January 2008 / Tech Center #50 - GMC Western States Motorhome

January 2008—Vol.
68 States Newsletter
Western
January 2008—Vol. 68
GMC Western States Newsletter
Inside
1 President’s Message
Secretary’s Report • Treasurer’s Report
2 Rally Schedule • New Journeys • Officers
Publication Schedule
3 Western States Tech Center
President’s
Message
G
reetings to all, and best wishes for this New Year. May your
GMC run without problems through 2008 (and beyond)!
This is a watershed year for some of us GMC owners. GMC
Western States is having a joint rally/convention with the GMC
Motor Home International. This will be the first time for a joint
rally since GMC Western States was formed in the late 1980’s. This move does not mark the beginning of our Club’s end. Not
at all!
This is an opportunity to attend a large GMC rally without
traveling halfway or more across the country. Here’s a chance
to meet and talk with more GMC owners and enjoy even more
expertise. Our challenge is to show by our attendance that the
West has a large and active group of owners that enjoy our motor
homes but don’t feel compelled to travel across country to enjoy
the camaraderie of other owners. A large turnout of Westerners
will show that western rallies will generate large turnouts giving
us the chance for more International Conventions in the west. GMC Western States is offering an incentive for attendance at the
Santa Rosa rally by covering the cost of two nights and a catered
meal for Friday and Saturday before the joint rally begins. We
will hold one of our required business meetings on Friday before
dinner.
Your Board of Directors views this as a onetime event, voted on
by the general members present at the 2007 Spring Rally at Mt.
Hood. I would like to hear from any of you regarding our future
plans.
Frank
Secretary’s
Report
Did you know that:
Our membership renewals are pouring in. As of January 3rd,
only 80 members have not renewed. Dues are a mere $20 and
shall be sent to: GMC WESTERN STATES
C/O JUDY CHERRY, SECRETARY
2212 W. TONTO RIDGE ROAD
PRESCOTT, AZ 86305-3938
Treasurer’s
Report
2007 year end report will be in the next Newsletter, i.e. waiting
for bank statement.
Mike Cherry, Treasurer 1
Western States Newsletter
January 2008—Vol. 68
Western States Rally Schedule
GMC Western States Officers
Spring 2008 Joint Rally/Convention
with GMC Motorhomes International
Sonoma County Fairgrounds, Santa Rosa, CA
March 30 – April 5, 2008
(2 days early March 28 – 29 for GMCWS members)
Registration form is on our Web site and will be mailed to
members by International.
Frank Condos, Chapter President
559-683-5185, [email protected]
Fall 2008 Blackwell Island RV Park, Lake Coeur d’Alene, ID
Rallymasters: Terry and Gloria Morris and the Cascaders
September 15-19, 2008
If you are interested in entering your vintage car/GMC
motorhome in the Route 66 caravan in May, 2009 (entry
fee is $50) please contact Helen Wykle at (928) 758-9246
for more information. GMC WESTERN STATES is
tentatively planing a rally in Williams, AZ the week prior to
the caravan.
Fall 2009 Golden Village Palms RV Park, Hemet, CA
Dave and Donna deGraffenreid
October 16-20, 2009
2008 Newsletter Publication Date Schedule
Info to
Coordinator:
2
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
Jan 4th Apr 9th July 8th Oct 3rd
(to Freddi) (to Freddi)
(to Judy)
Steve Ferguson, Technical Vice President
520-803-0220, [email protected]
Judy Cherry, Secretary
928-445-7875, [email protected]
Mike Cherry, Treasurer
928-445-7875, [email protected]
Kerry Tandy, FMCA National Director
Cell: 406-360-5187, [email protected]
Spring 2009 Tentatively May in Williams, AZ
Helen Wykle is working on this.
