[Jeff]

My 2000 Marathon H3 had it installed. There was fluid from leaks everywhere.

Company out of business years ago. We were unable to find what we needed or any one who might have some idea where to look.

Howard system was removed from bus.

The Howard steering idea was to firm up the steering turning a dial. Windy driving was to ease the driver from continuous steering wheel adjusting. Gauge / dial was installed around Allison trans selection pad.

I understand it did work…but ..some liked it…some didn’t.

AL

[AL]

Thanks for the reply Al. I know I’m kinda beating my head against a wall here. But when this thing works it is really helpful fighting fatigue when I do my 17 hour runs. The tank just bleeds out fluid within a couple days. I don’t like seeing puddles under the bus when the day ends. Thanks again.

[Archived]

I have the system in my bus, and it works. I experimented with it, and ultimately turned it off.

[Jeff]

Colt … great to see you posting. Hope all is well.

Jeff: You mention fatigue on long runs. We just completed a 78 day, 7700 trip from Wisconsin to Vonore to Everglades City to Daytona to NOLA to Galveston to Corpus Christi to Austin to Tucson to Phoenix to Malibu and Pismo Beaches to Las Vegas to Salt Lake City to Cheyene WY and back to Wisconsin.

We had quite a windy conditions in Texas, NM, Utah, Wyoming (warnings of 45mph winds, then 65+ mph winds), and Nebraska. I was surprised at how well the coach handled the windy conditions. I did have to hold a little crab in (pilots term) often to keep going straight, but I wasn’t fighting the wheel as I think out might be experiencing from what you said.

But our coach didn’t handle like that from the beginning. We bought it in May of 2014, picked it up from ETLC and drove back to Wisconsin. Made a couple of trips with it, and was constantly fighting the steering wheel as it wandered from centerline to shoulder and back again. Wife was constantly telling me I was on the shoulder as I was turning the wheel to get back where I wanted to be (that was really annoying).

Using some information I gleaned I think from a truck conversion forum I thought the problem was the steering box in that the gears had worn in the box and the adjustment screw needed to be tightened. But I was WRONG.

In December of 2014 we stopped at Vonore to have Jeff look the coach over again and take care of a leaking drive axle hub that had cropped up shortly after we got back to Wisconsin. The late Peter Campbell was at ETLC while we were there and after I realized he had 100’s of thousands of miles in Prevosts over the decades I mentioned the problem to him and my proposed solution. He said, “Nope, not the problem.” Told me to leave the steering box along, that is rarely if ever the problem. Told me the axles are probably out of alignment and I needed a three axle alignment at Prevost. We were going to Florida so I made an appointment at Prevost Jacksonville.

First thing the tech did was check the tie rods (after the infloor lift had lifted the coach by the frame). They were loose, so he replaced those. Then he hooked up the laser system and showed me how the drive axle was well out of proper alignment (curb side much further forward then the driver side). He said there were a large number of shims in for adjustment which probably wasn’t done at the factory. First he brought the drive axle to within acceptable factory specs, then one or two adjustments further it was dead on. I can’t rmember if he changed the tag. He made slight adjustments on the front. We also put Koni shocks on the front and new OEMs in the back.

The first five miles on the Interstate I could NOT believe how much different is was to drive the coach. It did NOT wander anymore. It was much, much easier to drive. Well worth the investment. I think flat rate on a three axles alignment back then was $650 plus parts and labor for whatever else they did.

You might want to consider a three axles alignment at Prevost. Both Peter and the Prevost tech told me not to take the coach to a truck alignment shop. Tech thought that is where the stack of shims were put in putting it way out of alignment. You might have the same problem I did. If you race, or know guys that do, you could try “stringing the coach” to see if you can detect if its out of alignment. Given the length of wheelbase and size of the tires it should be easy to do.

[Per]

“Fatigue and 17 hour run”, WHOA

Have you tried to find numbers on the bladders and Google them?

[Jeff]

Thanks, make sense to me. I will string the bus or set up my lasers to check the alignment. The bus drives straight when I’m not fighting a cross-wind so I’m thinking the alignment is good. I just replaced all the tires ($ ouch $) and I don’t want to scrub a tires if the alignment is off.

I’ll take the pressure tank apart to check for numbers. It isn’t like I’m going to break it, right?? If all fails I’ll put the OE steering stabilizer back on.

Thanks again for the insight.

Jeff

[Archived]

Oh yea. Dick, you win the Iron Butt Award. You definitely covered some ground on that trip. Sounds like a great run.

[Dick]

Jeff: We did have a good trip. If you want my insight when you string the coach, send me an email with your phone number.

[DON]

I pulled the bladder out of the accumulator to look for and identifiers to manufacturer. The only id I found was a “AHS” on the inside of the bladder. There are many companies that may use this acronym. The search is on.

[Archived]

The owner of the company I work as a consultant for was Dee Howard’s R&D supervisor. Here is a link to Dee Howards Steering System through the Dee Howard Foundation run by Dee Howard’s lawyer Wayan Fagan in San Antonio.

If you wonder why no one has picked this system up out of the ashes and made parts for it …… then ask yourself two questions.

What happens after a accident?

Who will they blame?

https://www.deehoward.org/the-dee-howard-legacy/hpcss

There is some good info on this site about system in general if you never received manuals on system.

[Dorel]

Ed: Thanks for the link. Holding a pilots license (like many others on the Forum) since 1971 the name Dee Howard was very familiar to me. I just read Dee’s bio, very interesting life. They just don’t make those guys anymore.

[Dan]

What a treat to read about Dee Howard and company.

Thanks for the post.

AL

[Russ]

Thanks for the input guys. I would like to make one last effort of trying to get this device to work. Does anybody know the manufacture and or the phone number of the manufacture for this bladder in the tank? I know Howard is long gone but someone made that bladder for him and I can call them and see if they would make me one. I already had Lake Machine rebuild to steering cylinder so now I am still chasing a oil leak.

Thanks again.

[Joe]

Jeff,

Please email me.

russwhite at earthlink dot net

Russ

[Jeff]

I have a Howard reservoir with a cracked sight glass. I think the bladder inside is good.

I will check and let you know.