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KenSherwin · 09-06-2017, 06:28 AM

Somebody has to design and tool up a new shroud, a mounting adapter, and a new intermediate shaft from the column to the miter box or steering gear. The floor opening has to be moved. Wiring harnesses for the turn signals and CD itself have to made or changed. A controller to make the efforts control message has to be found, programmed, and installed because the current production dash controller that performs this function is not backward compatible. Once you have all these pieces in a box beside the coach, they still have to be installed.

If you know what you are doing in all these steps, it still costs about $40,000 to $50,000 for the first one, not counting the loss of other business when the high-priced labor is doing this. This isn't really practical for a one-off.

I have said many times that if you think there is a market for this, you are welcome to start a business and do it. Thus far, nobody has taken up the challenge.

Electra 225 · 09-06-2017, 11:04 AM

Thanks Ken,
Yeah, I can see why.... (wow).....that is quite an involved process, and talk about not being cost effective, uh, yeah. [emoji1]

Many thanks for the reply explaining that.
Best regards,
W.D.

KenSherwin · 09-08-2017, 08:48 AM

For a look into future, do an internet-wide search for AMAS Lockheed Martin and you will get a bunch of hits, many of them being videos, that describe self-driving army trucks.

This is one example. Autonomous Mobility Appliqué System (AMAS) Â· Lockheed Martin

They don't come out and say it (it's publicity for Lockheed Martin, not TRW after all) but the steering system is based around an enhanced CD.

The basic idea is that it will be safer to send unmanned trucks into harm's way and keep the soldiers away from IEDs, bullets, and other annoying things perpetrated by impolite people. The emphasis is on the autonomous driving but CD is even more of a help to ordinary driving than it is on motorhomes. Those military vehicles are just plain nasty to drive.

Turning a hard-to-drive military truck with 4 of the 5 axles steering into something that steers as nicely as a King-Aire was really satisfying.

FLJOE · 11-04-2017, 08:00 AM

Coming from a gas MH to a Newmar with CD for us will be a huge improvement. There were some days last summer traveling out west in cross winds around 20mph that were horrible. After 250 to 300 miles on days like that you feel like someone just beat the crap out of you. Can't wait to hit the road with the CD!

KenSherwin · 11-04-2017, 09:16 AM

A question a bit earlier about driving in the snow brought a snow story to mind. Here in Lafayette, both the street snow plows ad the sidewalk cleaners shove the snow into the gutter area of the street, leaving the sidewalk clean. This leaves a ridge of snow in the street right where the transit buses need to park in order to load and unload passengers. I watched a driver intentionally drive into that 2-foot high snowbank as he approached each bus stop so he could splatter that snow away from his stop and his passengers. At an appropriate time in the route, he commented on how much easier it was to steer when he did this with the new system. The steering wheel did not try to come out of his hand at all.

Later, I asked other drivers about that and got the same story. This was another reason they really liked their CD.

jbikes1 · 11-07-2017, 04:51 AM

CD is an interesting piece of tec. I get how it benefits in keeping you on the straight in a constant wind. But I've never driven in anything but gusting winds. With a DS 3623, I still get pretty strong buffeting by the winds. There is a tremendous difference between CD off and full on in these circumstances, but I would not exactly classify it with the warm glowing miraculous attributes that some seem to say. Happy to have CD but windy is still windy. I note that most correspondence is coming from those considerably larger (+tag) than my 37 footer. Any one in a 37 footer have my experience?

Yes, Now that I am retired I expect to park on super windy days... but there are those in between days that I still get pushed around.

I've also driven a Super C Dynamax 40 foot that I would have called rock solid but I couldn't hear myself over that 450 HP CAT under the hood. Sooo, hence my DS which I love.

OverDo · 11-08-2017, 05:49 AM

jbikes1,
Ive got a VT3412 and the CD does not stop the wind from blowing me around but does make driving on windy days a lot better. We took a 3000 mile trip last summer and I had plenty of time to fool around with the settings. I keep it set on 2 and you can literally steer with one finger. Still tired at the end of a windy day but not completely frazzled. I am still working so don't have the option to stop if the wind is blowing. It is definitely worth having IMHO. My last rig was a Super C on a Columbia chassis with a 525 HP Detroit and I will agree that the engine in the back is much better. That rig did not have CD and it was heavy but still got blown around on windy days.

KenSherwin · 11-08-2017, 08:12 AM

Wind blowing on the side of a coach will generate a side force that tries to move the coach in its lane. The only way the coach can resist that force is through the tires and the only way the tires can generate a side force is to run at a slight angle to the direction of travel. This is called the slip angle.

To generate that slip angle, the driver must turn the steering wheel into the wind to the angle necessary to counteract the wind at the moment. The CD cannot cause that position change but it can make the wheel easier to turn if that is what the driver wants. Personally, that's how I adjust it. On the other hand, if the driver wants the steering to be heavier so he feels that has more control authority and is therefore more comfortable, he can adjust it to his liking. Generally, those who like it heavier just let the coach move a few inches in the gusts rather than chase every little movement, but that is also a driver choice.

For a steering system to completely eliminate the effect of short-term gusts, it would have to know exactly where the road is and maintain lane placement. This is the essence of autonomous guidance. There are several prototype systems being worked on but for financial, technical, and legislative reasons are not ready for production yet.

Lockheed Martin has some videos on YouTube that show this in action and I can tell you that it feels really strange to be a spectator behind the wheel instead of a participant. (Yes, I was a part of that work.)

Until that technology reaches the real world, we will have to put up with gusts. The CD will just make that job easier.