Non-integral MC9 steering adjustment....

Ross · October 22, 2006, 01:48:45 PM

There was a thread a couple weeks ago about adjusting the steering box. Just thought I'd post and let whoever is interested know that I did adjust mine and it drives like a different bus. I turned the adjustment only abot an 1/8 of a turn. I had about 4" of play in the wheel and now I have 1/2"-3/4". No more surprise lane changes....

Ross

DavidInWilmNC · October 22, 2006, 03:22:29 PM

Quote from: Ross on October 22, 2006, 01:48:45 PM
There was a thread a couple weeks ago about adjusting the steering box. Just thought I'd post and let whoever is interested know that I did adjust mine and it drives like a different bus. I turned the adjustment only abot an 1/8 of a turn. I had about 4" of play in the wheel and now I have 1/2"-3/4". No more surprise lane changes....

Ross

Hi Ross,

That was me asking about adjusting non-integral steering on my MC-8. I'd love to know what you did & how you did it. I've got about 4-6" of play in the steering currently. Thanks.

David

Ross · October 22, 2006, 03:39:28 PM

On the spare tire side of the steering box there is a big nut. That's a lock nut. Loosen that then turn the inner part a little bit. tighten it in small increments. If you get it too tight, the steering will feel stiff. Don't drive it like that. Tighten to take most of the play out but not so tight that the steering gets stiff. There should be a very small amount of play there otherwise the gears in the steering box will be binding up. If you get it to the point that the steering feels stiff and there is still play, then you have other issues. I've done kingpins and checked everything else, so I knew my play had to be in the box or the knuckle.

Ross

PS...I'm sure there is a written procedure on doing this, but I don't have the 1979 manual and thus don't know the "proper" procedure, so I just adjusted it by feel.

gus · October 22, 2006, 09:04:41 PM

Ross,

If your adjustment is like my 4104 it is on top of the steering box and impossible to see, I had to do it by feel with a stubby screwdriver and a closed end wrench.

I also got the amazing results in steering that you mentioned after being told the only solution was Sheppard steering. I couldn't ask for any better steering than I have now.

Ross · October 23, 2006, 07:25:51 AM

On the MC9 the adjustment is on the side. I know because I adjusted it.

People just seem to assume that the old steering systems are just no good when iin reality, thier problems are probably not the steering box. I'm also very pleased with the steering now. There is no way I could justify the expense to swap to integral. I've driven both, and integral is not that much better than what I have now.

Ross

buswarrior · October 23, 2006, 02:07:19 PM

THANK YOU ROSS!!!!

A properly adjusted steering gear and suspension parts of any vintage or design will be just fine.

Busnuts, DO NOT SPEND YOUR GOOD MONEY on steering retrofits until you have checked that you are in a no win, no more adjustment left, worn out condition. And that some radius rod bushing in the rear isn't heaving you all over the highway...

Lots of things to spend our good money on, it is nice when we find that our formerly sloppy steering isn't one of them!

happy coaching!
buswarrior

gus · October 23, 2006, 07:01:02 PM

Even better is that on GMCs the adjustment is nothing but a threaded tapered pin with a screwdriver slot on the adjusting end.

I'm assuming that the pin is softer than the worm gear so all one needs to do is remove the old pin and insert a new one. This is really a very simple job that requires one wrench and a screwdriver.

The only gotcha is getting the pin adjusted right but even that isn't bad because you can make a very good guess just by observing the amount of play where the steering drive shaft goes into the steering box.

DavidInWilmNC · October 24, 2006, 05:06:45 AM

After I get the generator straightened out (hopefully this evening), I'll move on to adjusting the steering. It'll be nice to have a few inches less play in the steering!

David

Runcutter · October 24, 2006, 02:02:49 PM

Quote from: buswarrior on October 23, 2006, 02:07:19 PM
A properly adjusted steering gear and suspension parts of any vintage or design will be just fine.

