Over a period of time the luxury of enjoyable driving deminishes as the steering gets sloppy. After moving from Florida to Tennessee, the drive up I-75 resulted in replacing the pittman arms. This had an improvement but still left something to be desired. About a month ago, getting ready for another season,I replaced the front tires and had a complete alignment done(the other six tires are 2003).Although this made an additional improvememt there still remainded that squissy feeling when an 18 wheeler passed you. A couple of years ago there were several posts about "bell cranks" and having no experience about their use I passed them by. Recently,I had an E-Mail discussion with Roy Wilson(Olroy) and Bill H about the virtues of bell cranks. To quote Olroy "not cheap but they tighten up the steering noticeably". Camping World has a sale $279.00 ea.+ $1.00 shipping for both.Today I had them installed and had the front end realigned to the bell crank specs. Went down to I-40 and cruised at 60/65 MPH and as 18 wheelers passed at 70+ MPH it was sheer joy. I would recommend installing bell cranks even if you think you don't need them. A sincere thanks to Olroy & Bill H,now I can put "THE TOY" on cruise control (it works)and then go lay on the sofa and take my senior nap.......carl

"THE TOY" 88 33' Regal SE Coach #3448

Glad you got 'er done, Carl. Not sure I'm ready to put it on cruise & take a nap, but they do reduce white-knuckling by a substantial factor - as you discovered. IMHO, they're well worth the price.

Hey Carl glad the bell cranks fit your Barth. I inquired about them for my Barth MCC and was told they don't have them for the MCC. I have an appointment with Camping World to install Safe-T-Plus to help firm mine up. I also had a steering part replaced and had to order it from Les(motorhome restorations).
Anyone have any comments about the Safe-T-Plus?
Carl let me know when you are leaving as Barb & I are planning a trip up your way for our grandsons graduation. I'll e-mail you our approx. times.

Who services your TOY? I would question the fact that the alignment shop and the service people never caught the loose bell crank arms.

I'm glad you found the problem on your own and hope others can learn from this. I'm sure others here are saying "I think I'll check that out".

Bill NY: My 1st alignment after purchasing "THE TOY" obviously wasn't a good one. After a long time and only a few miles later,I decided to escape the nightmare of code restrictions of Cape Coral,FL and move to Tennessee. The trip up I-75 proved worn pittman arms. After getting settled in Cookeville I found a shop to make the repairs. Due to Mary's declining health I was in no hurry till this spring to get the new tires and alignment. However, this did not give me the million dollar Prevose ride I expected,hence the "Bell Cranks"and the realignment. Now I'm willing to go up against the best of them and I'll "Giterdun"

Jim and Barb: I'll send you an E-mail of my schedule. If Mary can do a few extra miles I want to stop and see Windsor Dalrymple in
Lancaster Pa and time permitting, stop at Jay Teasley's on the way home. Let me know when you are coming to Cookeville....you'll love it

"THE TOY" 88 33' Regal SE Coach #3448

If the rest of the steering/suspension systems are up to snuff, replacing worn bellcrank supports DOES make a BIG difference.

In my case, the bearing style Henderson units were viewed as a nice-to-have, but not a have-to-have. My 28 year old, 75k mi, P-30/32 unit has had a lot of love, sweat and money thrown at it to keep it dependable & safe, but realistically it's probably exceeded it's half life, so I need to careful I don't engage in overkill when I replace higher dollar parts.

The classified ad section in FMCA's magazine usually lists a vendor who sells OEM style (bushings) bellcrank supports for P-30/32, at a cost of about 1/2-2/3 of Hendersons. With modest use, they should last me for many years to come. These might be an alternative for other P-30/32 owners out here......

I'll also put in a plug for the SafeSteer system, that elephant trap/garage door spring looking device. I recently added it, mainly for peace of mind regarding tracking after a catastophic blow-out. But after a recent 1700 mile trip, I'm convinced it also significantly improved overall tracking and dealing with the bow wave of passing 18-wheelers....must have something to do with 400 lbs of tension preload in the straight ahead position.....At any rate, one of my better investments, right up there with the poly swaybar bushings......

I will second Lee's plug on Steer Safe. The improvement was not as dramatic as the Henderson bellcrank arm supports, but they are good should you have a front blowout. http://www.steersafe.com/howdoesitwork.htm

Continuing the front blowout thought..... I tend to go overkill on safety, so we also have Tyron bands. www.tyron.com