GMC-The wander is gone -- no more wiggle

[hawk ii]

I have replaced all worn or slightly worn front end components -

I have had a 6 wheel alignment

Tires trued & balanced (this did stop the shimmy)

I have replaced the steering dampener shock

BUT IT WAS THE STEERING GEAR BOX that finally fix the wiggle waggle
wander

The amount of gear wink (when checked at the steering wheel by
measuring the distance (angle) that was required to WINK the gears
from left to right) was no more or less than any GMC i have driven
that did not wander.

The problem was there was something going wrong in the steering gear
box - and it would take slightly more pressure to turn left then
right. That's all it took to make the GMC wander on the highway -
The slight bind (the entire left travel - not just a single hard spot)
was the cause.

If anyone wants to check their's -- Just park on a dirt surface and
turn the wheel one way and then the other -WITHOUT moving -- the
difference was very noticeable. It was difficult to detect when i was
moving.

The cost for a new steering gear box at NAPA was about $165 (core
charge of $168--they really want those babies back to rebuild) part #
27-7519



==
Pete Papas-Daytona Beach--land of Hard Beaches & Soft Women
. Home Phone- (904) 672-0571
.1973 GMC Painted Desert---She's old..but she sure is PRETTY
.1976 Aniversary Iron Head Harley Davidson M/C
.1979 280ZX Datsun (First Production Year - 1 of only 1000)
.
.Home Page> http://members.tripod.com/~mehawk_ii/index.html
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[heinz wittenbecher]

Sorry Arch,
Still adjusting to email prog on HPC

BTW, the wireless on the HP-620 is working great, but on the preferred one, the HP-820 I'm having some problems.

- ----Original Message-----
From: heinz
To: Gcbr
Subject: RE: Re: GMC: GMC-The wander is gone -- no more wiggle
Date: Thursday, March 18, 1999 8:02 AM

Hi Arch... and all.

Been meaning to post this a few days ago, but that durn work keeps interfeering.

I have a post on www.bytedesigns.com/gmc re my last adjustment of the steering box and on the way down I did some more tweaking/testing.

After it (the GMC) sat for a while as I was tinkering it just didn't drive the same. I put the blame on myself first, i.e. forgot how.

Anyways, before I left I adjusted the sbox again as per previous and then drove it. As it wasn't right yet I put up with it for a few hundred miles and then adjusted it another 1/4 turn out, which appeared to be at the stop. Drove it a few hundred miles and it had now recentered itself so that I could take another 1/4 turn out and it was at the stop again. Drove some more and it was worse than before so I went back (in) a 1/8 turn and that's where it is now and it's great.

The moral of the story is that it needs to be driven some between tweaks and that one has to resist the urge to tighten but rather adjust so that the valve inside can do it's job and if too tight it has to overcome friction which then requires more steering wheel turn to overcome which then oversteers and then one starts all over again correcting for the oversteer.

Heinz
still charging Batteries in Sacramento

- ----Original Message-----
>From: Gcbr
>To: gmcmotorhome
>Subject: Re: GMC: GMC-The wander is gone -- no more wiggle
>Type: AirMail
>Date: Thursday, March 18, 1999 10:48 AM
>
>Pete
>
>OK folks we may be on to something here!! I have not stuffed anybody's
>mail box for several days but I cant pass this one up. Either Gene or
>Heinz posted a note on how to adjust the steering box. They said they
>could not believe what a difference it made. Now Pete has done everything
>else to no avail and a steering box solves the problem. We may be real
>close to solving one of the biggest GMC mysteries of all time. Can
>anybody add to this line of thought? This could be big folks! We might
>be real close to knowing why some wiggle and some dont.
>
>Take Care
>Arch 76 GB IL
>
>In a message dated 3/18/99 12:30:07 AM Central Standard Time,

>
>>
>> The problem was there was something going wrong in the steering gear
>> box - and it would take slightly more pressure to turn left then
>> right. That's all it took to make the GMC wander on the highway -
>> The slight bind (the entire left travel - not just a single hard spot)
>> was the cause.
>>
>
>
>

 

[bdub]

>Pete
>
>OK folks we may be on to something here!! I have not stuffed anybody's
>mail box for several days but I cant pass this one up. Either Gene or
>Heinz posted a note on how to adjust the steering box. They said they
>could not believe what a difference it made. Now Pete has done everything
>else to no avail and a steering box solves the problem. We may be real
>close to solving one of the biggest GMC mysteries of all time. Can
>anybody add to this line of thought? This could be big folks! We might
>be real close to knowing why some wiggle and some dont.

http://www.california.com/~eagle/steering.htm

Makes a lotta sense to me. That was gonna be my first thing to check after
I got my coach. But the wiggle went away, or I just got used to driving
the beast. I really think it's the latter.

bdub
'76 Palm Beach
In The Heart o Texas
www.web-access.net/~bmassey/
icq # 202333

 

[hawk ii]

I should have stated in the original message --

I also tried adjusting the steering box
first - with the method described on the net of
backing off the locking nut and while
winking the box - turn the locking nut
in to set the adjustment screw.
Second- By making successive 5 mile runs after
turning the adjustment screw an 1/8 turn
at a time.

Neither of these methods changed the wander to any great extent --
only changing the steering gear box.

==
Pete Papas-Daytona Beach--land of Hard Beaches & Soft Women
. Home Phone- (904) 672-0571
.1973 GMC Painted Desert---She's old..but she sure is PRETTY
.1976 Aniversary Iron Head Harley Davidson M/C
.1979 280ZX Datsun (First Production Year - 1 of only 1000)
.
.Home Page> http://members.tripod.com/~mehawk_ii/index.html
_________________________________________________________
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com