Quote:
Originally Posted by TeJay
property,
When you have the alignment done make sure you ask for a BEFORE print out of all the alignment angles. Ask them to show and explain what they will do to fix what might be wrong.
My alignment shop who works mainly on semi's told me 1/16" of toe is all that is needed. That's 1//32" for each side for a total toe of 1/16". Toe angle is a compromise. Ideally you'd want the tires to be pointed straight ahead all the time. If they are angled in it wears the tires. If there is any wear in the tie rods the tires will point straight ahead.
Also ask what Ford allows as far as CASTER angle. Yours needs to be set at the most positive for better tracking. Within reason the higher the CASTER the more weight is placed on the wheels which helps to keep it tracking STRAIGHT down the road. Positive caster is what allows a person to ride a bicycle no handed. It's also extreme on chopper MC's. It's what forces the steering wheel to return to center as you drive around a corner. Ours is set close to 6 degrees and it great. Some will tell you it will make it harder to steer. You do have power steering so not a problem.
Before power steering we often heard this phrase, "Man this drives like a truck." Trucks were difficult to steer around corners but when they were driving down the highways they handled well. Steering around corners required lifting of the front end because of the caster. Then the weight forced it back straight.
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TeJay
Unfortunately I didn’t read your post until this morning.
My toe was 25/32 out as it was first measured. I means the toe was not in but out by just over 3/4 in.
Driving down to Eugene my stearing wheel was vibrating about 1/16 of an inch and coach was vibrating also.
Kaiser technician didn’t report to me after first inspection he just made changes he thought it needed.
Toe adjusted to 1/32 on both sides or 1/16 total.
Shim caster one side.
Stearing wheel lifted and re-centered after. I read that tie rod just has one adjustable joint on F53.
He told me the size of the shim but they didn’t write that or the original toe on paperwork.
Caster:
Left before 5-1/2 after 5-7/8
Right before 5-7/8 after 6-1/2
Camber left 1/2 before and after
Camber right 1/4 before and after
Kpi left before 5deg after 5-3/4 deg
KPI right before 4-1/4 deg after 2 deg
Toe was 1/32 before and after on both sides 1/16 total
But that was after first adjustment from 25/32 out.
Maybe it was after centering stearing wheel.
My Good year front tires were worn down inside smooth
and only minimal tread left above the inside indicators so
I had them install two new Michelin XZE 782 plus 100 for mount and balance on front. One was round and one needed 2 ounce.
Truck caster shim KBS2071 26.10$ plus 67.50 labor.
Alignment 169 plus 50 for centering SW.
67.50 for re centering Safety-plus
I discussed 1/16 toe with tech and told him several experienced RV er’s were recommending 1/8 to 1/4 toe.
I even reported to him one of them had an alignment done there and asked for 1/4 toe and the tech with 30 yr exp told him it would cause outside tread wear on tire. Anyway that customer asked tech to set at 1/4 toe and the tech did. That forum member reported 8000 miles later he had no outside tread wear and the coach performed great.
Anyway the tech said he had 30 years experience and this will work great for you and that is how he set his own MH.
He was sincere so I said ok I’ll give it a try.
On the way home my stearing wheel was on center, it didn’t pull either side and the vibration was gone on the stearing wheel and the coach was not rattling and it was quieter.
I still felt the passing trucks but with the CHF front, the Safetyplus and the newly corrected alignment to 1/16 toe from 25/32 out, and shimmed caster one side, and new balance Michelin front tires, the truck sway was much less dramatic, and I found myself unconsiously driving 70 down the freeway with one hand.
Before all this I would have been using two hand to stay in the lanes at 55 or so and wearing myself out.
Cost
about 400 alignment.
About 975 M tires
About 650 for safetplus torque wrench, breaker socket wrench and sockets plus couple of days laying under MH
Between rain and snow showers, taking off rusty anchor bolts and torqueing back with my legs at 250lbs and triple adjustment of Safetyplus.
As I was paying the alignment & tires they needed 3% for using card. For anything over 1000. That was 40$ That pissed me off because if they told me that when I scheduled I could have taken it out of the bank near my home and saved that. But I could not visualize me driving around Eugene in a MH at 4:45pm looking for a bank in a strange city and I doubt would let me drive off with the MH anyway with my walllet and drivers license so I just told them I guess I didn’t have much choice and kept my cool and paid the extra 40$. I understand why they do that but they should warn tell you upfront not afterwards.
That was minor but interesting.
Well for 2 grand my MH is comfortable to drive maybe a little bumpy at times from the OM links on the CHF but I think if I don,t like that over time, your plates will give me option to easily soften a little and still enjoy CHF sway improvement, without having to mess with all the problems associated with hard to get to upper length bolts and wrong sized link bolts and wrong holes on Hellwig links.
And included two new great Michelin tires and a bunch of new wrenches and sockets.and a sore back.
Great forum, everyone learning from each other.
Thanks to all,
Property
) I was able to remove the bolts for both side connector arms for the front SB. I can move the side connector arms back and forth, though it takes a bit of effort. HOWEVER, I cannot budge the SB. I also currently can't budge the bolts that hold the SB on, but maybe the WD-40 needs more time to work its way in.
Linear Mode
