Drifting

[mandkos]

I have a 2013 Thor ACE 30.1 and I have really noticed a lot of drift from side to side as I drive down a hwy or interstate. This occurs if I am towing my car or not. Tires are inflated correctly and front end seems to be aligned fine.
I was wondering if anyone else had this issue and if so were you able to correct it.

[pstandiford]

First question i would ask is what do you mean by the alignment SEEMS okay. Have you had it checked?

[MJC62]

Is this ACE your first class A motorhome? The stock F53 MH chassis can be a handful to drivel. Most on here have done several mods to the chassis to improve the way the coach handles. The CHF or cheap handling fix would be a place to start, followed by a steering stabilizer. There are numerous threads on this forum describing handling issues and fixes. Suggest you use the search feature on the the forum, type in suspension upgrades or handling issues and several will pop up. There are guys on here smarter than I that have tackled and conquered their handling issues. Welcome aboard and good luck. Mark

[Diemaster]

I thought you meant LITERALLY drifting in your RV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFB8...e=youtu.be&t=6

But seriously, look into whats called CHF. (cheap handling fix) Start with an alignment and you can get, for example, sumo springs and a steering stabilizer to help it.

[Sweetbriar]

Originally Posted by mandkos

,,, Tires are inflated correctly ,,,

Just to eliminate a maybe, what pressure are you using? I played with pressures when I first got my coach and at around 10 PSI or so over what both Ford and Thor recommended for cold pressure, (80 PSI all around for the 18K lbs chassis with 245/70R 19.5F tires) the coach became a handful to keep it in a lane.

[Diemaster]

speaking of tire pressure. on out first trip around 800 miles i assumed the dealer\ford had put in the correct air pressure. so i didnt worry about it. fast foward 6 months and we took a short 200 mile trip. this time after sitting i wanted to check the air pressure. the max on the sidewall was 80psi. the sticker on the driver door said 75psi and the tires were actually ~50 PSI. as soon as i filled them i saw a great improvement in sideways sway. i could actualy let go of the wheel and not drift into the lane next to me.

[Beau388]

Originally Posted by mandkos

I have a 2013 Thor ACE 30.1 and I have really noticed a lot of drift from side to side as I drive down a hwy or interstate. This occurs if I am towing my car or not. Tires are inflated correctly and front end seems to be aligned fine.
I was wondering if anyone else had this issue and if so were you able to correct it.

How do you visually estimate the front wheels caster. The more caster, the better the coach will track, but it will take more force to turn the wheel. Most rear wheel drive cars alignment specs specify 2 to 4 degrees positive caster. If you don't have 4 degrees positive caster you might give it a try.

[Long & Winding road]

Do what they suggested above first.....but you might find you need a HD rear track arm. From what I hear this helps with drifting esp while towing.

[mandkos]

Thanks to all for the tips. I have a lot to consider. This is our second class A. We had a 34 ft Georgia Boy Landeau that seemed to handle better than the 30 ft Ace.

[lal22]

Welcome to the forum! I have a 2013 ACE 30.1 and I know exactly what you are talking about when you say "drifting". It is also like a floating feeling. Almost makes you feel like you dont have quick response as you hold it to the center of your lane. We got new tires, still need to get the alignment. I am hoping that will help.

[penguin]

Do yourself a favor and spend some money on these upgrades.

Front Sumo Springs
Safe T Plus steering stabilizer
Rear Roadmaster additional sway bar.

I put these on my 2017 windsport and it made all the difference in the world.

[Golfbum18]

Originally Posted by mandkos

I have a 2013 Thor ACE 30.1 and I have really noticed a lot of drift from side to side as I drive down a hwy or interstate. This occurs if I am towing my car or not. Tires are inflated correctly and front end seems to be aligned fine.
I was wondering if anyone else had this issue and if so were you able to correct it.

Had a C class Thor that drove me. Then an 27.2 ACE 2017 that was better with the CHF but still drifty as you have described. Tech told me to set the tires at 75 front and 80 back and that helped but still, lots of the rig driving me/ Bought the 2016 29M Hurricane and the prev. owner put on the options listed in my signature below. Can't tell you how much better it handles. Had occasion to have to make a serious swerve some time ago and it was great....solid, under control, and back to straight driving without trying to compensate, or over compensate for the maneuver.