Freddi Condos, First Vice President
559-683-5185, [email protected]
(to Judy)
Gene Dotson, FMCA Alt. Nat. Director
828-465-0678, [email protected]
Freddi Condos & Judy Cherry, Newsletter Coordinators
(see info above)
Lill Deal, Newsletter Publisher
858-270-3023, [email protected]
GMC Western States Newsletter
Designed and Printed by Ideal Services, San Diego, CA
If you would like to submit an article or item,
email Freddi: [email protected]
DISCLAIMER: NEWSLETTER ARTICLES ARE CONTRIBUTED BY
MEMBERS AND ARE PUBLISHED AS A SERVICE TO MEMBERS.
ACCURACY IS NOT GUARANTEED.
INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION IS URGED.
New Journeys
Info to Publisher: Jan 11th Apr 14th July 14th Oct 10th
IN LOVING MEMORY OF LEE PORTER.
Publication Date: Jan 25th Apr 25th July 25th Oct 24th
Lee passed away last November. Her husband, Ozzie and the
Western States membership will sorely miss Lee.
JanuaryNewsletter
2008—Vol. 50
Western States
January 2008—Vol. 68
Western States Tech Center
Getting Your Coach Under Control
By Steve Ferguson, Technical Vice President
Anyone who has ever driven a GMC understands that it can be
handling and drivability. Start at the top and work your way down. The steering coupler, that thing with the blue Teflon coating on it,
should still be coated with Teflon. If it isn’t, there is your first source
of steering wheel play. A few thousandths wear equates to fractions
of inches at the wheel. a tiring experience. Rut wander, shoulder snatch, constant steering
corrections, truck wash etc. Let’s look at some of the reasons why
this occurs.
First of all, these coaches came with bias ply tires and the wheel
alignment specifications were designed around those tires. Secondly,
most of the front suspension components were designed for a car
weighing 2 tons less than an unloaded GMC.
Under ideal conditions, most of the suspension parts on the cars
barely lasted 100,000 miles and some of the GMCs I’ve seen
have that many miles or more on the original components. Now,
combine that with the fact that our GMCs sit unused for extended
periods of time causing the rubber parts of the suspension to “take
a set”. Now, load up the GMC with all the spare parts andDoes
tools you
yo ur st ee rin g
think you’ll need, all the clothes you think you’ll wear, all amenities
you think you’ll need and then add the weight of the awning, your
yo ur st ee rin g co upl er look
fold up chairs, table, camp mat, food and Does
beverages,
and yourself
and travel companion and pets. And, of course, we only have a few
storage places in the GMC so we load what we have, where we can
and never consider the loading balance of the coach.No wonder the
coach handles a bit squirrelly!
Does your steering coupler look like this? Does yo ur st ee rin g co upl er look like t his?
co upl er look like t his?
like t his?
Rel ay
Rel ay rod & Ste eri n g li nk
RelayRel
rod
Steering
ay&rod
& Stelink
eri ng
li nk
Wo rn r elay ro d b ushi n g, not e th e de pt h o f t
These are lower control
arm bushings. Notice
Next in line is the s teering box. If it h
how some of the steel
100,000 miles, chanc es ar e it needs reb
sleeves seem off center.
adjus ting screw will not repair a worn w
Bushings like that
relay
thelot
grease
here
atgroove
elay ro
dslop
brod
ushibushing,
n g, not equates
enote
th ethe
de depth
pt h to
o fofta
he
gre
ase
gthe
roov e steer
second one can throw Wo rn rWorn
your caster or camber
to coupling slack and things start to g e
Next in line is the steering box. If it has gone more than 100,000
off as muchNext
as two
in
line
is
the
Ifase
it ghas
m ore
Wo rn r elay ro d miles,
b ushi ng,
nots
e teering
th eitde
pt h box.
orebuilding.
f t he gre
roov
egone
chances
are
needs
That
adjusting
screw
will than
degrees. That 100,000
is a lot!! miles, chanc
That
argear.
e itthe
uilding.
about
rod
? Chanc
es
not repair a How
wornes
worm
Aneeds
littler elay
slopreb
here
equates
to a lot
at ar e
These bushings came from well maintained coaches. The problem
adjus
ting
screw
will
not
repair
a
worn
w
orm
gear.
worn
from
all that
see-sawing
w
steering wheel.
slack
and
thingsthan
start w
to egetAdolittl
in substitution
line is the sthe
teering
box.Add
Ifit itto coupling
has
gone
m ore
Next
is, we never get to see them from this angle. An
excellent
interesting.
here
equates
to
a
lot
at
the
steering
w
heel.
