Handling issues

[RCouch]

I have a new 25 ft. Thor Four Winds on a Ford E350 Super Duty Chassis. I want to "wonder" on crowned and worn roads. It's not as noticeable on perfectly flat roads. It does already have front and rear sway bars. I lowered the air pressure in the front tires about 15 pounds. My next step is to weight it fully loaded and have the alignment check.



Anyone with a similar experience want to weight in?


Rick

[16ACE27]

I wonder about wandering..........

[steve76]

I have a 2018 Freedom Elite 22fe bought Nov. 2017. Had following installed: Upgraded front and rear sway bars, Koni shocks, SafeTplus, rear track bar, front end alignment. Improved wandering but still blows around. Have come to conclusion just a square brick driving down the road and nothing is going to improve that. Does handle better than before but need to focus 100% while driving.

[RhondaMyers.com]

Originally Posted by steve76

I have a 2018 Freedom Elite 22fe bought Nov. 2017. Had following installed: Upgraded front and rear sway bars, Koni shocks, SafeTplus, rear track bar, front end alignment. Improved wandering but still blows around. Have come to conclusion just a square brick driving down the road and nothing is going to improve that. Does handle better than before but need to focus 100% while driving.

We spent thousands to make our 22fe perfect for us. We only have 20k or so miles on it but will soon be on the road again. We upgraded bumper to bumper. We would never be able to buy one with everything in it we have. Now we need tank heater pads and leveling Jack's, oh and maybe a keyless entry. We just made our own outside TV, so our fall trips will be perfect.

[be happy]

There is a learning curve to driving these things. The more you are behind the wheel the better you will feel. I have not done any upgrades to the MH, but after driving many miles on the two lane Ozark mountain roads I feel 100% comfortable in the way the unit handles. Remember this is one big box going down the road.

[skysoldierjim]

Originally Posted by be happy

There is a learning curve to driving these things. The more you are behind the wheel the better you will feel. I have not done any upgrades to the MH, but after driving many miles on the two lane Ozark mountain roads I feel 100% comfortable in the way the unit handles. Remember this is one big box going down the road.

Just returning from a trip with grandkids. North Carolina to Clarkston WA. I have added front stabilization and leveling system. The “Brick” going down the road is a great description. Once you drive in all conditions, rain, mountains flatlands, and wind you have to learn how to drive it to be safe. The Cruze Control is useless unless you’re on flatlands. Tow haul works if you are going slow in towns. Watch the tachometer, use your breaks and downshift if needed. It can be a challenge.

[jabrabu]

You've already upgraded the swaybars, so I would get a good alignment done and install a steering controller like a Saf-T-Plus. It really helped with the wandering on my 32' class C.

[Metalgator]

Originally Posted by be happy

There is a learning curve to driving these things. The more you are behind the wheel the better you will feel. I have not done any upgrades to the MH, but after driving many miles on the two lane Ozark mountain roads I feel 100% comfortable in the way the unit handles. Remember this is one big box going down the road.

When we bought are Miramar, I had never driven a motor home before. I had always pulled a TT. Before taking delivery, I read about all the suspension mods you could do to make handling better. I figured I would drive the motor home for a year and then see how it goes. After driving it several times and getting used to it, I think it drives fine. As you, I feel 100% comfortable with the way in handles. I won't say the first couple of drives were white knuckle events, but I was not used to driving something that big and the body roll caught me off guard. Ours tracks fine down the road but with crowned roads it will pull to one side a bit but so does my truck. I know many people swear by the steering stabilizers. For any new motor home owner, I would suggest driving the motor home as much as you can to get used to it before you start putting a bunch of money into suspension mods because you might get used to the driving characteristics. I might eventually do sometime to dampen the body roll as that is the only thing that bothers me sometimes on our Miramar.

[RCouch]

Last Month I posted that my new Thor was having some handling issues. I want to thank everyone who weighed in. I mentioned that it wanted to wander. The only thing I did was to take some air out of the front tires. So I got to try this out while on the road all last week. What a difference! It's still not great on rough, rotted, and heavily crown roads. But it is much better. But on a good, flat highway, Like on the I-40 westbound outside of Grants, New Mexico, it handled perfectly. I took my hands off the wheel at 75 mph and it just went straight down the road! Incredible! I still want to do some of other things people suggested. Like weight it and check the front end alignment fully loaded. And look it a heavier front sway bar. But what a difference a little air pressure can make.

[jabrabu]

What tire pressures are you using now?



I have a Chateau 31E on the E450 chassis. The door sticker says 75psi front, 80psi rear. Based on weights I've seen for these RVs the front pressures could be lower, probably as low as 60-65psi. I split the difference and I'm using 70psi front, and staying with 80psi rear.

[RCouch]

the dealer had 90 PSI all the way around. The fronts are now 75. I want to weigh all 4 corners. Maybe I can adjust each tire differently since I have a large side out on the left side and a large storage compartment on the left rear. Once I get it weighed, maybe I can lower the rears too.