Steering got weird at same time

Ouch! This could turn ugly.

If it won't turn left even with wheels off ground, I would suspect steering box or maybe the damper. Disconnect the damper as a first move; that's easy.

My next step would be to pop the tie rods off the spindles. That will help isolate things.

Don't jump right in and adjust the box as that may cloud issues.

There is a downside in doing any investigating at all in that the service outfit can point a finger at you for causing the problem.

Jim

Hm. Is it possible to damage the steering if it is towed as I described? I sure won't mess with it if they may have damaged it.

Mike RJS

I would not have thought it could be damaged by what he did, but the coincidence is too great to ignore.

Jim

Yep yep yep. There are two possibilities here: 1. He damaged it, but there is no visible sign of damage. No scrapes on parts, no visually bent bits, and he pulled the Wonderbus pretty much straight up the ramp.

1. The steering decided to throw in the towel in sympathy with the clutch cable letting go of the pedal thingy.

If there was a tweaked part, I could call AAA and have them come out and point at it and gripe and complain vigorously. But there isn't that I can see. WWYD?

BTW, found the Bentley's and it appears that all sorts of special tools are needed to pull the steering bits apart. Just to isolate the steering box for troubleshooting appears to use a tool unlike anything I've got in my 125-piece WalMart ToolKit(TM) (I kid -- my tools are mostly a collection of fine Harbor Freight offerings.)

- Mike RJS

I am not a type 2 man, but know a tad. If he pulled it up like you described no damage should have occurred.

But sometimes s**te happens at the least likely time(that was not to cleverly written, was it, blame my ancestors..).

I had a scooter at work today, which confirmed that no matter how clever you are, man made machines will sometimes fool you. It took me 3.5 hours to solve this particular problem, which most likely(I'd say 96%) was a owners caused fault. However the scoot only had 150K's on the clock, so I let it pass as a (do not know the proper English term) warranty issue.

I would look closely at tie rods.

On another hand I was once a passenger in a Merc four wheel drive, the offroad kind (cant remember the exact type now), which refused to turn left after we forged a dam. Turned out to be the steering box sucked in water being submersed..

I am ranting.. You have to pardon me.

Jørn.

Looks like just the ticket and in my price range, but it's shown as out of stock. Who else sells such things?

Try:

Now that I have full sun, I took another look under the Wonderbus and found the cause of the problem. When the AAA tow driver wrapped his hook around the main axle beam he also hooked the steering damper -- close to the outer end and mashed it. I probably should have gotten under and inspected everything before he pulled it up onto the trailer. It's not an expensive part, and no fancy tools are needed to replace it, thank heavens, so I'll do it myself. But I'm gonna call AAA and gripe.

-- Mike Rocket J Squirrel.

WhoooHooooo!! This is your lucky day.

Jim

Yeah, huh duh. Dodged a bullet, I guess.

-- Mike RJS