Important info for Newmar IFS desiring Blue Ox Tru-Center

[chofujohn]

Hi Guys,

I've been a very busy boy getting my DSDP with Spartan IFS chassis ready for full-timing. I've spent over $25k refurbishing and updating the 2002 Dutch Star. The Blue Ox Tru-Center is just one of the upgrades I've made to my rig, but there is an important message here for all IFS owners.

In another thread I explained that I was going to have installed the Tru-Center stabilizer on my IFS 1200 chassis. WRONG!!! Turns out the kit supplied didn't have the right bolt pattern and I was ulimately told by Blue Ox they did not have another kit to make the Tru-Center work for my independent front end. I was left holding the bag, so to speak. I was told I had only one option and that was to drive up to the factory in Pender, Nebraska and let them fabricate a new mounting solution from scratch. That's what I did. I arrived at the factory RV park (full hookups, no charge for Blue Ox customers) on a Monday and get settled in at the park. On Tuesday the sales manager, Mike, arrived and escorted me to an open bay at the factory. Before I could say "boo" there were two techs under my front end analyzing the situation. They were not certain they could solve the problem as IFS chassis's were a problem for them and to that point they had not created a solution. I was there the rest of the week and left on Friday with my Tru-Center installed and working. I won't bore you all with the details of the installation, but suffice it to say that Blue Ox now has a solution for other IFS customers and it is now available from the factory. There was no charge for the engineering or the installation, which was nice. And while I was there I had free use of the company pickup truck since I didn't have a toad with me. The folks at Blue Ox are absolutely the best in the industry and I was treated like royalty while I was there.

Performance: I'm here to tell you all that the drive back from Pender to Holiday Island, AR was a delight. 90% of the tendency for the front end to wander is now cured. Driving is now a relaxed affair devoid of the fear and apprehension that I experienced with the motorhome before the installation. I won't say it is 100% immune to wind gusts, but they are mostly a non-event now whereas before they were almost life threatening. I am now a total believer in the merits of steering stabilizers, especially the Blue Ox Tru-Center. They ended up mounting the shiny chrome button on the same panel as and right next to the ICC switch. It's perfect. When driving I found myself fine tuning the remote centering feature quite a lot and it works like a champ. What you feel in the wheel is a definite release of the pressure to one side or the other. Strong crosswinds and gusts are no longer scary events and I would now trust just about anyone to drive my Dutch Star safely.

If you're a IFS 1200 driver then you owe it to yourself to call the factory and discuss the new kit for your chassis. Btw, I was told that the new Comfort Drive stabilizer that is in new Newmars is essentially the same thing as the Tru-Center. I applaude Newmar for offering this in their new motorhomes. I don't know how their top of the line King Aire's drive, but it can't be much better than what I've got now for a fraction of the money.

Best,

John Dent

["007"]

Thanks for the write up John some older Newmar coach owners may have some questions.
The Comfort Drive on newer coach's may be doing the same thing.
Enjoy your ride anythings better than white knuckles.