Motorhome leans

[Mwiemer]

We own a Vegas 27.7 and the left side of the motor home leans noticeably when parked. The water tank is currently empty. What can be done to fix this.

[cpmath]

You will probably have to remove the radio from the dash and see if the housing unit is in straight or crooked. Contact Thor or a good radio/stereo shop.

[Trophy1200]

Originally Posted by cpmath

You will probably have to remove the radio from the dash and see if the housing unit is in straight or crooked. Contact Thor or a good radio/stereo shop.

I think the title should read Motorhome not Motorola.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by Trophy1200

I think the title should read Motorhome not Motorola.

Fixed!

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by Mwiemer

We own a Vegas 27.7 and the left side of the motor home leans noticeably when parked. The water tank is currently empty. What can be done to fix this.

"Left side" is ambiguous. And does the other side lean as well?
Does it lean to the passenger side, or the driver side?
Slides deployed or not?
Stabilizers/levelers deployed or nor?

Need more info.

[Sappy2]

I would start with it on level ground, slides in, jacks retracted, tires properly inflated (and I assume that you do not have a load of bricks on a basement compartment :-)). Measure from wheel opening to ground at all four corners. Determine if it is front, or rear, or both left or right combined lean. Then, depending on how much, I would contact Thor for an opinion, or if you think that the measurement is excessive, take it in for an inspection to make sure there is not a mechanical issue. A body can look like it leans but the tape measure might disagree.

[Pete'sMH]

It’s not really a problem unless it just bothers you. My Freedom Elite leaned and while it was in the shop for an alignment at a trusted truck suspension shop I asked about it. The chap said it’s no great mystery, just heavier on one side. It doesn’t affect the chassis or the ride in any measurable way. It’s just how “the box” sits on the chassis. It’s easy to fix if it bothers you. He said he’d do it by adding a small helper spring on the low side for about $150. Some folks do it by just adding a spacer to the spring. I decided to ignore it and subsequently noticed that quite a few RVs and box trucks lean. I’d just never noticed it before. Or since, really. I just stopped worrying about it.

[Chance]

Originally Posted by Pete'sMH

.....cut..... The chap said it’s no great mystery, just heavier on one side. ....cut.....

Exactly. With two slides and generator on driver/left side, the motorhome likely weighs significantly more on that side. Seems common with many modern motorhomes that have slides only on driver side.

Weight bias can be confirmed with four corner weight check.


P.S. — Loading heaviest items in passenger-side compartments could help some.

[atreis]

Mine leans a little. Slide, water tank, water heater, generator, and propane are all on the driver's side. The other side has ... the refrigerator and black tank. Heh. No great mystery. Fortunately, the beefy chassis is up for it.

[Mwiemer]

Originally Posted by 16ACE27

"Left side" is ambiguous. And does the other side lean as well?
Does it lean to the passenger side, or the driver side?
Slides deployed or not?
Stabilizers/levelers deployed or nor?

Need more info.

It leans just to the driver's side. Slides are in and water tank is empty.

[CHS]

You would think they would make sure it is level from the factory. Mine does the same thing. It does bug me, but not to the point of spending more money.

[lwmcguir]

One of the huge benefits of air ride suspension

Requires controls however

My Landmark leaned with factory suspension

Upgrading to 8k axles/springs fixed that as well as getting almost 50% more brake surface

[david healy]

Originally Posted by Mwiemer

We own a Vegas 27.7 and the left side of the motor home leans noticeably when parked. The water tank is currently empty. What can be done to fix this.

I have a Fourwinds 26-B, it leaned 3 inches in rear on drivers side! Under warranty, four had a spring spacer block that they installed. Got it within 1/2inch! I later added Firestone air shocks to finished the job!

[jimehrnin]

We have a 2014 DRV Mobile Suites (38PS3) with MorRyde IS suspension. It has always leaned a bit to the left when viewed from the rear of the RV. It didn't become a problem until August of 2020. I've always checked the wheel torque and tire pressure before trips. However, we haven't done much traveling and mostly lived in it full time.


In Just of 2020 we took the RV from Corpus Christi, TX to Kerrville, TX to avoid hurricane Hanna. When I pulled into the RV park in Kerrville, I had no tread at all on the left rear wheel of the RV. Note that the RV always had a slight list to the left side when viewed from the rear. I chalked the problems up to the tires being 5 years old and had a new set of tires installed in Kerrville. Everything seemed normal with the wheel hub, etc. We returned to Corpus Christi without incident (about 200 miles).


