Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 25, 2025 ...

Steering box leak

October 14, 2013, 06:17:02 pm

I looked for as much as I could find on this topic but ...
When we bought our coach (2001 U320) the PO said he had recently had the seals on the steering box replaced.  100 miles later and our first night out on the way home there was two 2-3" drip spots under the dr side front where the box is.  The bottom pan in that compartment had a light coating of oli and the leaks were from the corners of the pan.  The box itself had an oil slick on it.  The trip home saw a few more smaller spots under the coach.  I put a couple cups of oil dry in the pan.  It sort of migrates around the pan over time.  About half of it has some oil soaked into it maybe up from the pan or from new drips.  If I keep pushing the oil dry into the corner under the steering box most of it seems to stay dry.  I don't see any dripping underneath the coach anymore.

At FOT last winter they looked at it but did nothing.  I don't know where it is leaking.  The box is still coated with a bit of oil.

Is this high pressure hydraulic fluid?  Should I have it inspected and seals replaced again?  I'm worried that we will be somewhere where fixing it will be very difficult. 

Roger

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Re: Steering box leak

Reply #1 – October 14, 2013, 06:36:16 pm

Mine gave up leaking big time while at FOT CG, the front end man fixed up $450.00 about, no issue since, that has been 10,000 + miles ago.

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Re: Steering box leak

Reply #2 – October 14, 2013, 06:40:42 pm

Roger,

Yes, this is high pressure hydraulic-- that is why steering effort is so reasonable.

First thing to do is verify that you do have  a gap between the axle stop on the steering knuckle and the axle on full steering wheel turns.  Takes no tools to verify this-- just someone to to turn the wheel with the engine going and someone to look for the gap. 1/8" is the very minimum clearance. 

If no clearance (i.e. the steering knuckle axle stop can contact the axle-- metal to metal) hydraulic pressures sky rocket and will surely blow seals. 

And even the adjustment is easy-- small standard screwdriver on the small screw on the bottom and top of the Sheppard M100 box.  Screwing IN lessens steering cut angle, OUT increases cut angle.  Top screw does one direction/bottom the other-- sorry don't remember which does which, but turning either a full turn will show you which direction is affected.

Brett

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Re: Steering box leak

Reply #3 – October 14, 2013, 08:17:28 pm

Thanks Brett,  I can check the stop clearances.  If those are OK (or adjusted to be OK) then what?  I was thinking that I should clean off the steering box so I can see where it might be leaking and clean out the tray and put in some new oil dry.  Maybe all the original leaking was from the last seal change (not likely).  If the stops are OK. Can there be some small seepage that is not a critical problem.  I did add less than half a quart of oil to the hydraulic reservoir to bring it up to full.  I haven't needed to add any more.

I'm getting ready to winterize the coach and put it in the barn until mid to late February when we are off toward SE USA. 

There is a big Cummins service center in the area that does coach service.  I think everyone with Foretravels around here goes there.  They seemed to be familiar with them.

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Re: Steering box leak

Reply #4 – October 14, 2013, 10:23:32 pm

Regarding the plunger relief valve adjustment, the right side relief valve is on the bottom. The left side relief is at the top. Marilyn and I adjusted ours about two hours ago. I turned the bottom screw in about two turns. I turned the top screw in about 1 3/4 turns. That gives about 1/4" clearance on each side, up from about 0 on the right and about 1/8" on the left. I'll be posting this information with my original thread. Steering box leak

Our steering gear started leaking in November, 2011. We were losing about a quart of oil every 200 miles. We took the coach to FOT. Our leak was on the Pitman arm side. FOT would not do that seal. They put in a unit that was remanufactured at the Sheppard factory. Cost was $1100 for the part plus most of a day's labor.

We had a recent failure that was a "show stopper." We lost about 3 1/2 gallons of 15W40 in about 50 miles. The radiator fans quit operating because show much oil had been lost. Fortunately we made it to our campground without a tow. A repair shop was three blocks away and we could drive there after I added 3 1/2 gallons of oil to the hydraulic reservoir.

Your leak is small enough that it will make a mess, but should not interfere with your plans. If the part is the same as mine, it is a Sheppard M100. It is a common truck part. The field service rep at the Sheppard factory was very helpful. (Wayne in Field Service @ (717) 637-3751) He gave me the part number and said it was available at the local Kenworth dealer. A truck service center or RV dealer who deals with diesel pushers should be able to fix you up. Rudy Leggett has experience with the steering gear. Some seals are accessible without removing the unit, others require removal of the steering gear. On ours, removing the generator radiator and attached fan as a unit gives more access to the steering gear.

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