Add
i
slop
to
stay
in
our
lane.
Watch
closel
order
miles,
100,000
for OEM
bushings are
urethanehow
bushings. Expect
a bitchanc es ar e it needs reb uilding. That
r control
arm rubber
bushings.
Notice
som e
coupling
slack
and
things
start
tothe
g et
interes
ting
else
the
wheel
fr om
to
adjus
ting
screw
willHow
not
repair
aturns
worn
w orm
gear.
A isside
little
these. Another
problem
theto
handling
about
the
relay
rod?
Chances
are,
bushing
worn
from.side.
likeis that
that
eves smore
eemroad
offfeelc with
enter.
B ushings
up
and
dow
n
a
little
when
the w h
move
degenerates
so
gradually
that
we
don’t
really
notice
it
and
sort
of
a lot
at thewe do
steering
w heel.
all that
see-sawing
with the wheel
in orderAdd
to stayitin our
thr ow y our c aster or camber off slop
as mhere
uch equates to
adjust
all GMCsbushings
have thatto
wiggle
wagon
problem? about
the
r elay
rod
?to
Chanc
ar
e,
the
is f
does
, as
m
des
o,turns
that
equates
toto the
lane.
Watch
closely
while
someone
else
the
wheel
from side
coupling
slack
and
things
start
gost
et interes
ting
. bushing
. That
istoait. Hey,
lot!!don’t These
cam
e How
Mine’s not so bad! Matter of fact, it’s a one-hander. Yeah, right!
Justfromside.
Does
the
relay
rod
move
up
and
down
a
little
when
the
wheel
worn
all
that
see-sawing
w
e
do
with
the
wheel
in
mov
ement
of
the
steering
w
heel.
inch
ained c oaches. The pr oblem is , w e nev er
try checking out the scenery and before long, you’ll haveorder
changed stay
is moved?
IfChanc
it does,
as
do, the
that
towthe
quarter
in? our
lane.
Watch
hile
eone
worn
coup
lerclosely
.equates
the
fr om this angle. An excellent substitution
r elay
rod
esmost
ar
e,
bushing
isfirstsom
How about the to
lanes without meaning to.
to
half
inch
movement
of
the
steering
wheel.
Now
add
that
torelay
the
else
turns
the
wheel
fr
om
side
to
side.
Does
the
ro
b ushings are urethane b ushings. worn
Expectfrom
a
all that see-sawing w e do with the wheel in
worn coupler.
let’se.see A
what
we canproblem
do about this.
No
one the
change
is going
and
dow Watch
n a little
when wthe
heeleone
is m oved ? If
move
eel withWell,
thes
nother
is order
that
to stay
inup
our
lane.
closely
hilewsom
to
make
your
30
year
old
coach
handle
like
new
again.
The
front
area
of concern
is the tie
That’
s relay
fourquarter
places
where
as mOur
ost
d o,
that
torods.
the
first
to hal
er ates so grad ually that w e don’t
elsereally
turnsdoes
the , wheel
frnext
om
side
toequates
side.
Does
the
rod
suspension
all all
the components
contribute
to
wear
can
and
does
occur
when
they’re
worn.
Add
that
wear
to
the
r t of ad
just to isit.a system
Hey, and
don’t
GMCs
have
mov
ement
of
the
steering
w
heel.
