TRW Steering gearbox swap

[JimC295]

I just want to give a shout out to Weller truck parts and to post the contact who is currently handling the Shepard to TRW gear box swap. Weller was awesome to deal with, I first emailed John Vanlaan who said he no longer handles the swap info but set me up with Nick Vangeest (Nick Vangeest nvangeest@wellertruck.com ) it was plug and play after that. Nick even offered to send one of their trucks to pickup the core. If you are contemplating the swap Weller is a great place to assist you in this endeavor. I am including a copy of Johns 1st email with Nicks name.

Good Morning Jim,

Thanks for reaching out to us. You have come to the right place. I am no longer in the Steering Department, however, I am still with the company and happy to point you in the right direction. We have sold many of the TRW replacement gears. They are not quite a bolt on and go replacement, however, a lot of RV owners have made the swap and are extremely happy with the change. The TRW gear you will need is the TAS65 052 and the NEW Pitman arm that will be needed for the swap too is 84242502. I have included some instructions from the forum (These instructions are older and we have sense updated which TRW gears and Arm works best but they are the same concept and should help you or your mechanic doing the swap). I have also included the Steering Department and counter sales Nick Vangeest who can better help you with questions, pricing, and shipping.

Hope this is what you are looking for and can help make your Monaco Coach more enjoyable for you.

 

John

[tmw188]

Well do you like it?

[JimC295]

Todd after some learning issues and hiccups cause by me absolutely yes. I was ready to pass this coach on to someone else to deal with, but the loose steering issue has been solved/fixed.

[JimC295]

I cannot emphasize enough correct torque on the gear box. I had a friend helping me install the gearbox. When we put the bolts in he hammered them down and said thats good. I did have doubts about them being tight enough because I did not have a good high end pneumatic impact. So on our return from my last trip, I rounded a corner in traffic side by side with several semis and it was not turning with the correct amount of input I had to keep turning to get it around the corner. It was scary so the next rest stop I pulled in and had my wife turn the wheel as I watched the gear box. It was moving around every time she turned the wheel, so the next exit I pulled into a truck stop and they hammered it down and now all is well. I am thinking I am going to buy some new bolts and lock nuts and replace them one at a time. I also purchased a high torque Ridgid 18v impact wrench so if the issue reoccurs, I am prepared to fix the problem. 

[dl_racing427]

17 hours ago, JimC295 said:

I cannot emphasize enough correct torque on the gear box. I had a friend helping me install the gearbox. When we put the bolts in he hammered them down and said thats good. I did have doubts about them being tight enough because I did not have a good high end pneumatic impact. So on our return from my last trip, I rounded a corner in traffic side by side with several semis and it was not turning with the correct amount of input I had to keep turning to get it around the corner. It was scary so the next rest stop I pulled in and had my wife turn the wheel as I watched the gear box. It was moving around every time she turned the wheel, so the next exit I pulled into a truck stop and they hammered it down and now all is well. I am thinking I am going to buy some new bolts and lock nuts and replace them one at a time. I also purchased a high torque Ridgid 18v impact wrench so if the issue reoccurs, I am prepared to fix the problem. 

Definitely, ALWAYS properly torque fasteners, especially those related to the steering, suspension or brake systems.
Glad you're unhurt and no real damage so far.
Replacing those fasteners is a good idea.  Loose fasteners can easily be overstressed.

[Benjamin]

I'm sure you know, but check the grade of the bolts by the markings on the head, and replace with the same grade.  If you can't find a torque spec, then use a generic torque spec based on the bolt thread size and grade. 

[Bykerboy]

I just finished my TRW replacement project yesterday.   I too want to give a big shout out to Weller Truck Parts.  They were very helpful and delivered my new steering box to my home (150 miles each way) at no charge.

I'm very happy with the results.

[JimC295]

1 hour ago, Bykerboy said:

I just finished my TRW replacement project yesterday.   I too want to give a big shout out to Weller Truck Parts.  They were very helpful and delivered my new steering box to my home (150 miles each way) at no charge.

I'm very happy with the results.

Did you manage to get the same number of turns to both right and left?  That is the only issue with my install I've got about 3/4 to 1 turn less to the right and so I have to be careful on sharp right turns.

[Bykerboy]

I did not check that specifically but on my test drive I did not notice anything unusual.   I will check that when I head out tomorrow for a weekend trip and report back here.

[cbr046]

3 hours ago, JimC295 said:

Did you manage to get the same number of turns to both right and left?  That is the only issue with my install I've got about 3/4 to 1 turn less to the right and so I have to be careful on sharp right turns.

When I got mine back I didn't lose any turning radius (whew!).  But while researching DYI I saw some instructions (somewhere) where the poppets had to be set.  This might be what you need to do . . . . 

- bob

 

[dl_racing427]

4 hours ago, JimC295 said:

Did you manage to get the same number of turns to both right and left?  That is the only issue with my install I've got about 3/4 to 1 turn less to the right and so I have to be careful on sharp right turns.

You likely have the steering box off-center, which can result in either too much slack when straight ahead, or binding when turning to a certain position.

Definitely check that, and make sure the Pittman arm is positioned properly on the output shaft, and the drag link is properly adjusted.

[Bykerboy]

I did set the poppet's, with the wheels off the ground, before driving and my pittman arm is positioned properly.   I did not lose any turning radius either left or right.

[JimC295]

1 hour ago, cbr046 said:

When I got mine back I didn't lose any turning radius (whew!).  But while researching DYI I saw some instructions (somewhere) where the poppets had to be set.  This might be what you need to do . . . . 

- bob

 

Bob, you might be right. I ran my wheel all the way right and all the way left but I did not apply pressure at the end of the turn. I'll try that before we take off again.