Just after we returned to Corpus Christi my father-in-law came down with Covid-19 in Las Vegas, NV. My wife immediately flew to Las Vegas and I followed with the rig. My father-in-law did survive Covid-19 and is OK I'm happy to say. He was in the hospital for two weeks and came home.


On my trip to Las Vegas, just after we returned to Corpus Christi from Kerrville, I got about 70 miles west of Albuquerque, NM and the tread separated from the left rear tire again, exactly like it had separated when I got to Kerrville a few weeks prior. At that point, I no longer considered it to be a coincidence. I got the new tire replaced and decided to stop at 45 minute intervals and check the temperature of the tires and hubs. It was August 2020 and hot as all get out and the left side of the rig was getting the most heat. The heat was brutal. I found the left rear tire, same wheel as the two separated tires, was running 30-35 degrees hotter than the other three wheels on the RV and the tires on the RAM 3500 dually. I made it to Las Vegas OK but I had to stop every hour and wait for the left rear wheel to cool down. We were in Las Vegas for about eight months and during that time I had the wheel bearings repacked, brakes rebuilt, etc. Regardless of that, the darn left rear wheel was still running hot. We bought a house with my in-laws and all moved back to Corpus Christi in April 2021 and I didn't have any problems on that leg of the trip. I did stop frequently and check all tire and hub temperatures.



This past summer of 2021, I took the RV to Taos, NM (sans spouse) to escape the nasty heat in Corpus during July, August and September. I had no issues getting to Taos, NM as it was much cooler and the left rear wheel was running about 135F compared to about 110F on all the other wheels. I had a nice few cool months at high altitude. On my trip home, however, I had more problems.


I was about 45 miles west of Lubbock, TX and had just turned onto a Farm to Market road when the left wheel hub parted company with the RV. I saw a lot of blue smoke and a rear most tire on the RV angled out to the left. I had to drag the wheel about 100 feet to a safe pullout spot. I quickly found an authorized MorRyde Service Center in Lubbock, TX (McWhorter's) and they saved my butt!! Great shop. I asked if they thought I could limp in on three wheels and they said other people had done that in the past (and gotten away with it). I quickly removed the wheel and slowly drove the rig into Lubbock.


Of course, I had to leave the RV with them and it took about five weeks for them to get the parts and get it road worthy. I took it out for a test ride and the damn wheel was still running hot! During all these issues, one thing remained constant. The rig leaned to the left when hooked to the truck and the left rear wheel always bulged a bit more than the tire in front of it even thought both were inflated to 120 psi. Finally, I got them to take a look at the wheel, from this perspective, and it turned out there was another screw hole available so the left rear wheel assembly could be moved up an inch. I had them make this change so the weight distribution looked to be equal between the two tires. So now, the left side of the rig still leans to the left but the weight is evenly distributed and ALL of the wheels now run at the same temperature.


If your rig leans one way or the other, I would stop and check tire temperature with a heat gun. Of course a scale measurement of each wheel would be a good thing to know. The only place I know of that does individual wheel weights is in Livingston, TX.



The alignment of the tires is OK and I've always had even tire wear. The frame is straight. I would make the assumption that the RV was originally built OK at the factory and to my knowledge it hasn't been in an accident.

[Mwiemer]

Thank you for sharing. I have the RV in the shop now.

[DogLovers]

Ours used to lean to one side. Then I made my fat nagging mother in law who won't go home sit in the middle and it solved the problem.

[Mwiemer]

I've done a lot of research and it looks like the best solution is to install helper springs by hellwig. I think I will also add a rear sway bar too.

[txc2936@yahoo.com]

A new RV er to the club just brought this home. I measured 3-4 degree left side down, and the difference of about 4" lower on the LHS wheel well from RHS. This has been sitting for a few yrs 2019, with less that 5000 miles. They say the dealers keep the slide out extended without the jacks extended.

He only has 62 psi in the tires, I am thinking this might be an issue also. I told him i put 82 psi per the decal on the drivers side of my ACE.

Are new springs needed here? Tough news since he just drove it up from FL. Looking at the dealer website... yep, its sitting there with slide out extended...

[The Gritz Carlton]

My 35SF leaned to the right. Didn't matter how anything was loaded. It's just poor engineering and design.

[CHS]

I was told a few times it's the extra weight of the slide. Probably yes but also yes bad engineering design. I guess you could put airbags on and fill one higher than the other or like me and just deal with it.