Relative cost of repairs/ steering box

[Craig Schwartz]

I told a mechanic friend about my intent to buy a BB (gas,FC31, 1974).
After he stopped telling about the fuel mileage he calmed down and
suggested I research the following questions to get
a sense of how expensive it is to repair a BB, whose parts may not
be available.

- is the steering box available from the original mfgr, and what is
it's cost ?
- is it available from anyone else, and cost ?
- est. cost to fabricate from scratch, or is there a substitute ?

any thoughts on this ?

thanks,
- Craig, Venice, CA

[Mike Hohnstein]

What's the problem with the box? What kind of power steering arrangement you
got? Some of the old ones had a cylinder on the cross link, a sensor/valvebody
on the drag link. I got a box for such an animal but it's off a 64 chassis.
I'm retrofitting the box off a 87 Ford truck to my 31 gas, I doubt any one would
pay me enough to do it again.
Make sure the bolts that attach the steering box to the frame are ALL tight.
Mike Hohnstein
----- Original Message -----
From: Craig Schwartz
To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 4:36 PM
Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Relative cost of repairs/ steering box


I told a mechanic friend about my intent to buy a BB (gas,FC31, 1974).
After he stopped telling about the fuel mileage he calmed down and
suggested I research the following questions to get
a sense of how expensive it is to repair a BB, whose parts may not
be available.

- is the steering box available from the original mfgr, and what is
it's cost ?
- is it available from anyone else, and cost ?
- est. cost to fabricate from scratch, or is there a substitute ?

any thoughts on this ?

thanks,
- Craig, Venice, CA





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[Curt Sprenger]

Hi Craig,
Does your mechanic friend know BBs in detail or is he just guessing? His
basis may be from experience with the SOB stick and staple units that
are no longer on the road due to poor quality in the first place.That
1974 BB has less than 50,000 miles on it. BBs are overbuilt with
components that will last 100s of thousand miles...since 1966 to present
date. The steering box...*BABs Steering Hydraulics, Inc. *in Fontana,
CA, and all over the country, had in stock the pulley for the power
steering pump. You can contact them and ask about the steering box. The
steering box is the last thing I'd worry about.

Expensive to repair...not really. An example is the BB brake system
parts cost less than brake parts for my 1 ton Chevy truck. RV stuff is
RV stuff, same cost for new, old, SOB or BB.

Gas mileage is about 6+7 MPG if one keeps their foot off the floor. If
pushed hard then 5+ MPG. The 1974 weighs about 24,000 pounds. I get just
over 6 mpg average with our 1987 PT38 and it weighs 41,000 pounds. These
Birds were not designed with economy in mind.

One buys a BB because of it's quality and safety factor in a crash...the
all steel body frame and steel skin, the heavy duty frame, axle
components, drive line, etc. I've seen SOB units after a crash...that is
the pile of rubble, people hurt or dead. I've seen a couple BBs after a
crash and one after a roll over...guess what. The people walked away
from the crash. Banged up some but not hurt seriously or dead.

Hope this helps.

Curt Sprenger


Craig Schwartz wrote:

> I told a mechanic friend about my intent to buy a BB (gas,FC31, 1974).
> After he stopped telling about the fuel mileage he calmed down and
> suggested I research the following questions to get
> a sense of how expensive it is to repair a BB, whose parts may not
> be available.
>
> - is the steering box available from the original mfgr, and what is
> it's cost ?
> - is it available from anyone else, and cost ?
> - est. cost to fabricate from scratch, or is there a substitute ?
>
> any thoughts on this ?
>
> thanks,
> - Craig, Venice, CA
>
>
>
>
>
> SPONSORED LINKS
> Recreational vehicles
>
<http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?t=ms&k=Recr...vehic\
les&w2=Wanderlodge&w3=Automotive+maintenance&w4=Recreational+vehicle+dealer&w5=U\
sed+recreational+vehicles&w6=Automotive+radiators&c=6&s=163&.sig=DAUkCKkU7Dzhn_O\
bWmSYTw>
> Wanderlodge
>
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derlodge&w3=Automotive+maintenance&w4=Recreational+vehicle+dealer&w5=Used+recrea\
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Used+recreational+vehicles&w6=Automotive+radiators&c=6&s=163&.sig=IF4u_5wI8Pmy34\
cC1O9CxA>
>
> Recreational vehicle dealer
>
<http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?t=ms&k=Recr...ional\
+vehicles&w2=Wanderlodge&w3=Automotive+maintenance&w4=Recreational+vehicle+deale\
r&w5=Used+recreational+vehicles&w6=Automotive+radiators&c=6&s=163&.sig=z6_XahaeY\
HfELr6o72IW1A>
> Used recreational vehicles
>
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vehicles&w2=Wanderlodge&w3=Automotive+maintenance&w4=Recreational+vehicle+dealer\
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_4GlXA>
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[Jeff Miller]

If there's something wrong with the steering box, it would be
repaired or rebuilt. The Ross (TRW) steering parts are available.

'Birds are surprisingly inexpensive to repair mostly, except for the
fact that they might have several of something that most RVs either
don't have, or only had one of. Most of the coach systems are high-
end household or RV, mostly still available. Chassis/body parts are
mostly pretty cheap, comes from the high-volume used in heavy truck &
bus use keeping the prices reasonable.

