Front bearings and lower control arm

[claude brousson]

Well the 25000 mile mark has rolled around again, so have pulled the
front wheels to do a grease job on them.Because what has been reported
by some of finding cracks at the lower ball joint, it was a good time to
do an inspection. From Bob Blenkinsops experience he found a number of
coaches had cracks when they had over 120,000 miles. One thing I wonder
however is -those which are cracked-have they been over loaded on the
front and or have they been out of balance in the ride height settings?
I try to be very careful to keep the weights on the wheels evenly
balanced.
Anyway, I was lucky and no cracks on the left side where I was going to
replace the ball joint, however while having the front opened up I
decided to strengthen the area around the lower ball joint. I have
welded in very carefully a piece of steele 1/8" x 3/4" x about 3"
bending it around the end of the control arm and welding it top and
bottom. There is just enough room between the control arm and the
knuckle to do this . This should provide a much stronger platform for
the lower ball joint to be fastened into and hopefully will preclude any
chance of it cracking at some future time. This area takes a lot of
weight and a beating

I mention all of this as there may be others who will be needing to
grease their front wheel bearings, and it is a good time to do an
inspection.
Maybe I am fussy, but I also like to check my bearings under a strong
magnifying glass to see if the metal is breaking down and loosing any of
the hardened surface.So far so good.

Claude

 

[gene]

Hi Claude

As near as I can tell from our (GMC users) literature, these lower control
arms have only cracked on units that have had the ball joint replaced. If
the replaced ball joint is not kept tight it starts to move and causes the
crack.

Since I am not a materials / metal guy, I have often wondered what happens
to the little tip on the lower control arm when we weld on the
reinforcements. Are we creating crystallized metal or changing the temper
or stress of this small area ? I have had things welded that they had to
heat and re-temper the metal to relieve stresses after welding on them.

Have you looked into this side of the issue? I guess we don't have nearly
as many miles on reinforcements as we do on the original arms.

gene

>Well the 25000 mile mark has rolled around again, so have pulled the
>front wheels to do a grease job on them.Because what has been reported
>by some of finding cracks at the lower ball joint, it was a good time to
>do an inspection. From Bob Blenkinsops experience he found a number of
>coaches had cracks when they had over 120,000 miles. One thing I wonder
>however is -those which are cracked-have they been over loaded on the
>front and or have they been out of balance in the ride height settings?
>I try to be very careful to keep the weights on the wheels evenly
>balanced.
>Anyway, I was lucky and no cracks on the left side where I was going to
>replace the ball joint, however while having the front opened up I
>decided to strengthen the area around the lower ball joint. I have
>welded in very carefully a piece of steele 1/8" x 3/4" x about 3"
>bending it around the end of the control arm and welding it top and
>bottom. There is just enough room between the control arm and the
>knuckle to do this . This should provide a much stronger platform for
>the lower ball joint to be fastened into and hopefully will preclude any
>chance of it cracking at some future time. This area takes a lot of
>weight and a beating
>
>I mention all of this as there may be others who will be needing to
>grease their front wheel bearings, and it is a good time to do an
>inspection.
>Maybe I am fussy, but I also like to check my bearings under a strong
>magnifying glass to see if the metal is breaking down and loosing any of
>the hardened surface.So far so good.
>
>Claude
>
Genef -- 77PB/ore/ca
GMC MOTORHOME INFORMATION
mr.erf
http://www.california.com/~eagle/

 

[edgar kremer]

> Hi Claude
>
> As near as I can tell from our (GMC users) literature, these lower control
> arms have only cracked on units that have had the ball joint replaced. If
> the replaced ball joint is not kept tight it starts to move and causes the
> crack.
>
> gene

====================================

I've put 150,000 miles on my coach since replacing the lower ball joints. I've
done no reinforcing. I just pulled the hubs & knuckles to repack the
bearings. The A frames are perfect.

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[gene]

Yes I think the trick is to do a good job and make sure the bolts are tight.

gene

>
>> Hi Claude
>>
>> As near as I can tell from our (GMC users) literature, these lower control
>> arms have only cracked on units that have had the ball joint replaced. If
>> the replaced ball joint is not kept tight it starts to move and causes the
>> crack.
>>
>> gene
>
>====================================
>
>I've put 150,000 miles on my coach since replacing the lower ball joints.
I've
>done no reinforcing. I just pulled the hubs & knuckles to repack the
>bearings. The A frames are perfect.
>
>--
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>http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/greenside/321/
>
>
>GMC Calling Card Sample
>http://home1.photoisland.com/servlet/com.arcsoft.LoginNew?com=arcsoftBanner
&awp=index4.html&DIRECT=show&USERNAME=mistifawn&WHO=guest
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>
>
Genef -- 77PB/ore/ca
GMC MOTORHOME INFORMATION
mr.erf
http://www.california.com/~eagle/

 

[david l greenberg]

On Thu, 18 May 2000 17:13:33 -0400 Edgar Kremer
writes:

>
> > Hi Claude
> >
> > As near as I can tell from our (GMC users) literature, these lower
> control arms have only cracked on units that have had the ball joint
> replaced. If the replaced ball joint is not kept tight it starts to
move and
> causes the crack.
> >
> > gene
>
> ====================================
>
> I've put 150,000 miles on my coach since replacing the lower ball
> joints. I've
> done no reinforcing. I just pulled the hubs & knuckles to repack
> the
> bearings. The A frames are perfect.
>

> Ed Kremer

I have over 580,000 on my coach and just had to replace the right knuckle
and ball joints. A Frames are in good shape according to a knowledgable
mechanic. I would guess that by now most coaches have had ball joints
replaced as the OEM (riveted) joint seem to go at between 85k and 100k
miles. I understand from Roger Nelson who has been supplying owners with
heavy duty A Frames that it is the left side that has been replaced 80%
of the time.

All I know is what I have heard...

David Lee Greenberg
GMC Motorhome Registry
200 MacFarlane Drive
Delray Beach, FL 33483-6829
http://www.gmcss.com/registry.htm