Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Topic: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box (Read 1438 times) previous topic - next topic

Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

June 23, 2019, 08:10:24 pm

I've just blown the seal in the steering box, can it be driven without power steering? Parked in an unauthorized parking lot. Any advice appreciated.
Thanks

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #1 – June 23, 2019, 08:16:31 pm

I've thankfully not had the experience, but found a thread that says driving without power assist is possible.

Exploding steering box mess and limp home

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #2 – June 23, 2019, 08:20:14 pm

I assume your coach is like ours, with two separate hydraulic systems - one for the power steering and one for the cooling fans.

If so, at least you will still have engine cooling if you do decide to try to drive it.

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #3 – June 23, 2019, 08:22:55 pm

Thanks for the link Chuck, I may have to bypass the Shepard box, it's a fast leak. Dang the luck

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #4 – June 23, 2019, 08:23:45 pm

Yes
I believe the cooling Hyd is separate.

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #5 – June 23, 2019, 08:25:40 pm

Found another thread that has some less optimistic opinions. Might depend on how strong the poster was...or how scared!

Leaking Steering Box - 1998 U295

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #6 – June 23, 2019, 08:45:15 pm

When you have time, let us know where you are located. Some other member might be nearby, or know a good repair shop close by, etc.

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #7 – June 23, 2019, 08:48:51 pm

Thanks Chick, I just filled the reservoir and drove down the road 5 miles to a restaurant parking lot. We are in Tillamook OR. According to Brett's link the best rebuilder is Redhead in Seattle WA. I guess I'll have to find a shop in the area that can handle the work.

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #8 – June 23, 2019, 08:57:03 pm

You are about 200 miles from Seattle by road. I think Tim just posted the other day that Redhead now has some rebuilt steering boxes on the shelf ready to go, so the turn around time to get a rebuilt box might not be too bad. Just need to find a shop willing to do the R&R.

Not sure if the box Tim talks about is the same one that is used in the U280.

Edit: After some more reading, I think the U280 does use the Shepard M100 PDP1 steering box.

Shepard M100 PDP1 rebuilds now available from Redhead for EXCHANGE!

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #9 – June 23, 2019, 09:08:25 pm

Possible repair shop candidate:

Tillamook Diesel Repair, 405 Main Ave, Tillamook, OR 97141

Tillamook Diesel Repair - RV Repair - 405 Main Ave N, Tillamook, OR - Phone...

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #10 – June 24, 2019, 01:37:00 am

Sent PM's with info on box, and other suggestions

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #11 – June 24, 2019, 09:28:58 am

If youd have waited a couple weeks Id have gladly given you a hand. Im pretty familiar with the area. Burdens towing has a big shop there. He might be able to give you a hand.

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #12 – June 25, 2019, 11:06:18 am

Update:
Well thanks to chuck, Tim and all who replied, I contacted Dan Foster at Redhead in Auburn Wa. and he had a M100 core partially rebuilt on the bench. He agreed to finish the rebuild and get it shipped out to Tillamook last night. Waiting on delivery this morning to Tillamook Diesel Repair. If they can get it installed today then we should be back on the road by tonight. Keeping fingers crossed that all goes as planned. Special thanks to Tim Fiedler for sending a couple of core Shepard M100 boxes to Redhead or this would have cost us much more downtime. 👍
I'll update our progress later today.

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #13 – June 25, 2019, 12:09:02 pm

Please update us on the "performance" of your new ( Red Head ) steering box. After driving from the east coast with the original box and driving back with the new one, you should see a difference

Or maybe not. At any rate, safe travels to you and your family. Enjoy the PNW at the best time of year to be hear IMHO.

OH, and beautiful coach. ( I might be biased) 🙂

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #14 – June 25, 2019, 12:22:36 pm

Bob,
I'll let you know if I notice any improvement in steering but it drove so well before I doubt there will be much noticeable difference. I checked for leaks from end to end on the coach before I left on this trip and didn't see anything "abnormal" ...... no drips anywhere.
My regret is not taking the advice of some on this forum and replace the steering box because of age, but I didn't want to "fix it" if it "ain't broke".
🙄

With a little luck we should be on the road by tonight. 👍

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #15 – June 25, 2019, 01:31:26 pm

Be sure to check CUT ANGLES after installing the new box.

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #16 – June 25, 2019, 02:13:38 pm

Yes on "cut angles" !!!!!!!

Lots of info here on web by using search Do not assume shop is familiar with the procedure on M100

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #17 – June 25, 2019, 11:39:22 pm

Quote from: FourTravelers – June 25, 2019, 12:22:36 pm

I checked for leaks from end to end on the coach before I left on this trip and didn't see anything "abnormal" ...... no drips anywhere.
My regret is not taking the advice of some on this forum and replace the steering box because of age, but I didn't want to "fix it" if it "ain't broke".
🙄

With a little luck we should be on the road by tonight. 👍

how does one prudently decide what part is going to fail and when, some history here on weak parts like the Shepard gearbox and the Allison 6 speed. I like the heads up from experienced members.

