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Old 02-24-2017, 05:49 PM   #1
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Crooked Steering Wheel, Alignment Woes

I hope everyone is having a great Friday. I took my 2015 Jayco Precept 29UM (on the 18K chassis) to a reputable truck alignment shop to get the front end aligned since it was pulling to the right. The owner of the shop called me to inform me that his workers got the motorhome aligned and it was tracking very well now. However, they were unable to remove the steering wheel to replace it into the centered position. He said it was the first time this has ever happened, but unfortunately he had no answers for me. He charged $360 and sent me off with the situation below.

He did however say that although he never can get any information out of Ford, if I were able to find out then let him know how to fix it. He told me the problem was "one way splines."

Has anybody else had this experience and have any suggestions? No Ford dealership in a 150 mile radius of me will touch my motorhome.

Thanks
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Old 02-25-2017, 06:53 AM   #2
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You don't straighten the wheel by pulling it off and re centering it and putting it back on. There is a clockspring in there for air bag and steering wheel controls that prevents that. The steering wheel is centered with the adjustments you make during the alignment with the tie rod adjusting sleeves. If the wheel is crooked after an alignment it needs to be re done.
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Old 02-25-2017, 08:40 AM   #3
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The shop should have "centered" or leveled the steering wheel first, THEN made the adjustments to the suspension/front end under the unit to maintain the centered position of the steering wheel and put the suspension within factory specs.

I would take it back and ask for a redo, or a refund myself.
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Old 02-25-2017, 08:44 AM   #4
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http://www.irv2.com/forums/f23/steer...ed-131601.html

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f23/cente...-215047-2.html

Thanks everyone for your replies. I decided to post on the Ford Motorhome Chassis Forum on iRV2 to reach a larger audience (not just Jayco Precept and Alante but the whole kit and kaboodle!).

I found the answer in the above posts. Apparently, it is a 5 minute job in which the adjustment is made at the steering box. On the F53 chassis, it is not necessary to disassemble the steering column.

I am taking it back to the alignment shop to get it fixed. Turns out that while they have extensive experience with heavy trucks and older motorhomes, they had never worked on a 2011+ Ford F53 platform. I'll forgive them and give them another chance. They DID do an amazing job aligning the vehicle. If you think your motorhome drives well off the showroom floor, then you MUST get it aligned and you will be shocked at the difference. I almost always tow my trailer so I think it masked how much it was pulling to the right before. Since I gave up motorcycle racing (still track days though), I have used it some without the trailer and noted the issue with it pulling to the right, leading me to get the alignment.
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Old 02-25-2017, 11:35 AM   #5
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Thanks Fantastic news CycleDoc...

the MH community is very helpful...

Just imagine being an owner without the Internet...!
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Old 02-26-2017, 07:39 PM   #6
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Procedure for Centering the Steering Wheel on 2014 Ford F53 Chassis

Success!! I took some time to take some pictures to demonstrate how I was able to center the steering wheel. If you recall, it was pointed about 45 degrees to the left when the motorhome was tracking straight.

Here are the tools you need:
[See image #1 below]
13 mm socket
Tire iron or pry bar
Hammer
Ratchet
Torque wrench set to 35 lbs ft.
Creeper (Trust me, you NEED this)
Safety glasses (lots of sharp things poking around under the left wheel)

First, I made certain that the motorhome was tracking straight with the steering wheel off-center (not the reverse or you'll have problems finding center later).

Then, I used the creeper to slide head first under the left front of the motorhome, where I was able to pull myself sitting straight up on top of the creeper in perfect position and with surprisingly plenty of room.
Here's the view:
[See image #2 below]

I COMPLETELY removed the 13mm bolt.

Then I used the tire iron to slowly and steadily remove the clamp off of the splines on top of the steering gearbox:
[See image #3 below]

I got out from under the motorhome and back into the cockpit to straighten the steering wheel. Don't get too anxious! The steering wheel is completely free and you can spin it around or fall if you try to rest your weight onto it:

Now I simply pushed the clamp down onto the splines, but of course, it takes a little force. I used the edge of the tire iron and the hammer to make swift taps onto it until gradually the clamp was fully seated back onto splines.
[See image #4 below]

I replaced the bolt and torqued to 35 lbs ft and bam, I was done.

Motorhome's steering wheel is now perfectly centered!
[See image #5 below]

I celebrated by driving 60 miles roundtrip to pick up my "new" used Acme EZE-TOW car dolly(the latest model with hydraulic brakes....only used 3 times).
[See image #6 below]

Remember that older, pre-2011 F53 motorhomes can be centered by removing the steering wheel, but since 2011, Ford has been providing keyed splines so that the steering wheel fits only one way.

I hope this post helps someone else who suffers this misfortune. Life is too short to drive a motorhome with a crooked steering wheel!
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Screenshot 2017-02-26 at 7.03.34 PM.png  
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Old 02-27-2017, 12:37 AM   #7
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F a n t a s t i c
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Old 02-27-2017, 05:28 AM   #8
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Great write up for this process!
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Old 02-27-2017, 05:33 AM   #9
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Jayco sprite 1994 annex set up

Hi there new to this formun I recently brought a 13ft jayco sprite sleeps two need help or instructions on how to set up annex for it I have no idea could someone plz help thanks it is a rear door one
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Old 02-27-2017, 06:06 AM   #10
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Good thing you did not push up to far, you could have damaged the Clock spring ( that's the wound up coil under your steering wheel) also should have disconnected the Battery,(( The clock spring , connects to several vital things , Air bag, cruse control, Happy it worked out .....
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Old 02-27-2017, 08:17 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dino046 View Post
Hi there new to this formun I recently brought a 13ft jayco sprite sleeps two need help or instructions on how to set up annex for it I have no idea could someone plz help thanks it is a rear door one
Welcome to the forum! I see you are in Sydney. Is that the one in Australia? Or British Columbia, Canada? There probably aren't too many on this forum from down under. You will find a lot of helpful folks on here, so there may be someone who has the answer to your question. FWIW, you should probably start a new thread so that more folks read it.
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Old 02-27-2017, 01:39 PM   #12
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Dino46,

This is the class A Motorhome forum. You should be in a towable forum, not sure which one but there are forums for you RV.
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