Saf-t-plus

[Chance]

Originally Posted by JamieGeek

Yeah: Except: I don't like the way the kitchen sink is boxed in by the pantry and the refer. Didn't notice that on the floorplan. Would have been much nicer to have the same arrangement as our 24.1: Sink on the left, refer in the middle, and closet on the right--that opens up that area a lot more. It doesn't look that bad on the floorplan but in the pics (#10 of 11 at the link you provided) it looks really cramped.

We discussed the very same thing as well, so it must be something that most buyers would want different; so why would Winnebago do it this way?

Perhaps at a detail level, Winnebago thought the depth of the fridge was too much to place directly across the bathroom. If you notice on Winnebago floor plan that's drawn to scale, they make the kitchen counter less deep than the fridge. I like that a lot anyway to make small motorhome feel wider, but in this case it was probably necessary because the kitchen is almost directly across from bathroom. Whoever is cooking or doing ditches will have their back to bathroom. In Axis 24.1 the kitchen counter does not place a person cooking with back to bathroom.

In this particular Rayo floorplan, swapping fridge to back would only address part of issue, since half of kitchen would still remain across from bathroom.

You mention that Rayo are same size as Axis, but keep in mind they are actually 90 inches wide instead of 94 inches like the Axis. An adequate aisle width probably gets a little tougher to provide.

I find these design tradeoffs very interesting to discuss, but should probably do it under your Dream Axis/Vegas Floorplan thread instead of under this thread about handling. By the way, Rayo are not only 4 inches narrower, but also 5 inches lower, and the lower CG should help with handling. Narrower width not so much. Overall I like the size of the Reyo better. We are not that big and don't need the extra few inches of headroom. Six-five headroom is plenty.

[Joe-FL]

Originally Posted by mash557

Well I got the mount kit Tuesday and the enclosed instructions said 240 ft lbs. tried to install on Wednesday and was going good right up until I tried to tighten up the Ubolt nuts. The mount would not seat on the axle correctly. After a call to manufacturer found out that some F53's need a slightly modified bracket which is a little narrower to clear and they shipped it straightaway. He said they have found a few with that issue and keeps a small stash of the modified ones ready to go. Great response from Safe-T-Plus.

Wow, 240 ft lbs was more than I expected them to be. Good information to know.

[Joe-FL]

Originally Posted by Phil Saran

I had a Safe-T-Plus installed on my MH after I got it.
Last summer while on Hwy 90 in Montana I had a side wall
blow out on the right front tire (factory tire problem).

The MH stayed straight while I slowed down and pulled over to
the side of the hwy.

Worth the $$ in my opinion.

Having taken a spare tire (unmounted) saved me tire since no
tire store I called carried the correct size tire in stock.

Phil, I totally agree and thanks for the post. Even if an installed Safe-T only improves my drive handling 10% to 20% it is worth every dime if it helps control my MH in the event of a steer axle tire failure.

[mash557]

Originally Posted by Joe-FL

Wow, 240 ft lbs was more than I expected them to be. Good information to know.

Got the Safety T Plus installed yesterday. I still need to adjust center but I think it will help a lot

[DocP]

As suggested by Thor, I had my first alignment today, and then had the Safe-T-Plus and Koni FSD shocks installed. I took the motorhome for a 50-mile ride on the highway after the install and was very impressed by the stability in the steering. The real test will be on my longer trip from Cleveland to Florida in 3 weeks.

[vkb]

Originally Posted by FW28z

Don't know why the Axis is not on an E-450 chassis, which would probably give you more heavy duty springs, etc. Perhaps the E-450 is not available in a stripped chassis?

Our 2016 Axis is on the E-450 chassis

[Chance]

Spring stiffness needs to be in proportion to weight they are carrying. Heavier springs just for the sake of stiffer suspension simply leads to a rougher ride.


And for what it's worth, yes, Ford makes the stripped chassis in both E-350 and E-450 dual rear wheel models. A few years ago they even made a lighter-duty version of the stripped chassis with single rear wheels. Unfortunately, the SRW version is no longer included in the comprehensive Ford specifications.

[machlin]

Dbadger77,

We have a 2015 Axis 24.1 We ordered safe-t-plus through CW and had them install. Easy, quick, and reasonable. The difference is noticeable right away. Great choice.

