Harsh Ride on Bad Roads

[Al Spivey]

I am wondering if anyone has experienced a very harsh ride in their Winnies over the roads in the northern states of the USA. Riding on even the interstates causes great stress and major bamming and slamming on my coach. I have tried less air in the tires (90 lbs.) and still the same thing. There were places on the New York Turnpike that I drove only 40 miles per hour. And I even had the priviledge of paying for that. The roads in America are really bad. What can I do to soften the ride and reduce the stress on my coach and me, the driver? I have a Winnie Adventurer on a Workhorse chassis with 22.5 in tires. New Monroe shocks that were replaced by Workhorse less than 10,000 miles ago. Still it seems like the front end wants to separate from the coach on some of the roads. I love the coach and don't want to trade, but unless I drive slower and hold up long lines of traffic, I get very frustrated with the harsh ride. Can someone please tell me what you have done that improved your overall ride and control??? Thanks for any and all help. Al

[Al Spivey]

I am wondering if anyone has experienced a very harsh ride in their Winnies over the roads in the northern states of the USA. Riding on even the interstates causes great stress and major bamming and slamming on my coach. I have tried less air in the tires (90 lbs.) and still the same thing. There were places on the New York Turnpike that I drove only 40 miles per hour. And I even had the priviledge of paying for that. The roads in America are really bad. What can I do to soften the ride and reduce the stress on my coach and me, the driver? I have a Winnie Adventurer on a Workhorse chassis with 22.5 in tires. New Monroe shocks that were replaced by Workhorse less than 10,000 miles ago. Still it seems like the front end wants to separate from the coach on some of the roads. I love the coach and don't want to trade, but unless I drive slower and hold up long lines of traffic, I get very frustrated with the harsh ride. Can someone please tell me what you have done that improved your overall ride and control??? Thanks for any and all help. Al

[Cousin Ed]

Al
I don't think there is anything you can do. I run my tires as the sticker says 90 front 85 rear and some roads are just unbearable. I just try to avoid the roads I know are bad. I use the US Hwy instead of the interstate or take I70 instead of I80 even if it adds some miles. You could always go to a pusher with air-ride!

[robbstein]

One of the best things you can do is have the coach weighed (4 corners) and run the tires at the best pressure for the weight they are actually carrying. We have the DP and even that rides rough on some of the roads. If you are running the sticker pressure, you are probably running too much air, but weigh it first to make sure. We've covered over 20k miles in the last two years and there are not too many states where the roads are great. I40 in TN is good,but....

Robb & Sue Steinheider
Duncan the Dalmation
03 Ultimate Advantage
02 Saturn L100 Toad

[Navy Flier]

I have to agree as to the condition of some of the northern highways. We just returned from a trip through Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. The worst roads are the older concrete ones. On many miles in the right lane the trucks have caused a height difference at the expansion cracks and it is like driving over a constant series of small speed bumps. The older the surface, the worse it is. Concrete is used more in the states that get more snow as it holds up better in the winter.

[beaverjim]

look into koni fsd shocks. monroe's are very harsh riding. made an great improvement in our dp's ride and handling. jim

[oemtech]

Getting the proper tire pressure is the #1 item. 4 corner weights is the correct way to get the proper tire inflation. But, before you do that put your rig on a diet. I just weighed my rig and I am still under the total weight of 22,000 lbs. But, since we went fulltime the rear weight has increased by 2,200 lbs.

Remember, a full tank of fuel weighs about 600 lbs. Now add in fresh water, black tank and gray tank weights and you have lot of weight. I only carry enough water to flush the toilet and wash my hands. I try to run with the black and gray tanks almost empty. Why mention this... most if not all of the tanks are over or behind the rear axle. Now add in a generator, washer/dryer etc and it real easy to go over the max axle weight.

Although the Monroe's that were installed are better than the OEM's they are not as good as a set of Koni's.

[JCM]

Our roads in northern B.C. are just as bad as is I5 going south. I fill my water tank and gas tank and it rides smoother with little or no loss of gas milage. If you are too light you will notice the rough road more. Koni's are going on this weekend.

[John_Canfield]

Other than proper tire air pressures and working shocks, there isn't much you can do. We always have a loaded coach (within 500-800 pounds of our limit), proper tire pressures and we encounter lots of road noise and thumping of the tires as they roll over rough roads.

On this summer's trip, some of the worst roads we encountered were in southern Iowa on I-35. We were all over the lane trying to smooth out the ride which we almost never have to do.

[Rocket Heart]

Been East - West -North -South. In a word our highway system "sucks"! I 90 through Minnesota is one of the worst. Even the trucks ran in the passing lane and the cars pass on the inside!

I try not to run in the groves when driving - run on the high spots and it helps a little. When I am being passed I move over to the grooves. The numerous potholes are impossible to avoid - if I can spot them in time I can avoid them with very little correction.

You can weigh all you want and adjust pressures all you want - it will not touch the conditions of our roads - whew I feel better.

[FireStarter]

Had the same problem. Koni FSD shocks solved my problem...what a difference!

[03HRVacationer]

I can't beat the Koni drum hard enough, there is nothing like the ride we are experiencing now, It's like I'm driving a different coach. Truly the best investment I've made on our baby girl. Besides the Winegard 3005 DTV Dish. I can't belive we call it camping.

The UP ugrade is next. I had knee surgery today and I'm flying on pain meds, maybe I should order the UP now and explain it away to the DW by saying it was the drugs.

You can see why I needed surgery, Google my name Albert Morancy and the story is there, tore some cartalage through the ordeal. Video and everything,

Check it out,

al

[JonBrazel]

Man Al, what a story!!! It truely is amazing the circumstances you were up against and still were able to pull through...I guess someone has bigger plans for you yet!!!

On another note, I have always had positive feedback from customers on their switch to Koni FSD shocks. They may not make your coach ride like it was on freshly poured, smooth as a babies bum surface but they definetly make a huge improvement!

[BigRedLancer]

And I thought that California roads are the worst! Some of our SF bay area roads are so bad, I have seen my dashboard jump up and down to the point where a CD starts skipping tracks. I thought that we were airborne one day on I80 when we hit a bad spot at the bottom of a hill. The F53 chassis rides like a dump truck and I am seriously thinking of switching to Koni shocks to see if they can help the rough ride.