Luxury Coach Lifestyles - View Single Post

77newell · 08-04-2010, 05:04 PM

Hey all: great discussion. No caster was added to my 77 coach by Champion. If you look at the bolt heads that secure the front end of the tubes running forward from the front axle you will see arrows. My top bolt arrow points to the rear and the bottom points toward the front. This is the maximum caster this system will generate.

According to TRW for my HFB64 steering gear ATF, power steering fluid and engine oil up to SAE 40 are all approved. They clearly advise that mixing fluid types can produce big problems. However, for clarification I checked with Valley Truck Parts, the local experts on steering gears, and they said it was OK to mix ATF and power steering fluids, but don't mix either of those with engine oil as tar will result.

Given the inexpense and near zero risk of trying the higher viscosity Honda PSF I decided to give it a shot and it did make a difference.

I agree that adjustments take very little force and that is were most people go wrong and produce the kind of sticking or hanging up that I was experiencing. On this gear tighter is not necessarily better and small adjustment carefully tracked as someone above suggested is what I would do if future problems develop.

Given the sloppiness of reaction to large and/or fast steering inputs that had occurred I wondered if the supply pressure was dropping at the higher volume required for these steering inputs. I suspect dropping pressure due to insufficient supply would also produce the symptoms I had but after the surprize following the Gunk addition I decided to try higher viscosity fluid prior to the far more complicated and expensive process of checking dynamic supply pressure.

Jon
77 Coach with Civic toad

08-04-2010, 05:04 PM	#8
77newell Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Just North of Detroit, a surprizingly great city Posts: 380	Steering Solutions Hey all: great discussion. No caster was added to my 77 coach by Champion. If you look at the bolt heads that secure the front end of the tubes running forward from the front axle you will see arrows. My top bolt arrow points to the rear and the bottom points toward the front. This is the maximum caster this system will generate. According to TRW for my HFB64 steering gear ATF, power steering fluid and engine oil up to SAE 40 are all approved. They clearly advise that mixing fluid types can produce big problems. However, for clarification I checked with Valley Truck Parts, the local experts on steering gears, and they said it was OK to mix ATF and power steering fluids, but don't mix either of those with engine oil as tar will result. Given the inexpense and near zero risk of trying the higher viscosity Honda PSF I decided to give it a shot and it did make a difference. I agree that adjustments take very little force and that is were most people go wrong and produce the kind of sticking or hanging up that I was experiencing. On this gear tighter is not necessarily better and small adjustment carefully tracked as someone above suggested is what I would do if future problems develop. Given the sloppiness of reaction to large and/or fast steering inputs that had occurred I wondered if the supply pressure was dropping at the higher volume required for these steering inputs. I suspect dropping pressure due to insufficient supply would also produce the symptoms I had but after the surprize following the Gunk addition I decided to try higher viscosity fluid prior to the far more complicated and expensive process of checking dynamic supply pressure. Jon 77 Coach with Civic toad