That is quite surprising! Good news. Maybe you guys can help each other troubleshoot problems together. Perhaps if his doesn't vibrate, you can borrow/swap parts to eliminate things.
Hello from Austria!
- Thread starter The Revconeer
- Start date
As planned, I have transfered my Revcon to another repair shop, which is specialised in U.S. cars/trucks, right in the neighbourhood in Saxony on Dec. 23rd.
To-do list Revcon for December/January:
1. There is still a nasty leak right above the big window (passenger side) of the sleeping room in a downpour. Must be found and sealed properly. The problem has dissappeared for a while and believe me, it' s a strange one: It' s not the window, the water is slowly running along on the inside of the roof, when the Revcon e. g. is half covered under the flying roof and the opposite part of the Revcon' s roof on the driver' s side gets wet!
2. Differential, engine and transmission oil change with new filters. New seals for the transmission and differential.
3. New driveshafts with new bolts (!) (remember my breakdown in August 22).
4. 2 new shocks (front).
5. Frame of the hitch (rear) - I bought 2 little wheels to prevent grounding.
6. Spoiler damage repair (from towing in August 22). The cracks on both sides have to be eradicated.
7. Sliding window at the driver's seat: New fitting fuzzy channel.
8. Laying an extra power cable for the rear cams to avoid transmission failures. Now they are running on the same elecrical circuit together with the rear lights.
---‐---‐--------------------------------------------------
9. Get the front rims plus spare tire rim checked and repaired at Kottnig' s Rim Clinic near Vienna.
10. Two new Firestones Trans Force HT for the front wheels.
I finally want to get rid of the remaining front vibrations once and for all!
To-do list Revcon for December/January:
1. There is still a nasty leak right above the big window (passenger side) of the sleeping room in a downpour. Must be found and sealed properly. The problem has dissappeared for a while and believe me, it' s a strange one: It' s not the window, the water is slowly running along on the inside of the roof, when the Revcon e. g. is half covered under the flying roof and the opposite part of the Revcon' s roof on the driver' s side gets wet!
2. Differential, engine and transmission oil change with new filters. New seals for the transmission and differential.
3. New driveshafts with new bolts (!) (remember my breakdown in August 22).
4. 2 new shocks (front).
5. Frame of the hitch (rear) - I bought 2 little wheels to prevent grounding.
6. Spoiler damage repair (from towing in August 22). The cracks on both sides have to be eradicated.
7. Sliding window at the driver's seat: New fitting fuzzy channel.
8. Laying an extra power cable for the rear cams to avoid transmission failures. Now they are running on the same elecrical circuit together with the rear lights.
---‐---‐--------------------------------------------------
9. Get the front rims plus spare tire rim checked and repaired at Kottnig' s Rim Clinic near Vienna.
10. Two new Firestones Trans Force HT for the front wheels.
I finally want to get rid of the remaining front vibrations once and for all!
Mario has arrived with his short 1979 Revcon. Now there are two Revcons next to each other, a very rare picture in Europe, I presume. 
Seems to be a material defect. My mechanic changed the ball joints two years ago. They came from Rockauto.com. I was lucky, because it happened in front of the mechanic shop. I wanted to do a test drive after the service at 60 mph. Don' t want to imagine what could have happened if it breaks on the highway...fully loaded with the family etc. 
Correction, I have talked about the incident with my mechanic, he didn' t change the ball joints. Maybe nobody did in 45 years.
Is such a breakdown also common for GMC Motorhomes?
Is such a breakdown also common for GMC Motorhomes?
Those ball joints look to have been changed at some point. The originals came riveted to the upper A arm from the factory.
Grease zerk appears to be missing. Was it never there and therefore not greased, or did it get knocked off when the ball joint failed....
Judging on the dryness of that boot, I'm going to guess those zerks have not been there in a loooooooong time.
Talked to the former owner. Moog ball joints 2018 new. 3000 miles since then. No winter. Doesn' t know about zerk.
Material defect?
I' m still very glad that this didn' t happen in the middle of nowhere in a remote area in Europe.
Material defect?
I' m still very glad that this didn' t happen in the middle of nowhere in a remote area in Europe.
If I recall, Moog boxes the ball joint with the zerk, but it is not installed on the ball joint. It may even be self-threading. So if it was never installed, the hole on top might not even have threads.
I don' t trust Moog anymore...
Spooky. Shall I change the ball joints now every 3.000 miles? Just to be sure?
I mean, this is not like losing a screw...
Spooky. Shall I change the ball joints now every 3.000 miles? Just to be sure?
I mean, this is not like losing a screw...
If that thing was never greased, that could potentially cause it to freeze in place and then would lead to it just snapping off like this as you experienced. I don't think you have to replace them every 3000 miles. That would be insane. I would certainly make sure it's greased frequently and check it for extreme play or loose bolts fairly often however. (There should be some play... Dave Lenzi has stated far too many ball joints have been replaced needlessly over the years bec mechanics haven't understood that there is supposed to be some play with these ball joints unlike most standard ball joints where there shouldn't be ANY play). I don't know what the exact amount of play there should be but from what I remember it's fairly significant.
Thank you very much for this information.
From now on we are going to grease them on a regular basis.
The Revcon should be fixed next week. I hope that the parts from Rockauto will arrive on Monday.
It' s the same with our GMC Safari Gulf Stream High Top Conversion Van: My mechanic lubricates e. g. the steering parts every 5.000 miles and the wheel bearings on the rear wheels have some play which is normal.
From now on we are going to grease them on a regular basis.
The Revcon should be fixed next week. I hope that the parts from Rockauto will arrive on Monday.
It' s the same with our GMC Safari Gulf Stream High Top Conversion Van: My mechanic lubricates e. g. the steering parts every 5.000 miles and the wheel bearings on the rear wheels have some play which is normal.
And RF_Burns is right...it seems that the upper ball joints had zerks, but they weren't screwed in and therefore the ball joints weren't lubricated.
