Quote:
Originally Posted by Palazzo17
We have almost 15kmiles on our 36.1 and have experienced very satisfactory performance and comfort with this coach.
As with any motor coach however, we have experienced poor handling at highway speeds. We have had alignment performed twice, new shock, and a steering stabilizer installed.
I’ve read several posts about this condition on various coaches but have still not been able to remedy this malady on our coach.
Recently, I read a post that peaked my curiosity and I was curious to see if any other owners have tried this as a resolve.
This particular owner stated that he weighed the coach and adjusted tire pressure accordingly which I have done. He stated that he felt over-inflation contributed so sloppy handling. Also, he adjusted the toe-in to 3/16” which I plan to try but my initial concern is that the coach handles perfectly on cold tires and only gets loose after the tires get hot.
Could it be that due to highway heating the tires are heating causing increased tire pressure which might causes handling to degrade?
(Mechlin radials)
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OK. My comments may/may not help. I've got a Palazzo, but a 33.3, which is shorter and a bit lighter on the front end. However, I'm thinking my experience may assist.
Based on the front end weight of my coach, the original Goodyear tires should have had only 85 psig in them. On our maiden voyage in 2015, I drove ours to Florida and back on 125 psig! It was kinda wild. Luckily, I learned about tire pressures a few months after that trip. What a big improvement I got by reducing tire pressures. I routinely run 95 psig front and 105 psig rear--both about 10 psig above required presssures but they allow me to load the coach without concern. I've now got 55,000 miles on the coach. I switched to Michelins at about 51,000 miles.
I run the Michelins at the same pressures as before and get very similar handling with better tire balance. About the only time I find the 33.3 a hand full is when driving in big crosswinds. Ironically, it handles the worst when I get a quartering tailwind. It is a relatively light MH in the world of diesel pushers. In a way, it is a giant VW van where the center of gravity is behind the center of aerodynamic pressure. Fortunately, it is not too hard to deal with if you just slow down to about 55 mph in real windy conditions.
Get your coach weighed on all 4 corners. If you can, rearrange the load to balance side-to-side. Reduce tire pressures to 5 psig above minimum required.
Don't think I'd mess with toe-in. Stick with factory alignment specs and try to get it as close to nominal (middle) as possible. As for tire pressures, don't go below minimum pressures. Consider it normal to gain 10 - 15 psig during highway driving.
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