1978 Royale Update and Restoration

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Got the driver's side control arms off tonight. Kinda bummed. My bogie pins are trash... Especially the driver's rear. It was seized in place. Needed my 20T press to get it apart. The funny thing is that the bushings look decent. Not sure why the bronze bushing wore a steel pin, but it did.
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I see JimK sells a replacement set (cha-ching!) And I'm sure I can get them from cinnabar too. Any one used Jim's? Are they better? He says the pins are hardened, and seeing the wear, I'd say factory are not that hard. I have a Rockwell tester at work, so I can see exactly what they are.

Finally... The pin that is real bad has much smaller grease holes in it. They were completely plugged, so I'm sure that's what caused this issue. I couldn't grease them if I had wanted to. Why the different sizes?


other issues...I noticed that the suspension carrier that bolts to the frame was trapping water... And I have some thinning of the material there... It's not rotten through. Should I come up with a plan to replace the metal or just rely on the sandwiching of material there? I have a couple ideas already on replacement. I have rotten shims too, so I'll have to replace those. IMG_20220614_194116314.webpIMG_20220614_194142862.webp

What a night... Labor of love, right?
 
Borrmann's replaced my pins just after I purchased the coach in 2008. The cost caused me to grease them religiously every 3 days while on a trip. Still this past winter I found my driver's side mid bogie now has play. I installed "bogie greasers" to help assure all the bushings were getting grease, but still have issues, (grease will come out only one side of the bogie)

In this farmboy mechanics opinion its not a great design. In operation the bogie moves very little and all the weight (pressure what ever you want to call it) is in one small area of the pin/bushing. The grease is soon forced out of there with no way of pulling grease back in (unlike in a rotating shaft)

Before we go on a trip, I set the rear onto some blocks and let off the airbags. Then I use a shovel under the wheel to raise/lower it as much as possible while greasing to try to ensure grease gets on the load-bearing area. Obviously I can't practically do this while on the road.

Unfortunately GM designed the pins so your can't pull them out from the outside. If they did, the yearly maintenance would include pulling the pins to check for wear and ensuring the grease ports were open to flow grease.

Seems like you may have the tools and expertise to do this repair yourself, saving a major cost.

Sorry for the rant!
 
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Mike,
I too carry a grease gun in the coach's kit. It is loaded with VV958 Valvoline Synpro w/moly. There are more expensive greases, but they are not as available. No matter how expensive a grease is, it is still cheaper than parts. Mine is a 73 with the smaller pins and only greases from the center, but so far the wear is acceptable. I try to push in more grease every thousand miles, Sometimes I don't, but I don't miss often.
Matt
 
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I just ordered a rebuild kit from Applied. Got Jim's rental reamer too, so I can get them fitting right and TIGHT, lol. They are in stock, so I should have them in about a week. Now, I just need to get the parts cleaned up and degreased...Holy cow, is there a lot of grease. Old, nasty, dried up grease. Its a mess. I wish I had a hot dip tank! Kerosene and a dish pan works though.
 
I don't know enough about brake to know if the caliper position makes a difference, but it sure looks more natural once that bracket flips over.
Click to expand...
All that matters is that the bleed holes point up. otherwise it's whereever they fit
 
Got the bogie arms and carrier stripped down yesterday. Getting the bushings out was kind of a bugger. I followed something I found in the photos page that @Matt Colie posted on the other forum


I couldn't find the splits for the life of me, so I ended up using my Dremel with a carbide burr and grinding a "slot" in the bushing, then collapsing the bushing with a cold chisel. Got all 8 of them out without damaging the casting too bad. A couple of spots the burr scored the bore, so I have JB weld in there to clean it up. I'll sand that back smooth.

Now, a final clean and wire wheel for paint.
 
Making progress on the bogie repair project. I ended up cancelling my order with applied... They said they had the parts in stock... But after a week without shipping, I got fed up with waiting and with no communication. I cancelled the orders and got the kit from Golby. I bought an adjustable reamer (a good, USA made one) used off eBay and a new set of blades for it. That was cheaper than what the rental costs from applied.