Busnuts, DO NOT SPEND YOUR GOOD MONEY on steering retrofits until you have checked that you are in a no win, no more adjustment left, worn out condition. And that some radius rod bushing in the rear isn't heaving you all over the highway...

buswarrior

BW - good stuff. Makes me question my plans for the GM 4107's manual steering. I've been thinking about a power steering retrofit, but have a bunch of other things to spend the money on. Play in the steering isn't the issue, but at low speeds, our 07 has TMSB steering (two men and a small boy). I had to make about a 5 point turn in a rest area in New Brunswick to get to a water hookup - the rest area employee noted that I must have manual steering, since he saw me standing up to turn the wheel.

I just thought it was because I'm not in my 20's anymore (which I was when I was used to bus manual steering). Backing into the narrow slot in the RV storage place is a chore - there's a great incentive to get it in one shot.

She's ok on the highway - nice and stable. I believe in two hands on the wheel at all times, so I'm not worried about her getting away from me with bridge joints, potholes, etc. City driving is the issue.

So, what's the opinion - are there adjustments for the GMC 4107 that can take care of the low speed problem, or should I still consider a power steering conversion - if so, what kind of dollars should I hope for when I buy this week's lottery ticket?

Thanks.

Arthur Gaudet - Carrollton, TX

Ednj · October 24, 2006, 04:27:49 PM

I to did this very same adjustment 3 weeks ago, ever sense that day I've been trying to adjust it back.
It seems it's allot harder to adjust back?
When I first made the adjustment I too only turned the screw about 1/8 of a turn (maybe not that much).
When I drove the bus about 10 feet forward, the steering would hang up in the center position.
I slowly started turning it back until it no longer felt hard when returning to center.
Now like you say the steering feels tighter, but when I'm tooling down the road at 65-75 mph and I'm in a long sweeping curve, I can feel (in the steering wheel) that hard spot like a steering lock.
>
When I saw the first post about this I wanted to caution everyone about this adjustment, I was hoping to correct this incorrect adjustment I did to my perfectly good bus first. (Still not right)
Ed-9-Nj

Ross · October 24, 2006, 04:33:54 PM

That's what I meant by the steering feeling tight. You should be able to loosen it in small increments until the tight spot is gone. If you then still have a wandering bus, the problem is elsewhere.

Ross

Homegrowndiesel · October 24, 2006, 05:13:57 PM

Yea Ed.

When the gearbox rides in a loose condition the gears get worn in that location.

After running loose and worn to that gear mesh, It takes forever for them to remesh and reloosen to the new adjustment.

If they are adjusted every once it awhile that condition is minimized.

Sometimes they are worn so much a new gearbox is in order.

A good reason for PM

In some cases to late.

Bill Glenn

buswarrior · October 24, 2006, 07:08:50 PM

Hello Runcutter.

I would assume you have greased your manual steering box?

GM manual steering was one of the best out there.

As lovely as the manual is for road feel, it does become a pain for the kinds of places busnuts find themselves.

It only takes one of those lottery tickets to win....

happy coaching!
buswarrior

gus · October 24, 2006, 08:06:02 PM

Arthur,

Your manual steering shouldn't be any harder to turn in tight spots, it just takes more turns to do it. Give it a really good dose of grease as buswarrior says and you will see a lot of difference. Been there. Even though my 4104 is hyd power assist it worked a whole lot better after I gave it about 50 shots of grease.

EdNJ,

I think your worm gear has a worn notch in it. I'm not sure how this could ever happen unless it was run really loose for a long time. Otherwise, to wear in one spot if kept adjusted would take mucho miles without moving the wheel, not really likely.

I'm also assuming that the pin is softer than the worm gear but this may not be so. It would only be logical since the pin is a 10 min replacement job.

Another possibility is that your adjusting pin has a flat spot on it. It is supposed to have a perfect cone shapr. Take it all the way out and check it, this would be a simple fix.

Keep in mind that my experience is on GMC steering but the MCI must be about the same since Ross described the same adjusting process as used on GMCs.

Paso One · October 25, 2006, 06:36:59 AM

In a previous life (working on a front end alignment machine) The best way to adjust a steering box is with TWO people. one person moving the steering wheel in the free play travel zone, and the other person adjusting the nut. You'll never have the negative comments as stated above. It's a very simple procedure but fast to go wrong,