Front end vibration

[Firedogs2]

I have a 2008 Jayco Melbourne on a Ford 450 SuperDuty chassis. It has 12,900 miles on it and within the past 1,000, I have noticed a definite vibration in the front end along with a pull to the right. I put Centramatic balancers on both front wheels, had it aligned and thought it was ok. However, yesterday I drove at highway speed - 65 to 75 - and felt the vibration at about 65 +. I drove about 70 miles to an RV service facility for spring checkup and RV tech told me it was probably a flat spot in tires due to long time sitting still (couple of weeks) and that the tires could be "shaved" to make them true round again. Seems like that would just speed up wear, so I asked if there was another solution. Suggested a tire rotation among all the tires. Has anyone had/have a similar problem? If so, any suggestions or solutions? I am starting a 2200 mile trip this week and would like to get rid of that vibration if I can.

Thanks,
Firedogs2

[subford]

If it is a flat spot from setting it should leave as soon as the tires get hot running down the road so I do not think that is it.
Besides a flat spot will start as you start rolling and not wait for it to get to 65-75 MPH.
If it is the tires it might be a slipped belt in the tire.
Do you see any bulges on the front tires?

[safari1]

I am having the same trouble on my Safari Damara, Ford E-350 chassis with 3800 miles, very new. Front end vibrates at 65-70 mph. I have tried front wheel balancing, centramatic wheel balancers on all 4, it has improved but it still vibrates. Next is front end alignment. Any suggestions??

[Firedogs2]

Thanks, subford and safari1, for your replies. I did feel along the surfaces of both front tires and on both, one "rib" (I don't know the technical term for it - belt maybe?? ) does seem higher than the others. I am going to have all 6 of them rotated so that the front ones end up on the back. The outside backs don't have that raised feeling to them. My front end was so out of alignment that the mechanic said it was off the scale - whatever that means. Maybe that caused some problem with the front tires. BTW, aligning DID help in my case. (An unintended confrontation with a mud hole last summer probably contributed to the misalignment, but that is a whole OTHER story!!!) I am certainly no mechanic; I have to rely on the male members of my family, who are so inclined, to guide me and/or you guys on here who are so helpful, so some of my terminology may be a bit "off". But the longer I have this MH, the more I am learning and the more I am becoming "Little Miss Fixit." Thanks for the help.

[subford]

Let us hnow how it turns out.

[koda59]

When I had our coach aliegned they said that the camber/caster was way off. When I asked why. they said that when they build the chassis they do an aliegnment. When they build the coach they never do another aleignment. The added weight throws off the camber/caster.

[Mike Thomas]

I think you may still have a wheel balance problem. The Centromatics are avery good choice, but a loose wheel bearing, will be more than the Centromatics can overcome. Have your wheel bearings checked by a reputable shop.

The right pull can occur, even if the alignment shop sets the front end to factory specs. The rear axle, if not in alignment, can push the front end right, or left.

An excellent resource is MD Alignment out of Des Moines, Iowa. The guy is an absolute guru to the trucking industry, manufaturers and tire manufacturers. I attended one of his seminars yesterday at the Louisville, Ky. truck show and learned more in 30 minutes than I ever thought possible.

Do a search on that and then look for a shop that utilizes his equipment and theories/training, and your troubles are over.....

Our Freightliner Truck just turned out over 200,000 on the steer tires and 230,000 miles on the drive tires, following his ideas. In fact we traded the tires in and the tire dealer had our old tires on his used rack the next day for $200 each, they looked that good.

[a k]

Jack the front end up and spin the wheels. If you have steel wheels they have a tendency to warp. Make sure they run true. They also are easy to bend when mounting a tire.

[Elkhartjim]

My MH spent six weeks in a Freightliner dealer with a similar problem. I finally went to a Goodyear Wingfoot dealer and found out the right front wheel was "warped/bent". I replaced the wheel and the shimmy went away.

[Firedogs2]

WOW!! You guys are GOOD!!! Thanks so much for all the help! I have "ammunition" now to go to a tire place and talk like I knew what I was talking about. I hope it is as simple as a missing balance weight - but we all know that probably won't be the case.

Thanks again for all your replies. I will post whatever I eventually find out.

Firedogs2

[Firedogs2]

Well, I may have some interesting news to report regarding the vibration in the front end of my Jayco. I took it to a local tire service today - one that does a lot of work on big rigs - to have the tire balances checked. As soon as the mechanic pulled the front wheels, he asked if we were having a vibration problem (he wasn't the one to whom I had described the problem, so he didn't think he was doing anything but balancing the wheels.) When we said yes, he said come here I'll show you why. As it turns out, when the centromatic balancers are put on wheels, the wheel weights should be removed!! Apparently, they work against one another. Who would know!! So, we had the tires rotated and the weights removed from the ones that are now on the front. He also suggested getting the centromatics for the rear and removing the weights on all wheels which will improve vibration and make it easier to keep track of future rotations. Being duallies, the tire service suggested the rotation pattern in pairs - clockwise. Long story short(er) the ride home was very smooth, no vibration even at highway speeds 65+. I will have a better take on all of this after my 2200 mile trip during the next two weeks. I hope this works!!

Firedogs2

[safari1]

I had the front end aligned at an RV suspension specialist. $300, had to replace both camber bushings because it was so far off. He said most manufactures do not realign after building coach on top of chassis. Also he spun both front tires while on RV, one was bad, that was causing vibration. Had spare tire and front tire swapped, no more vibration. Rides good, finally. $300 front end alignment, $400 for centramatic balancers, and $250 for Firstone air springs. I hope this is it for a while, we have hardly used it.
Thanks for all of the posts!

[Yellowboat]

When we purchased our MH in 2006 I took it to a Wingfoot tire store and asked them to align the front end. They couldn't understand why I wanted to align a brand new MH. But after they put it on their equipment they understood. My research said that a new MH is way out of alignment because it is not aligned after the coach is added to the chassis. It was way out of alignment. They had to add wedges to pull it into factory specs. We have traveled from coast to coast without a problem.

I wonder how many MH that are on the road is way out of alignment. The owners will not know until they have a problem and get their MH checked.

JD

[Firedogs2]

Well, I am back from my 2200+ trip in the Jayco! And, as promised, I am reporting about the vibration - or luckily, the lack of it - in the front end! The vehicle handled better than ever over some VERY rough interstates. It is amazing how the road conditions change from state to state!!

Overall, it was a delightful trip (I won't mention the water pump problem or the damage to the awning arm and compartment door done at an RV dealer while "topping off" the propane.) All in all, I fared very well on the trip. I can't say the same for our Safari my friend was driving, but that is a whole other story!! Can you say BLOWOUT!

Welcome to the world of RVing. Every trip is an adventure!!!

Firedogs2