The process is pretty simple, if a bit tedious. You also should have some snap gages to measure the id of the bushings and some mics to measure the shaft (and the snap gages). I went for 0.0008-0.0012 clearance. The arms are nice and tight. They pivot freely, but I needed a soft faced dead blow to assemble.


Driver's side is ready to install, waiting on shims from McMaster. Also painted my hubs and brake rotors in addition to installed new seals, bearings, and races. IMG_20220704_165111158.jpgIMG_20220704_160248495.jpgIMG_20220704_160327626.jpg
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Yesterday, I pulled the passenger side off and started the nasty process of cleaning 45 years of grease and dirt off the assembly. More to come.
 
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I'm getting close now! Both sides of the rear suspension are installed. Got my calipers flipped around to the correct sides and brake lines routed. My parking brake cables need some attention...they are not long enough, so I'm looking at solutions for that. Probably going to replace it all, from the handle to the wheels. With this brake set-up I have, the only wheels that have parking brakes are the rear most tires. Not much of an "emergency" brake, but it should keep the coach stationary. Anyway, the original cables for the mid-rear wheels are still there, dangling in the breeze. I can simplify the system and just do a typical y-balancer and single cable to each side.

Anyway, here are some pics of the install.
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As you can see, I took the opportunity to throw a bunch of other new parts at the ol girl too. New Shocks and bearings, new paint, new hardware.

One of the other "improvements" given to me by the previous owner was a shutoff valve, pressure switch and fill point on the air bag system. Everything was hanging off the fitting for the air bag. I heard (either here or on FB) that having that weight bouncing around wasn't real good for the fittings. I agree with that, though I didn't give it a second thought when I first looked at it. Anyway, I spent some time after work one evening fabing up a little aluminum bracket that will bolt to the studs used to hold the level control switches in the wheel wells. Using some cheap manifolds from Amazon and the parts that were on the coach from before, I have a nice little system monitor...Not shown is the valve. I may locate that closer to the bag to cut down on leak potential. I still need to get some fittings (I'll raid the supply cabinet at work for some good, parker presto-locs)
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I can't see the pics on post 108, but I can see them on post 109. Were they done differently?

I'll be curious what you come up with on the parking brake cables. I need to redo mine, all the cables are seized up junk. I'm thinking about finding some more modern cables--something somewhat universal.
 
pvfjr said:
I can't see the pics on post 108, but I can see them on post 109. Were they done differently?

I'll be curious what you come up with on the parking brake cables. I need to redo mine, all the cables are seized up junk. I'm thinking about finding some more modern cables--something somewhat universal.
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Weird...I didn't do anything different on the pics. Maybe an issue posting from phone and/or pc. I'll go incognito and check em out. Thanks for the heads up.

Right now, my cable are disconnected. Since I have the 4 disc setup in the rear, and only two calipers with a parking brake function, I think I'll do something a bit more traditional. Single cable from the lever to a Y splitter, then an independent cable outside the rails to the calipers
 
Shake down trip this weekend! Went about 40 miles for a family reunion so we decided to camp. I have some more things to address. My wheel bearings are running a bit warmer than I like. Not too hot to touch, but warmer than they should be. My radiator overflow has a hole in it all of a sudden. My airbags are leaking pretty badly. They used to hold air, so I need to pay attention to my fittings. And my generator light (engine alternator) is coming in at low rpm.

The new front end and rear suspension made a huge difference in driving this thing though. It’s so much more stable and controlled at speed. I’ma bit perturbed about the front calipers and my wheels though. They rub. I ground the calipers enough to get the wheels spinning freely, but I can hear them rubbing still when I apply brakes, so I’ll have to remove more material. I don’t remember anyone complaining about that, talking about the one ton front end.

Speaking of brakes though, mine finally work! I think I’m going to try a larger master cylinder to reduce my pedal travel, but they do have some power finally. I also need to check my prop valve and make sure it’s correct for the all disk setup I have.