Look it over well so that you know what costs you're getting into.

- Jeff Miller
in Holland, MI


--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, Curt Sprenger
wrote:
>
> Hi Craig,
> Does your mechanic friend know BBs in detail or is he just
guessing? His
> basis may be from experience with the SOB stick and staple units
that
> are no longer on the road due to poor quality in the first
place.That
> 1974 BB has less than 50,000 miles on it. BBs are overbuilt with
> components that will last 100s of thousand miles...since 1966 to
present
> date. The steering box...*BABs Steering Hydraulics, Inc. *in
Fontana,
> CA, and all over the country, had in stock the pulley for the power
> steering pump. You can contact them and ask about the steering box.
The
> steering box is the last thing I'd worry about.
>
> Expensive to repair...not really. An example is the BB brake system
> parts cost less than brake parts for my 1 ton Chevy truck. RV stuff
is
> RV stuff, same cost for new, old, SOB or BB.
>
> Gas mileage is about 6+7 MPG if one keeps their foot off the floor.
If
> pushed hard then 5+ MPG. The 1974 weighs about 24,000 pounds. I get
just
> over 6 mpg average with our 1987 PT38 and it weighs 41,000 pounds.
These
> Birds were not designed with economy in mind.
>
> One buys a BB because of it's quality and safety factor in a
crash...the
> all steel body frame and steel skin, the heavy duty frame, axle
> components, drive line, etc. I've seen SOB units after a
crash...that is
> the pile of rubble, people hurt or dead. I've seen a couple BBs
after a
> crash and one after a roll over...guess what. The people walked
away
> from the crash. Banged up some but not hurt seriously or dead.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Curt Sprenger
>
>
> Craig Schwartz wrote:
>
> > I told a mechanic friend about my intent to buy a BB (gas,FC31,
1974).
> > After he stopped telling about the fuel mileage he calmed down and
> > suggested I research the following questions to get
> > a sense of how expensive it is to repair a BB, whose parts may not
> > be available.
> >
> > - is the steering box available from the original mfgr, and
what is
> > it's cost ?
> > - is it available from anyone else, and cost ?
> > - est. cost to fabricate from scratch, or is there a
substitute ?
> >
> > any thoughts on this ?
> >
> > thanks,
> > - Craig, Venice, CA
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > SPONSORED LINKS
> > Recreational vehicles
> > <http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?
t=ms&k=Recreational+vehicles&w1=Recreational+vehicles&w2=Wanderlodge&w
3=Automotive+maintenance&w4=Recreational+vehicle+dealer&w5=Used+recrea
tional+vehicles&w6=Automotive+radiators&c=6&s=163&.sig=DAUkCKkU7Dzhn_O
bWmSYTw>
> > Wanderlodge
> > <http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?
t=ms&k=Wanderlodge&w1=Recreational+vehicles&w2=Wanderlodge&w3=Automoti
ve+maintenance&w4=Recreational+vehicle+dealer&w5=Used+recreational+veh
icles&w6=Automotive+radiators&c=6&s=163&.sig=Z-8HJdysB3QLPj9U0JvqYQ>
> > Automotive maintenance
> > <http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?
t=ms&k=Automotive+maintenance&w1=Recreational+vehicles&w2=Wanderlodge&
w3=Automotive+maintenance&w4=Recreational+vehicle+dealer&w5=Used+recre
ational+vehicles&w6=Automotive+radiators&c=6&s=163&.sig=IF4u_5wI8Pmy34
cC1O9CxA>
> >
> > Recreational vehicle dealer
> > <http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?
t=ms&k=Recreational+vehicle+dealer&w1=Recreational+vehicles&w2=Wanderl
odge&w3=Automotive+maintenance&w4=Recreational+vehicle+dealer&w5=Used+
recreational+vehicles&w6=Automotive+radiators&c=6&s=163&.sig=z6_XahaeY
HfELr6o72IW1A>
> > Used recreational vehicles
> > <http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?
t=ms&k=Used+recreational+vehicles&w1=Recreational+vehicles&w2=Wanderlo
dge&w3=Automotive+maintenance&w4=Recreational+vehicle+dealer&w5=Used+r
ecreational+vehicles&w6=Automotive+radiators&c=6&s=163&.sig=UGEY5km4L-
kXbDI4ZSadEw>
> > Automotive radiators
> > <http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?
t=ms&k=Automotive+radiators&w1=Recreational+vehicles&w2=Wanderlodge&w3
=Automotive+maintenance&w4=Recreational+vehicle+dealer&w5=Used+recreat
ional+vehicles&w6=Automotive+radiators&c=6&s=163&.sig=ePNVMmISsCWgTnMq
_4GlXA>
> >
> >
> >
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[Craig Schwartz]

Thanks for your comments - I'll reply to all of them here:

The mechanic friend is posing a general question to assess repair
costs. He has little or no direct experience with BB's (his
love is ambulances) and so does not really understand their
original quality.

Although I have not yet driven the coach (the road test will
need to be postponed a week or so), I'm confident that
it is mechanically fine, due to the efforts of a prior owner.

His concern was for the general issue of getting parts for
older vehicles. I'm relieved to read that it's not such
a problem for an older 'bird.

- Craig