Machlin

[Locknut]

Originally Posted by machlin

Dbadger77,

We have a 2015 Axis 24.1 We ordered safe-t-plus through CW and had them install. Easy, quick, and reasonable. The difference is noticeable right away. Great choice.

Machlin

The Saf-T-Plus improves the steering. For improvement of the ride, and elimination of excess sway, including the "push" associated with passing trucks, you should try a set of heavy duty sway bars.

[BSexton]

Originally Posted by BSexton

I just had the Safe-T-Plus installed on Wednesday. It does seem to have helped the steering on the Axis. It isn't perfect, but it is better. I do have to say that most of my trip home was on I-285 around Atlanta. That is not a real good sample of how well it's going to handle on interstate highway. 285 is never in great condition!

If you'd ask me if it has corrected all of the issues, I would say no. But, I'm getting a crash course in suspension and steering mechanisms. I'm moving up from a Itasca Reyo. It is based on a Sprinter chassis. The Sprinters have rack and pinion steering and independent front suspension. So, I'm not sure that I can ever get to that level of comfort and ease of driving in the Axis.

I think that the next upgrade will be to the sway bars. However, that will have to wait until we get out to Utah. Just don't have time to deal with that before we have to leave.

Thanks to this forum (and it's participants), I knew what I was getting in to with the Axis before we bought it.

BTW, I got it installed at the factory in Austell, GA. I'm local, so it wasn't a very long drive. If you buy it from them, they will install it for free. It was about $100 more than what I could get the parts from Amazon. I figured we would eat up that $100 savings by having anyone else do the install. And, I'm pretty sure that no one else would know better than them on how to install it and configure it. It took about 45 minutes for them to install it and less than 30 minutes to do the road test and adjustments.

Now that we have completed the 1800 mile trek from Atlanta to Utah with the Safe-T-Plus installed, I have to revisit my review.

On the first day from Atlanta to the Mississippi border, the handling was pretty much just as I described in the trip back from the factory. However, somewhere in Louisiana, I noticed that the coach was much better. The coach was riding straight down the road without much correction. It was also much easier to steer. I don't know what happened, if something needed to get broken in, but it was vastly improved. Still not as good as steering on the Sprinter based RV, but not far off. The rest of the day was a pleasure.

Most of day 3 and 4 was pretty bad. But, that was not due to RV at all. We got in to flat portion of Texas, and then Arizona and Colorado--all were windy (at times, very windy). I know that there are some suspension upgrades that might help, but we are still driving a big sail!

At the end of day 4, we made it into Utah and the winds died down. When we got to highway 128, north of Moab, it was a pleasure to drive. Highway 128 snakes along the Colorado river as it meanders through the red rocks. I was sitting in the drivers seat thinking that it was money well invested. It drove on that road as nice, or nicer, than the Sprinter.

I'm not sure what happened in Louisiana, but I now recommend the Safe-T-Plus whole heartedly.

[dw1gator]

Originally Posted by BSexton

Now that we have completed the 1800 mile trek from Atlanta to Utah with the Safe-T-Plus installed, I have to revisit my review.

On the first day from Atlanta to the Mississippi border, the handling was pretty much just as I described in the trip back from the factory. However, somewhere in Louisiana, I noticed that the coach was much better. The coach was riding straight down the road without much correction. It was also much easier to steer. I don't know what happened, if something needed to get broken in, but it was vastly improved. Still not as good as steering on the Sprinter based RV, but not far off. The rest of the day was a pleasure.

Most of day 3 and 4 was pretty bad. But, that was not due to RV at all. We got in to flat portion of Texas, and then Arizona and Colorado--all were windy (at times, very windy). I know that there are some suspension upgrades that might help, but we are still driving a big sail!

At the end of day 4, we made it into Utah and the winds died down. When we got to highway 128, north of Moab, it was a pleasure to drive. Highway 128 snakes along the Colorado river as it meanders through the red rocks. I was sitting in the drivers seat thinking that it was money well invested. It drove on that road as nice, or nicer, than the Sprinter.

I'm not sure what happened in Louisiana, but I now recommend the Safe-T-Plus whole heartedly.

Great to hear. Having an install there in Austell Friday the 31st. Looking forward to it.

