RV headaches

[Rich Thomas]

Well after having the Palace for right at 2 years with very little problems we had our first big hick up today. Last time out she picked up a vibration in the steering wheel,and floor. I felt like it was a wheel bearing so I in my investigation I found the right front had been hot and probably the cotter pin head floating around in the grease wasn't helping either the bearings looked good.and the spindle looked fantastic but the races showed heat. Feeling I had found the problem I R&R'ed  the bearings and races, repacked and reinstalled the hub and replaced the not quite worn out pads; just because I was there and that's how I tend to do things. I took her down the road and no more vibration in the steering wheel; problem solved...or was it? Nope, I was all set up to do a weekend with my youngest son and pulled the Palace out of the garage. I decided to take it out on the road again just to satisfy my self that all was good and when I got to about 35-40 I could feel a shudder not in the steering wheel but all over and as time went on the problem got worse. She only has 21-k on the clock but 39 years on the calendar. I was suspect of a bad torque converter but wanted to rule out other things because the fluid was still bright pink and no burnt smell or flecking. My next suspect was the carrier bearing for the split drive shaft but it turns out to be as good as the replacement I bought and, all the U Joints are tight and true so at this point I am back to thinking the torque converter gave up the ghost; any thoughts greatly appreciated. Oh and boy am I glad I kept a hold of my little pop up cause I already booked our site and I don't get to spend time with my youngest son much anymore so the weekend won't be a total loss. My goal now is to have her up and running in time for our annual Thanks Giving camp in November. My plan is to just change out the torque converter for now as well as the tranny filter, flush and refill with new fluid and hope that takes care of it the tranny never seamed to slip and it shifts just fine as well so I'm hoping I was proactive enough that it hasn't damaged it. 

[Rich Thomas]

Now that's funny, may have been a possibility 35 years ago.