Steering modifications

[Carolshutts]

I am looked to educate myself before going to camping world for estimates. We have a 2017 Freedom elite 28FE which is 24 feet long. We have taken it on one long 1200 miles trip but otherwise it is new. On the trip my husband noticed handling issues specifically difficulty with wind and semis passing.

We plan to first have a front end alignment and our question is what else we might do. The two things we are considering are Safe-T-Plus and Hellwig sway bars. Should we do both, start with one and if so which one first. I appreciate any thoughts.

[SuperD]

My personal opinion is go with the Safe-T-Plus first, very well made product, increases safety while driving, and makes steering on long trips less tiring! Helwig bars will decrease side to side sway substantially, but I thing a steering stabilizer would still be my first choice. IMHO.

[Joe-FL]

SuperD's suggestion is a good one. Even though I have a different model Thor I am going through similar handling issues. I have done the alignment and CHF which made a measureable improvement, but not enough. Next up for me is installing Safe-T.


I am doing these things in stages so I can better determine what is actually needed. Maybe after the Safe-T install I will be satisfied. If not, then I will be probably looking at some type of heavy duty shocks next.


If you do a search on here you will find a lot of posts on this subject. Good luck.

[halfprice]

Ive done the safe t plus alignment and chf. My mh handles very well now but im going to add a rear track bar then maybe front sumo springs. After that ill probably be done with handling stuff

[axis earl]

We did a front end alignment and the Saf-T-Plus installation at the same time. Doing them at once should cut down a bit on the labor costs. It made a huge difference with those issues you mention on the Axis 24.1.

[blw2]

The easiest and probably very 1st thing you should do is to verify the tire pressure set points based on the actual weight.

start with knowing the actual as "loaded for camping" weight on the tire. If you can't get the weight of each corner separately, take the axle weight and divide by two.

Your tire manufacturer will have load tables. Here's the one for Michelin
Load & Inflation Tables | Michelin Truck

You might find, as I did, that after getting the alignment and pressures set that I don't really feel like I NEED to do anything else.

I feel like like a panhard rod would be the solution for the root of any improvement for what handling maladies i am still seeing, but it's so minor and frankly not necessary.
I thing a safe t steer or similar device would serve to mask or band-aid the issue, but i would still like to have one only because of the purported safety advantage in case of a blowout.....but I don't think it solves any handling problem I have.

[blw2]

http://www.rvforum.net/miscfiles/MH_..._%20Primer.pdf

[KNMIB]

Saf-T-Plus on aligned vehicle and proper tire pressure = one hand driving most of the time. Best thing we did to our RV.

[Hudsoner]

Originally Posted by halfprice

Ive done the safe t plus alignment and chf. My mh handles very well now but im going to add a rear track bar then maybe front sumo springs. After that ill probably be done with handling stuff

I have done this already, but instead of the Safe T I have a Steer Safe installed. I wish I would have done the Safe T instead. I will try to add a standard steering stabilizer and increase the caster to get a handling as good as possible (it is pretty good already).
Now I am experiment with the harsh ride (suspension). The Sumo Maxim springs in the front should allow me to achieve a suspension quality that is close to the suspension feeling a Kelderman system gives.

[Stevenb2560]

Right after taking delivery of our new ACE 30.3 I had the MH taken in for an alignment check ( after loading all of our gear on board) had a steering stabilizer installed and did the CHF. What a world of difference in handling! It drives much stiffer in a cross wind and handles the semi blow by much better! I check the tire pressure before each trip and keep them at 85 psi. I still need to get the rig to a certified scale to properly weigh it so I can fine tune the tire pressures.
But, I am quite happy with the improvements in ride and handling and don't plan any further mods to the suspension at this time.


Steven B.
S/W Florida