[Chance]

Originally Posted by BSexton

....cut....

Most of day 3 and 4 was pretty bad. But, that was not due to RV at all. We got in to flat portion of Texas, and then Arizona and Colorado--all were windy (at times, very windy). I know that there are some suspension upgrades that might help, but we are still driving a big sail!

At the end of day 4, we made it into Utah and the winds died down. When we got to highway 128, north of Moab, it was a pleasure to drive. Highway 128 snakes along the Colorado river as it meanders through the red rocks. I was sitting in the drivers seat thinking that it was money well invested. It drove on that road as nice, or nicer, than the Sprinter.

....cut.....

Are you saying it didn't help much in windy conditions?


By the way, highway 128 is indeed great. I've driven it a few times when traveling from Colorado to Moab and love how you follow the Colorado River and see how it starts forming a canyon mile after mile. Occassionally we stop and just watch the rafts and kayaks floating along.

As I recall much of the road is protected from cross winds by the canyon, and it's fairly low speed, which makes it a pleasure to drive. Even so, it's a lot more relaxing a drive in a 20-ft van than 30-ft Class C. Just pulling off onto narrow overlooks is much easier.

Reading all the handling issues these larger motorhomes seem to have is making me rethink going larger than a Class B. Unfortunately, Bs are so cramped by comparison.

[Joe-FL]

Was all ready to order my Safe T Plus yesterday and began final research on best prices for it and the kit. I also called the factory to confirm my parts numbers and to get a price.

Their price was almost $100 more but that included the install, test drive, and adjustments. It was a no brainer for me since we are heading north the first of April anyway and they are only about 20 miles out of our way. We will dry camp behind their building and have the appointment set for 9am the next morning to get the install.

This will also be a good way for me to gauge how much it helps my steering control going down the interstate, by doing a long day on the road without it and then two long days with it.

[Jegdrum5050]

Just ordered my SafeT plus has anyone done their own install??

[Joe-FL]

Originally Posted by Jegdrum5050

Just ordered my SafeT plus has anyone done their own install??

I recall seeing a couple different postings of folks on here doing their own installs. I had been planning on doing my own and I watched the on-line videos yesterday and was convinced that it was only about an hour job, not counting the road test and subsequent adjustments.

If the location of the factory (free install) would have been 100 miles or more out of our way during the upcoming trip we would have ordered and installed. To me it looks like if you can do the CHF yourself you could easily install a Safe T Plus.

[Kev]

Originally Posted by Joe-FL

Was all ready to order my Safe T Plus yesterday and began final research on best prices for it and the kit. I also called the factory to confirm my parts numbers and to get a price.

Their price was almost $100 more but that included the install, test drive, and adjustments. It was a no brainer for me since we are heading north the first of April anyway and they are only about 20 miles out of our way. We will dry camp behind their building and have the appointment set for 9am the next morning to get the install.

This will also be a good way for me to gauge how much it helps my steering control going down the interstate, by doing a long day on the road without it and then two long days with it.

Hopefully you will have good results and notice a improvement in your driving experience. Put one on my Vegas along with Sumo springs and noticed a better driving experience. I have a new Windsport coming in and the steering stabilizer will be my first addition. I am looking forward to hearing about your experience with the Safe T Plus.

[petew]

Originally Posted by Jegdrum5050

Just ordered my SafeT plus has anyone done their own install??

Yes , I did my own install . Very easy to do the actual install and after 3 short test rides it was properly adjusted.
It can be done with hand tools and a pair of high capacity Rhino Ramps (12,000 GVW or 16,000 GVW) .
The ramps can be purchased through Amazon or a host of other online stores for $39.00 -$50.00 and are great for oil changes .

[croused]

Im putting one on my Vegas 24.1 E-350 right away based on recommendations by JamieGeek and others. Stabilizer is 31-140 Silver with mounting kit E-353K14 for the 2017 E-350.

[Jmccombe]

Having CW Winchester install Safe T Plus on my coach tomorrow. Hope it improves driving as much as folks say. Alignment was done yesterday. Not too far out of spec.

[Felices30.2]

I see many installing Heavy Duty Sways with their Safe-T-Plus. Is no one trying the the CHF (Cheap Handling Fix) by just adjusting existing sways? Would love to hear feedback.
thanks
Ralph