[Golfbum18]

Originally Posted by Diemaster

speaking of tire pressure. on out first trip around 800 miles i assumed the dealer\ford had put in the correct air pressure. so i didnt worry about it. fast foward 6 months and we took a short 200 mile trip. this time after sitting i wanted to check the air pressure. the max on the sidewall was 80psi. the sticker on the driver door said 75psi and the tires were actually ~50 PSI. as soon as i filled them i saw a great improvement in sideways sway. i could actualy let go of the wheel and not drift into the lane next to me.

WHen I picked up our first Freedom Elite from teh dealer, the tires were at 56 lbs and for a 27' coach, that was nowhere near right.

[Ferf]

I have a 2018 ACE 30.2 - CHF on the front was a night and day difference. Will do the rear CHF in a few weeks. Also got a sway bar (more for blowouts) going in soon as well.

[Jefvm]

Originally Posted by mandkos

I have a 2013 Thor ACE 30.1 and I have really noticed a lot of drift from side to side as I drive down a hwy or interstate. This occurs if I am towing my car or not. Tires are inflated correctly and front end seems to be aligned fine.
I was wondering if anyone else had this issue and if so were you able to correct it.

I have a 2012 ACE 29.2 and when we got it it did the same thing.
I did the cheap fix which you can find on this site under CHP or cheap fix, plus because I was towing at a later time I added a track bar to the rear to eliminate the rear sway from the tow vehicle that you get from time to time.
All or problems were gone.
Note: the chp will resolve most of your drifting plus eliminate most of the tilting when going around corners.

Good luck and safe travels

[Golfbum18]

Originally Posted by Jefvm

I have a 2012 ACE 29.2 and when we got it it did the same thing.
I did the cheap fix which you can find on this site under CHP or cheap fix, plus because I was towing at a later time I added a track bar to the rear to eliminate the rear sway from the tow vehicle that you get from time to time.
All or problems were gone.
Note: the chp will resolve most of your drifting plus eliminate most of the tilting when going around corners.

Good luck and safe travels

You know, this cheap fix thing has been around for several years and seems to work. There is some talk on the groups about added torque to places that shouldn't and will cause early failure...but the point here is if this is a good improvement, why hasn't Ford picked up on this and set it up this way from the factory????? Are they concerned with more torque on the components or are they just slow to pick up on a fix that works?

[Jefvm]

It's really not up to ford. Ford builds the chassis designed for their vehicles and designs.
THOR buy them, cut and extends the frame to fit what ever box (RV) they choose to place on top of it.
So you see Thor is really or should be liable for these type of corrections based on their modification to the ford chassis. Thor would than have to loose profits or increase the price to compensate for the increased cost to perform these modifications, I believe these should be an option when purchasing any unit and the buyer should be made aware of these atleast by the RV dealers before you sign the paperwork.
I believe most people would opt to add these options however it may just as well cause the buyer to ether opt out completely or buy a cheaper unit to compensate for the price increase.
Well you can draw your own conclusions on that subject.

Goodluck to you and safe travels

[penguin]

Originally Posted by Jefvm

It's really not up to ford. Ford builds the chassis designed for their vehicles and designs.
THOR buy them, cut and extends the frame to fit what ever box (RV) they choose to place on top of it.
So you see Thor is really or should be liable for these type of corrections based on their modification to the ford chassis. Thor would than have to loose profits or increase the price to compensate for the increased cost to perform these modifications, I believe these should be an option when purchasing any unit and the buyer should be made aware of these atleast by the RV dealers before you sign the paperwork.
I believe most people would opt to add these options however it may just as well cause the buyer to ether opt out completely or buy a cheaper unit to compensate for the price increase.
Well you can draw your own conclusions on that subject.

Goodluck to you and safe travels

I agree. The dealers could make a decent profit by offering chassis upgrades and I believe customers would be happy to pay a little extra to make their drive better. And to add 4k worth of upgrades over the life of a 20 year loan would add next to nothing to their payment.

[Jefvm]

Penguin

I agree for the 17 to 20 dollars a month over 240 month the cost is next to nothing in the overall price or payment for the lack of better terms " having to white knuckle it " down the road.
Something for everyone to consider when buying an RV.

Safe travels my friend.

[Chuck13]

Everyone refers to CHF or cheap fix, but I can not find what that consists of. Please help