N
ow
add
that
to
inch
move up and dow n a little when the w heel is m oved ? If it
on prob lem ? Mine’s not so bad! Matter
of m
coup equates
ler .
the
does , as
ostworn
d o, that
to the first quarter to half
hand er. Yeah, right! Just try checking out
3
January 2008—Vol.
50 States Newsletter
Western
coupler, the worn steering box, and the relay rod. We must be up to
an inch of slop now!
Next in line are the ball joints. The lowers are famous for wearing
out long before the uppers. They are even more famous for failure
when replaced improperly. Most shops repair autos, not GMCs. There is a procedure in the manual for checking these. Take the
time to do it. A sixteenth inch of play in a ball joint equates to a
huge amount of slop in the steering wheel. Now add that to the
coupler, relay rod, and drag link. No wonder SHE doesn’t like to
drive the GMC! There are still bushings and bearings to be checked. If you are
traveling on original bearings, shame on you. There’s enough
evidence out there to prove that there are improvements to be had
with tightening up OEM tolerances. The Timken bearings we
have available to us today through our vendors are the only ones
we should be using. Knuckle dimensions are absolutely critical and
must be checked by an expert. I won’t go into bearings, knuckles
and hub dimensions here as that would add 5 more pages to this
article. Do it right, have ‘em checked by an expert!
January
2008—Vol.
68
Western States
Tech
Center
are a personal preference. Some prefer a little toe out on the left
wheel to compensate for road crown. This is good except not all
roads are crowned the same. Dave Lenzi prefers zero. I would
suggest you start here and see if it works for you. In the next newsletter, we will take a look at the rear suspension and
it’s effects on coach handling.
Please send your comments and ideas for the Tech Notes to:
Steve Ferguson, Technical Vice President
P.O. Box 1777
Sierra Vista, AZ 85636
520-803-0220
E-mail: [email protected]
Note: Technical seminars and other technical articles printed in this
newsletter are provided for information only. What you do to your coach
and how you do it is your responsibility.
Well, we’ve gone and done it. Everything has been checked, what’s
worn has been replaced. What next? Most, if not all, of us have switched to radial tires. Radial tires
s to require
an immediate
ht or left
turn
ofThis
the
different alignmentrig
specifications
than bias
ply tires.
is cycle.
especially
true
when
it
comes
to
castor.
Castor
is
the
angle
of
a
line
es hav e z ero c aster. Now let’s kick that caster out
drawnSort
throughof
the like
center of
ball joints. Think
of caster’s effectwith the
a bit.
a the
chopper
motorcycle
on steering like a unicycle. On a unicycle, the pivot center is directly
xtended w ay out ahead of the g oos eneck of the
below the operator’s butt. The slightest wiggle on the seat equates
ycle.to anTimmediate
hos e things
arturn
e straight
line wonders
You
right or left
of the cycle. Unicycles
have zero .
o hit caster.
a curb
tos kick
g etthatone
things
to awand er .
Now let’
casterof
out thos
ahead e
a bit.
Sort of like
chopper
motorcycle
with
the
forks
extended
way
out
ahead
of
the c astor
w e want to do is get all of the p ositive
gooseneck
of
the
motorcycle.
Those
things
are
straight
line
wonders.
e when w e have the wheels alig ned . A sugg estion
You have to hit a curb to get one of those things to wander. What we
s to want
use
availab le offset bushings on the up per
to do is get all of the positive castor possible when we have the
arms.
thes e will
allow
youoffset
to bushings
get up to 5
wheels Using
aligned. A suggestion
here is to
use available
s of on
positive
caster.
With
new
O EM
style
b ushings
the upper control
arms. Using
these
will allow
you to
get up to
5
degrees
of
positive
caster.
With
new
OEM
style
bushings
you
are
e lucky to g et 3 d egrees.
Tell your alignment
lucky
to
get
3
degrees.
Tell
your
alignment
technician
that you
wantand still
ian that you want all the caster he can
g et
all the caster he can get and still adjust camber.
camber .
