Poor handling and rough ride '07 Winnebago Voyage

[bryanwwelsh]

We just purchased a 2007 Winnebago Voyage 35A with about 5,000 miles on it. We love the layout and functionality of the coach but have found the handling and ride to be quite frankly terrible. This is our first class A, we had a class C for over 10 years. So we don't really have anything else to compare to. Looking for advice and input on ride and handling of this vehicle. What should we expect? What if anything can be done to improve it? Are the aftermarket products that were added making it worse?

What we experience:
1. Rough ride, every defect in the pavement telegraphs through and the coach shakes, jars and rattles.
2. Over-steer or vague steering. It wanders a lot. You have to pay constant attention or you are out of your lane.


Particulars:

• Workhorse 24K GVWR (this includes the Allison 2100 transmission but does it also make the ride worse?)
• 8.1L GM engine
• Michelin X 235/80 R22.5 XRV tires

The previous owner put a bunch of after-market suspension components on (perhaps they were trying to fix problems with handling or maybe these are make things worse). The components include:

• Front: Safe-T-Plus Steering Control model #41-230
• Front: Davis TruTrac Bar by Roadmaster
• Rear: Roadmaster Suspension Solutions Sway Bar
• Rear: SuperSteer SS302-1 Track Bar
• Bilstein Gas Pressure Shock Absorbers - assume these are aftermarket?

Any and all thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[LVJ58]

Congratulations on your new coach..

First you might want to get your coach weighed then using the tire mfgr's. load inflation chart see if you can safely run with lower air pressure in tires.

Next check your shocks, Bilsteins are great shocks but from what I understand a bit stiff unless they're the new Comfitrac type shocks. However I don't know how you tell the difference.

We have the Koni FSD shocks on our coach that significantly softens up the ride, but then ours is on the Ford chassis.

Hopefully some other forum members can offer more and better suggestions on resolving your rough ride issue...

Best of luck and safe travels...

[Yellowboat]

Last summer I put new tires on our 30 foot Winnebago Sightseer. With the new tires I couldn't keep in my lane. The RV followed every track in the road and the bow wave from trucks would nearly blow me off the road.


I put on steering control and a rear trac bar. I already had a front trac bar. They helped but not enough to make my RV drive like it did with my old tires.


My new tires were 3 months old when they were installed. After I put miles on the tires or after the tires aged my MH started behaving. In fact, with the new trac bars and steering control it has never driven better.


I don't know if new tires is you problem or not, but for me, my new tires made my RV almost uncontrollable.

JD

[ninos]

You might want to change the bell crank, there is a after market one that they say it makes a big difference I forgot the name of the company that makes it but its the blue ones, I'm sure that someone will know what I'm talking about. Good luck. Joe

[swampdog2]

Sounds like that one has been a problem from the start.first thing I would do is make sure it was not over loaded ,then ask a friend to drive it to see what he thinks .some things you might consider front end alainged ,swap front tires ,after that with no change I guess you could do what the last owner did.

[exrench]

Koni FSD shock absorbers may take some of the harshness out of the ride and a caster angle adjustment may fix the wandering.(check for caster adjustment in the search feature of IRV2)

[Mr JP]

You might want to ask this on the workhorse forum. check out this link http://www.irv2.com/forums/f22/best-...ks-156516.html for discussion on Koni shocks. Good Luck JP

[Cliffer]

We did own a 2000 Winnebego Brave with a Workhorse P32 chasis. This was truly a white knuckle job. Keeping it on the road was a challenge. I had Super Steer stabilizers installed and they were a very noticeable improvement. We traded 2 years ago for a Deisel pusher.

[bertnspike]

Have the rear bushings checked. New bushings solved my problems.

[Alan JS]

You checked wheel alignment right?
I had dealer install Safe T plus stabilizer on front axle and it made steering worse. Had large truck repair shop re align and reinstall Safe T plus properly while correcting caster on all wheels.
Amazing what a difference.
Before it was a white knuckle adventure as you described now very little effort is required. I try to keep the tires inflated to 95 lbs on my Georgetown XL and it seems to be stable.

[bryanwwelsh]

What do rear bushings have to do with stiffness of ride up front? And by rear bushings do you mean the rubber bushings at the base of the shocks? That is the only ones I see. They are indeed cracked and checked.

Thanks everyone for thoughtful input. Will start with getting it weighed and evaluate tire pressure. It was supposedly aligned when we bought it, but I will check into that.

Then it is down to who to believe about shocks, such a divisive topic - no clear direction there.

[chboone]

If you have a rear sway bar there are rubber bushing where the bar attaches to the rear differential. You may also have one in the front. If the bushings are worn it will effect the sway not the ride.
From your original post
"2. Over-steer or vague steering. It wanders a lot. You have to pay constant attention or you are out of your lane."

Welcome to the world of class A gas motor home.

That is reason the previous owner added all those parts.

I have added several items to my motor home to improve the handling, and they have. Before it was a two handed job to drive it, not I can drive it relaxed and one handed, unless there is a strong side wind.

[amanda_h]

I see you're getting a lot of good advice here but getting too much advice sometimes gets confusing and difficult to know which way to turn.

Since I see from your profile that you're in western Washington, you might consider taking it to Brazel's in Centralia. They are a commercial sponsor here on iRV2 and are experts at diagnosing handling problems although they do just about everything there that is chassis related.

Brazel's RV Performance -- Steering and Handling Page


-harry

[luvlabs]

I'm going to be a contrarian here. Since your coach already has most of the suspension modifications that can be done to a gas coach, I going to suggest that you simply learn to drive the thing. Get a few thousand miles of driving experience and then think about how it handles. You are not driving a car, it's a big, stiff suspension truck with a huge sail area (about 12' by 35') that will push you everywhere in a breeze. Experience plays a large part in your driving experience.

Tire pressure and cargo loading plays a huge part in handling. So before you take off on your next trip, get your coach weighed and inflate your tires per the loading tables of the tire manufacturer. Don't load really heavy things behind your rear axle. That will contribute to the sway, wiggle, and what else you are feeling. Do fill the water tank at least half full.

And again, driving time is going to help you adjust.