Play in steering wheel

tropical36 wrote:

Just sold a gas coach, not long ago and with one of the people who came to look at it, insisted that it had play in the steering wheel, which was not the case at all.....

There is play due to loose parts or excessive wear.....which tends to show up at ALL speeds, even 0 MPH, and then there is "wandering" or not maintaining a track.

Most people who have never driven big straight trucks and vans will characterize both conditions as "loose steering" or "play".

The second situation, that of wandering at speed is most often caused by improper inflation, improper alignment, improper loading and in some cases even the tread pattern.

bkruschel wrote:
We have a 2000 Coachmen Catalina Class A motorhome that has play in the steering wheel.
The chassis is a ford triton V10. Does anyone know if this is something I can correct, or do I need to take it to a ford dealer?

Just sold a gas coach, not long ago and with one of the people who came to look at it, insisted that it had play in the steering wheel, which was not the case at all and the more I think about it, I believe that this person was comparing it to a car with rack and pinion steering and not something with a steering box.... :R
Just saying and since you didn't give much, in the way of particulars. In fact, you could be the one, for all I know and since I'm not far from you at all.... :)

wa8yxm wrote:
It may be adjustable but first a question
How are you measuring the play?
If you mean it seems "loose" driving down the road, you may need a device called a Track Bar.. I did (Different chassis) Explanation follows

IF it is "loose" sitting still.. Then there may be an adjustemet (Steering pre-load) I will not, however, tell you how to mess it up.


Track Bars
I remember badck when they first started making PIckups with "Independent front suspension" they yammered about the improvement in the ride, but the real improvement was in handling. YOu see with IFS each half axle is connected to the frame, NO sidewise movement over the axles is possible

Same with McPhreason Strut used on most cars (Coil spring suspension) there is a radius arm which makes sure the axle does not move about under the vehicle or rather the vehicle over the axle

But with a solid axle and leaf springs the body of the vehicle can move side to side over the axle,, Not much,, but a little.. Just enough to make you THINK you need to compensate,, Then the ends swap and you need to compensate the other way (only you don't)

The Trac Bar locks the body squarely over the axile, stops this "Wagging" dead in it's tracts.

+1. Best improvement I ever did to ours.

It may be adjustable but first a question
How are you measuring the play?
If you mean it seems "loose" driving down the road, you may need a device called a Track Bar.. I did (Different chassis) Explanation follows

IF it is "loose" sitting still.. Then there may be an adjustemet (Steering pre-load) I will not, however, tell you how to mess it up.


Track Bars
I remember badck when they first started making PIckups with "Independent front suspension" they yammered about the improvement in the ride, but the real improvement was in handling. YOu see with IFS each half axle is connected to the frame, NO sidewise movement over the axles is possible

Same with McPhreason Strut used on most cars (Coil spring suspension) there is a radius arm which makes sure the axle does not move about under the vehicle or rather the vehicle over the axle

But with a solid axle and leaf springs the body of the vehicle can move side to side over the axle,, Not much,, but a little.. Just enough to make you THINK you need to compensate,, Then the ends swap and you need to compensate the other way (only you don't)

The Trac Bar locks the body squarely over the axile, stops this "Wagging" dead in it's tracts.

1968mooney wrote:
Get under the MH and have someone rock the steering wheel back and forth gently. You should be able to see any lost motion in the linkages.

I'll second that.

K Charles wrote:
I wouldn't use any after market addons until you fixed what's wrong.

That kind of depends on the mileage.

And you can ALWAYS find a shop that will tell you that the whole front end needs to be replaced first......whether that is true or not.

When I was researching the + caster modification for mine, I visited 4 truck alignment shops in my area. One told me I needed about $2,000 in "repairs" before the caster adjustment could be made.

The other 3 told me that there was NO UNUSUAL WEAR; two of them didn't have a big enough bay. One did and it worked out great.

P.S. This is an "addon" only because the original Ford design didn't leave enough adjustment for this kind of application. It is a well known problem in the RV industry and the fix is widely accepted.

Get under the MH and have someone rock the steering wheel back and forth gently. You should be able to see any lost motion in the linkages.

I wouldn't use any after market addons until you fixed what's wrong. It's 15 years old, steering box play, tie rod parts or a front end alignment might make a big difference.

Alignment shop.

Harvard wrote:
Too little + caster can manifest itself as loose steering and wandering at highway speeds.

+1