The GMC Western States Inc, chapter of the Family Motor
Coach Association, is comprised of GMC Motorhome owners
from all fifty states and the three southwestern provinces of
Canada. The Chapter purpose is to promote the preservation of
the GMC Motorhome with a technical program of professional
t ad justm ent on the front wheels is the toe. Don’t
seminars and published information and to further the
The last adjustment on the front wheels is the toe. Don’t even
otherbother
trying
et right
thisif you
right
y ou
haven’t
the association, membership, enjoyment and common
trying to
to getgthis
haven’tifgot
the ride
height set gotmutual
eig htproperly
s et and
prthe
operly
andlike the
GMCa trip.
load
edhavelik e interest
you of GMC Motorhome owners, their families and
GMC loaded
you planning
GMCs
friends.
“nose. up”GMCs
attitude when
position.
specifications
g a atrip
havine the
a travel
“nose
up Toe
” attitud
e when in Web site: www.gmcws.org, Billy and Debbie Massey
vel4 p osition.
Toe spec ifications are a p ersonal
nc e. Some pr efer a little toe out on the left wheel
Western States Newsletter
January 2008—Vol. 68
Coaches for Sale
Parts for Sale
We welcome your ad. Ads will run for one year unless we are
informed otherwise. Please inform us if your coach is sold before
the ad runs out. The last four digits at the end of the Ad represent
the expiration date (month/year).
Hot Wheels GMC Motorhomes All 3 series. Palm Beach orange
or green. Used various conditions. Nascar series all 4 models,
new, never opened packs. The last series blue (Team Racing), new,
never opened packs. Write or call for details. Vernon Smith, 3811
W. 16th St. Ln, Greeley, CO 80634, 970-330-0334
___________________________________________ 0608
Contact: Freddi Condos, [email protected], phone 559-683-5185
1976 Eleganza II, 66,231 original miles, tires replaced at 64,706
miles. Dual air conditioners, bed in back. Original paint. Original
upholstery in excellent condition. Converted fridge (original fridge
included). Complete and working in covered storage, low or no rust.
$11,000 Call Kathy Sinkard at 775-782-6156, Reno, NV area.
___________________________________________ 0208
1978 Royale, Center kitchen, rear bath, china toilet, recent
upholstery (beige), leather driver and passenger seats, twin
beds (bunk type), 403 with 38,000 miles after reworked, 2,000
miles on transmission with heavy duty torque converter, all steel
radials on 16” Alcoa rims, Onan 6 kw generator, 2 roof airs and
dash air, awning, pod on top, new shocks front and rear, recent
2-way fridge, Fantastic fan, walnut interior, all manuals and
documents. $22,500. Ray Piltz, Portland, OR, 503-286-5444.
___________________________________________ 0608
1978 26’ Royale Center kitchen model. Brand new paint
and windshields, 7 Alcoa wheels, good Bridgestone tires. 403
GMC truck engine (not 455 car engine). Top brand synthetic
lubricants since 1985 in engine, transmission, chassis grease.
New Bendix Hydroboost (replaced vacuum boost). New front
calipers/carbon metallic pads. New rear brake shoes, cylinder
kits. Custom built couch and rear bed. Full kitchen (microwave,
stove with oven, Newtone). Appraised in 2003 at $27,500. Asking
$22,500. More info call Ed Burner in s. CA (714) 871-2095.
___________________________________________ 1108
1977 26’ Eleganza Low miles on rebuilt engine. Newer beige
paint. Storage box on roof. New alum. Wheels with new radial
tires. Engine A/C ok. Roof A/C need repair. New light weight
doors on cabinets. Good gas mileage. Macerator. Good air bags
and compressor. Electric fuel pump. Nice radio. Very clean. Inside
hangar storage. Should bring $25K but will entertain offers in
$20,000 range. Wayne King, 965 Airport Dr. San Luis Obispo,
CA 93401 (805) 215-8201 or office: (805) 544-6774. Fax:
544-3100.
___________________________________________ 1108