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Mike,
A larger bore master cylinder may get you less pedal travel, but at the expense of line pressure. I suggest that you go to the old forum and search for "Another possible MC". These are an interesting answer to your problem.
Matt
 
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Started working on fixing a few of the items on my "punch list" from the last trip out. As I get closer to having the ol girl mechanically sound, the projects are getting smaller too, and some are actually based in the interior!

The first one I need to address is the Commode. It was VERY wobbly our last trip out, and the valve started leaking. The valve leak i knew about. However, under examination, it appears that the wonderful previous owner (s) "helped" me out again. The flange is about a half inch over the floor height, and they crammed a couple of ill fitting, poorly cut shims to wedge the toilet sorta solid. So, the toilet is removed and I have the floor cut open to check the black water tank. Thankfully that is good. I have a new flange and seal kit coming soon.

The flange in its "original state." My subfloor doesn't look to hot here either. The flooring that was installed was a floating laminate type...about 3/16" thick.

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And, the rot is gone. As a temporary fix, I'll install a couple furring strips under the two edges that are not supported by the aluminum frame, then glue and screw the new floor in.

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Since I'm in a holding pattern for this project, I decided to tackle the faintly glowing "generator" light that has illuminated on my dash. I found bad bearings in my alternator, but it tested good. The no6 AWG wire running to the 50Amp fuse however, had a terminal that was corroded and half the conductors were proken. I replaced that with a new copper ring terminal. Once my new alternator shows up (Autozone DL7157 100 Amp) Wednesday, I'll install that and check thing out further. I also purchased some bearings for the old alternator, since this stuff seems to be getting harder and harder to find. I'll keep it in my box of spares and just hold onto it. The Core was only 12 bucks or something. Bearings were less than 50. My wife calls it hoarding...but I call it being future proof!
 
Mike,
The glowing alternator light has two possible causes and the corroded cable was one where the light will glow at high load. The other is when the system voltage is high from some other source, an "alternator protection cable" will fix that. That used to be available from a GMCMI person, or you can look on E-bay.
That old alternator will also want new brushes and while you are at it, get a 2Grove sheave for it.
On a 12Vnom system, 100 amps is the upper limit of a single V-belt. Remember that. There is a break you will get because your house bank is in rear. Mine is in the front with only a short length of 8SAE to the house bank. I can get really close to 100 amps (and smoke the single belt).
Matt
 
Matt Colie said:
Mike,
The glowing alternator light has two possible causes and the corroded cable was one where the light will glow at high load. The other is when the system voltage is high from some other source, an "alternator protection cable" will fix that. That used to be available from a GMCMI person, or you can look on E-bay.
That old alternator will also want new brushes and while you are at it, get a 2Grove sheave for it.
On a 12Vnom system, 100 amps is the upper limit of a single V-belt. Remember that. There is a break you will get because your house bank is in rear. Mine is in the front with only a short length of 8SAE to the house bank. I can get really close to 100 amps (and smoke the single belt).
Matt
Click to expand...
I have the protection cable installed (and didn't realize it, so I have another in a box of spares, lol). My light was actually only illuminating at low RPM. Spin the engine up and it would go out. I strongly suspect that corroded cable as the main culprit.

On the double groove sheave...do you have to change the rest of the accessory drive to match? I was looking at that last night, and I'm not sure where I'd put the second belt.
 
Mike,
No, you just use 2 of the same alternator belt and now it runs the power steering pump too.
Tiny problem:
When you go to full lock (which can also be bad for the lower control arm) and it is wet, you may feel the pump slip just a little. It doesn't last long and when you get used to it, it is a good trade for the alternator belt squeal.
Matt
 
New alternator is in and the gen light is off! Only bummer about the new alternator is that it has metric threads, not standard, so I thought I had stripped the tension lock bolt. The ground bolt was metric, so on a whim, I dug through my bolt bin and tried a 10 mm x 1.25. Tightened up like it’s supposed to.

Regarding the dual belt setup…I’ve never had my alternator squeal the belt, so I didn’t do it. Not saying it isn’t a good idea, I’ll probably do it eventually, but right now, I’m calling good.
 
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