaced the steering box again, this one is MUCH better in steering response, no leaks, something wasn't put together right when they rebuilt it. I am a happy camper now. :+)

I also have replaced the rear tires with new Bridgestones in preparation for next week's trip to Houston TX. I know, wrong time to go South, but, will try to make the best of the trip.


Ed
94 30' Breakaway #3864
30-BS-6B side entry
New Cummins 5.9L, 375+ HP
Allison 6 speed
Spartan chassis
K9DVC
Tankless water heater
 
Posts: 2177 | Location: Los Gatos, CA | Member Since: 12-08-2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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