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #18 – June 26, 2019, 12:08:20 am

I have found if you talk a part UP ... it will break.. so we don't talk about any parts.. kinda like fight club!!

I change parts that are important and will hopefully keep me from being stranded

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #19 – June 26, 2019, 08:49:49 am

Quote from: Old phart phred – June 25, 2019, 11:39:22 pm

how does one prudently decide what part is going to fail and when, some history here on weak parts like the Shepard gearbox and the Allison 6 speed. I like the heads up from experienced members.

3208 Cat. Replace at first opportunity.

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #20 – June 26, 2019, 10:27:54 am

Why replace the 3208 cat? Engine was very reliable in use. I do not remember ever hearing of anyone who had to rebuild one. 1100 series's was different.

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #21 – June 26, 2019, 10:34:36 am

3208T CAT. engine is great and you can find people all over the country that can work on them for you. Have a great day ---- Fritz

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #22 – June 26, 2019, 11:09:34 am

The truckers gave the 3208 a bad rap by calling them throwaway engines. I have one in one of my cranes that was rebuilt at 250,000 because of blowby, but it was rode hard and put away wet by the PO not me.

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #23 – June 26, 2019, 11:13:57 am

I have very poor cell signal here at South Beach State Park in Newport Or.
Good news is we got back on the road late yesterday afternoon and with a Redhead Steering box and adjusted pistons. All is good and I will update this later with all the details when we get to where we have good signal.
👍😁😊

Re: Uh oh!. Blown seal in steering box

Reply #24 – June 26, 2019, 11:21:28 pm

We have landed in Newport at the Marina RV park. Here are a few details of our exciting weekend.
After almost every stop, I do a walk around and check tires and for leaks under the coach. Sunday morning we rode the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad from Garibaldi to Rockaway Beach and when we returned to the parking lot at noon all was good. We left Garibaldi and drove to Bay City to ride the "Bay City Rail Riders" pedal cars to Tillamook. It was a 12 mile round trip and good exercise for us all. (Lots of seat time coming to the PNW from Florida) all was great until I returned to the coach to find a oil spot under the left front. It was a uh-oh moment. Obviously from the Shepard box but not leaking at the moment. With the engine running it was a very fast drip to a small steady stream. I checked the reservoir and had only lost about a quart. What to do?
First I went to the forum...... as always... for suggestions. After reading some post of others and their suggestions I decided to fill the reservoir and head to the RV park where we had reservations. ( about 10 miles). We only lost about another quart by the time we parked.
Monday morning I called Redhead Steering and spoke with Dan Foster, he had a partially rebuilt Shepard M100 that he could get completed, tested and sent out for Delivery in Tillamook on Tuesday morning. Things were looking up!
Tillamook Diesel Repair agreed to do the swap on Tuesday morning. The box arrived at 10:30 am and as expected the shop was busy by then. At 1:00 pm just after their lunch break I pulled up to the door and a coupe techs got started. After a little difficulty pulling the pitman arm off they had the new Redhead installed in an hour. I spent another 1/2 hour working the steering back and forth for Joe the technician to properly set the stop pistons. He seemed to know what was needed so I followed his instruction. Total time
spent working on the coach was only 1-1/2 hr. Paid the bill and backed out of the shop.
And here is the rest of the story.......
The front end dropped to the stops instead of going to "travel height". I could manually raise it or auto level it but when I released the brakes and put her in drive she leaked down. No travel light. Now what?? 😩

Thinking they had messed something up doing the swap, I crawled under the coach to see what the heck it could be. After tracing out a few air lines and finding nothing, I noticed something looked odd about the ride height valve.
The control rod on the valve was vertical and the rod attached to the frame was horizontal.

Should be the other way around. 🤔
I had my son raise the coach all the way up in the front. With the coach fully raised I was able to push the connecting point of the two rods past their center point and invert the position of the rods. After lowering the coach the rod connected to the valve was now horizontal and the rod connected to the frame was vertical as it should be. Now it stayed at ride height. Dang!! Had me worried. I guess while we had the coach raised full up the techs may have unintentionally bumped, pushed or knocked the control arms out of position.

So point of this story is:
it is possible ( at least on our coach ) to get these to rods out of proper position while in the full raised position.

Thanks to the forum and especially Chuck and Tim for their help. If not for Tim Fiedler for supplying Redhead steering with a couple of core M100's we would still be waiting on repairs. 👌👍

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