Bushings & front steering shock absorber

[thomas g. warner]

I believe the front steering shock absorber. made a big difference in mine.

>> I bought my front stablizer polyurethane bushing kit from ....
>> less than 30.00 and took less than 2 hours to do...
> *****************************************
>> Really changed the > front ride and tracking.
> *****************************************
>> This is your biggest bang for the buck!
> *****************************************
>> J.R. Wright
>
>This is good stuff to hear for those of us trying to improve "tracking"
>and wanting to set up a pecking order of things to do. If I do
>everything once, I have no way of knowing which afforded the greatest
>improvement.
>
>What Would be the second best bang for the second buck?
>
>Are there other opinions as to what is the "best bang for the buck"?
>
>Tim Timothy
>73 26' Glacier
>Pensacola, Fl.
>
>
Tom & Marg Warner
Vernon Center NY
1976 palmbeach

 

[john wright]

The Steering dampner is a Moog MD SSD-55.

J.R. Wright
GMC Greatlaker
77 Eleganza II
Michigan

>
> I believe the front steering shock absorber. made a big difference in mine.
>

> >> I bought my front stablizer polyurethane bushing kit from ....
> >> less than 30.00 and took less than 2 hours to do...
> > *****************************************
> >> Really changed the > front ride and tracking.
> > *****************************************
> >> This is your biggest bang for the buck!
> > *****************************************
> >> J.R. Wright
> >
> >This is good stuff to hear for those of us trying to improve "tracking"
> >and wanting to set up a pecking order of things to do. If I do
> >everything once, I have no way of knowing which afforded the greatest
> >improvement.
> >
> >What Would be the second best bang for the second buck?
> >
> >Are there other opinions as to what is the "best bang for the buck"?
> >
> >Tim Timothy
> >73 26' Glacier
> >Pensacola, Fl.
> >
> >
> Tom & Marg Warner
> Vernon Center NY
> 1976 palmbeach

 

[john wright]

The Moog unit goes for 55 to 65 dollars. Just because it cost more
doesn't make it any better.

JR Wright
GMC Greatlaker
77 Eleganza
Michigan

>
> John
>
> Talk to me. How much does this puppy cost? Can anybody tell me
> how does it compare to Caspro's Wonderful unit? I will have to have
> one that comes with good instructions because my coach did not
> come with one on it. How does this all compare with a Steer Safe
> System?
>
> Take Care
> Arch It may get above freezing tomorrow!
>
> In a message dated 99-01-14 20:22:00 EST, you write:
>
> The Steering dampner is a Moog MD SSD-55.
>
> J.R. Wright >>

 

[zachary zehnacker]

Arch,

The GMC type unit is factory installed on all the GMCs as far as I know.
Moog just makes the replacement part (like the ball joints). I don't know
if the Moog part is any different or not. This type is basically a shock
absorber that tries to dampen some of the wheel turns (ie from
potholes,etc). Ours was quite worn, but still semi-functional, when we did
the frame off, so we replaced it with an OEM one from Cinnabar. It was
pretty cheap. IIRC, it was around $40. The Caspro one ($425), from what I
have seen in the catalog, is a heavy duty version of the GMC type shock
absorber with self centering forces (similar to the steer safe). The
Caspro one also claims to be mounted so that it acts more directly than the
GMC type unit. We considered this one, but the price kept us away.

Neither the GMC type unit or the Caspro unit will start to grind away at an
Alcoa when they loosen up like the Steer Safe System did on our GMC. The
GMC type one will not make spring stretching/unstretching noises every time
you turn the wheels like the Steer Safe (not sure about Caspro's). The GMC
type unit will not make it nearly impossible to turn your wheel and keep it
turned while working on your GMC (we used a seat belt once to tie the wheel
to keep it turned). It also will not make it nearly impossible to turn
your wheel without your power steering. The Steer Safe will, however, try
to keep your front wheels pointed straight in unusual circumstances (blow
out, truck ruts, etc). Apparently the Caspro does this too from what I see
in the catalog.

We had a steer safe on our GMC for several years before we did the frame
off. We lost an Alcoa (could have lost a lot more if we had not been VERY
LUCKY and caught it in time) because of it. It loosened up ever so
slightly and started to grind away at the Alcoa. The clearance looked fine
when not moving, but apparently enough stuff moves around when going around
hard turns that it was a problem. The steel wheels might offer more
clearance I guess. We ground off a significant amount of the steer-safe
bracket to avoid future problems and continued to use it until the frame
off. We did paint all the pieces and got new eye-hooks (old ones were worn
significantly where the springs ride), but we have not yet reinstalled it.
I didn't really notice much of a difference after we took it off. Tom (who
drives the GMC much more) says it was a little better with it on. He also
likes that the Steer Safe dampens some of the movement at the source rather
than transmitting it all the way to the shock type unit. If we do put it
back on, we would probably want to redesign some of the pieces. The
quality just doesn't seem very good IMHO. Most of the pieces are very
heavy duty, but the welding and design quality just doesn't seem to be
there IMHO.

Zak

PS - I find it somewhat ironic that the Steer Safe is marketed to keep your
motorhome going straight in the event of a blowout so you can feel
comfortable driving it. The closest we ever came to a blowout was
something caused by the Steer Safe itself. I guess we would have been able
to keep it straight after it wore through the Alcoa. Pretty comforting
isn't it?

>How does this all compare with a Steer Safe
>System?
>
>Take Care
>Arch It may get above freezing tomorrow!