Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 11, 2025 ...

Many of you have read about my drawbar failure.  Here's something for you all to be concerned about.

I traveled to OKC and dropped in on Cummins - who is working to get my coach back on the road.  The shop foreman had me go look at the driveshaft with him.  This is the HD driveshaft associated with the 450 HP Cummins and 4060 Allison.  At 112K miles, the u-joints were pretty much shot.  They had obviously been well lubricated, but they're still shot.  Yeah, they might have gone a bit further - just far enough to leave me stranded in the middle of nowhere.  He said that the driveshaft runs too flat (FOT design) and causes the u-joint to develop rough spots.

Seems like we studied something about minimum driveshaft angle around my junior year working on my ME degree.

Replacing those u-joints is a tad costly.

Larry


[modified topic title to be more descriptive - Michelle]

I traveled to OKC and dropped in on Cummins - who is working to get my coach back on the road.  The shop foreman had me go look at the driveshaft with him.  This is the HD driveshaft associated with the 450 HP Cummins and 4060 Allison.  At 112K miles, the u-joints were pretty much shot.  They had obviously been well lubricated, but they're still shot.  Yeah, they might have gone a bit further - just far enough to leave me stranded in the middle of nowhere.  He said that the driveshaft runs too flat (FOT design) and causes the u-joint to develop rough spots.

Seems like we studied something about minimum driveshaft angle around my junior year working on my ME degree.

Replacing those u-joints is a tad costly.

Larry

I PM our driveshaft at every oil change (7K miles). Prior to greasing, I check the U-joints and slip yoke for play. ANY noticeable play in the U-joints, radial or axial, means they're done. Replacement is a fairly easy job when at home, with proper tools, and the work can be done on the bench.