I had my 78 motor home that is on a D300 van chassis towed and now have a problem with the power steering favoring one side. By favoring I mean if parked and the steering wheel is turned to the right it will continue truning a half turn unassisted. I seem to remember the powere steering gear has a way to center the assist. Can anyone tell me how? Thanks in advance.

 

it should center just based upon the alignment. When I had my truck lifted and the alignment done the guy said that in order for the steering to center better I'd have to get shims or something, I think to change the castor? if I recall the plane that the tires turn on should be a few degrees off of horizontal.

 

Thanks for your input but the problem is not with the alignment as the steering wheel rotates with no input while the vehicle is not moving. The power assist is giving too much assist to one side. When moving there is no pull to one side or the other but it is easier to turn right then left as far as how much pressure you have to give to the steering wheel. Hope that makes sense.

 

wait, so if you just hop in and fire it up the steering wheel will turn itself a little to the right?

As far as I know there's no left/right bias adjustment on the gear itself, only the allen head bolt on top to adjust the lash between the gears in it to reduce the slop. That would be a constant change though, equal for both directions. Perhaps your gear has been damaged by the tow truck forcing the tires to turn?

 

Thanks for your response. I finally went to the library and looked it up in a Chiltons manual. Seems there is a spool valve on top of the gear that is adjustable. If the steering wheel turns by itself on start up you move the valve up or down untill the wheel no longer turns.

 

interesting. Perhaps it's different for pickups and motorhome chassis? I don't remember anything other than the one adjustment. Glad you got it fixed though