Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
RV Trip Planning Discussions

Go Back   iRV2 Forums > MOTORHOME FORUMS > Class A Motorhome Discussions
Click Here to Login
Join iRV2 Today

Mission Statement: Supporting thoughtful exchange of knowledge, values and experience among RV enthusiasts.
Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on iRV2
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 12-24-2015, 05:42 PM   #1
Junior Member
 
Holiday Rambler Owners Club
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Fayetteville, NC
Posts: 18
Shake in front end

I purchased a used Holiday Rambler Arista 300 in July and have been getting the hang of RVing. I have noticed a vibration or shake in the front end (mainly the steering wheel) when getting up to 60 mph and above. The faster you get above 60 the worse the shake in the steering wheel becomes. I took it to the Ford dealer to have the front end checked out and tires balanced. THe service manager said that the front tires appear to have a flat spot in them and he suspected the motorhome had sat for a long duration. He thought I might have to replace the tires to eliminate the problem.
The front tires are supposedly "new" when I bought the RV. I cannot decipher the DOT code on the tires like I could on the rear ones (OE tires, 8 years old). Having replace the rear tires a few months back I am not opposed to replacing the front to have them all match.
Any opinions?
CampOnWheels is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 12-24-2015, 05:47 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
CJ7365's Avatar
 
Tiffin Owners Club
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Southern NM
Posts: 2,514
Well, if the tires are the same size, front and rear, I would move a set of the rear to the front to confirm "flat" spot, I believe the dealer just said this, because he does not know what is wrong, I have never heard of a flat spot that would not go back to normal after a few miles of driving.


If the tires are old I could see maybe the belts inside the tire separating causing the vibration.


The dealer could of easily swap the front to the rear if they did indeed rebalance them.

Did you look at the tires? did you see new tire weights on them?


Sorry if this post sounds so negative against "The Dealer"

Take a pic of the date code and lets have a look, also you might have to look on the other side of the tire for the code, it is usually only on one side of the tire.
__________________
2005 Tiffin Allegro Bay 37DB
W22 Workhorse Chassis 8.1 Flat Towing a 82 Jeep CJ7
CJ7365 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-24-2015, 06:06 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 35,349
A flat spot wouldn't just show up at 60 + MPH. You should feel it all of the time. I did when my tire belts came apart.

Sounds like balance.

Take it to a truck tire shop. They will read the DOT code and be able to balance your tires.

You could get some balance beads or centrmatic balance things that go on behind the tires.

I don't think much of the auto balance things because, as they did to me, they hide the damage to the belts by rebalancing them as they got worse.

By the time I felt the shake, the tires were in dangerously bad shape.
twinboat is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 12-24-2015, 06:23 PM   #4
Junior Member
 
Holiday Rambler Owners Club
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Fayetteville, NC
Posts: 18
flat spot on tires...

Yes, I agree that the "flat spot" seemed a little odd and should be felt at all mild a faster speeds, not just above 60. If there truly is a flat spot, I would suspect some internal damage to the tire structure.
CampOnWheels is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-24-2015, 07:11 PM   #5
Member
 
evesely's Avatar
 
Fleetwood Owners Club
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Duncan,SC
Posts: 99
I think you have a tire that has Ply separation. This would show up at certain speed or road curving. This problem could show up even on brand new tires. Swap the two front tires to the rear and see what happens.
__________________
Happy Travel
evesely is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-24-2015, 07:17 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
Sweetbriar's Avatar
 
Thor Owners Club
Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 3,790
I think balance also. How far out of balance will usually determine the speed the vibration shows up. The earlier it starts the worse it will be at speed. Swapping a pair with the rear is a pretty low cost test. Also use a heavy truck tire center. They have the equipment to balance a 70 lbs. wheel properly.
Sweetbriar is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 12-25-2015, 07:38 AM   #7
Senior Member
 
Lv2Roam2's Avatar
 
Winnebago Owners Club
Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Somewhere On the Road
Posts: 1,213
Shake in front end

Recommend you also consider 'tire run out' - a new learning opportunity for me earlier this month when I experienced a steering wheel vibration/shake at 50 - 60 mph.

Basically, with the front tire still mounted on the coach and jacked clear of the floor, a simple floor-standing gauge is used to measure a tire's 'high point' while it is rotated 360 degrees. That point is marked, the tire is rebalanced and remounted with the high point at the top (12 o'clock) position. Simple enough - fixed the problem.

I'm still figuring out the physics ...
__________________
Steve
2015 Itasca Ellipse QD | 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Lv2Roam2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-25-2015, 08:51 AM   #8
Junior Member
 
Holiday Rambler Owners Club
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Fayetteville, NC
Posts: 18
High spot on tire

I have seen tires broke loose from the rim and rotated due to a high spot, which is caused by imperfect centering on the wheel, and then re-balancing. I am not sure about what you have described, however, if it worked for you I am not knocking it.
Thanks for the input.
CampOnWheels is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-25-2015, 09:22 AM   #9
Senior Member
 
Smitty77's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Over the next hill, around the next curve...
Posts: 5,659
I found that when I loss 30-40 lbs, my 'front' did not seem to shake as much! (Yeah, I know, no help at all - but, it was what I first thought of when I read the thread topic!).

Good input for you to follow up on. Please close the loop back, and let us know what it was...
Best,
Smitty
__________________
07 Country Coach Magna Rembrandt 45' ISX600
Roo II was our 04 Country Coach Allure 40'
OnDRoad for The JRNY! Enjoy life...
Smitty77 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-29-2015, 12:01 PM   #10
Junior Member
 
Holiday Rambler Owners Club
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Fayetteville, NC
Posts: 18
Solution to Shake in Front End

Well dieting might the drivers, but as it turned out, a new pair of tires was needed to fix the vibration. I have had MH up to 72 with not discernable shake as previously detected. Thanks to everyone for their input.
CampOnWheels is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Front end alignment Wester NC SmokyRV Ford Motorhome Chassis Forum 8 08-17-2015 02:35 PM
Random Popping in Front End macbeatson Entegra Owner's Forum 9 09-08-2014 04:57 PM
Replace 1 rear tire, throw out front end? scrapintina Class C Motorhome Discussions 5 07-22-2014 10:05 PM
R3100 Chassis front end specs Rod33 Roadmaster Motorhome Chassis Forum 2 05-01-2014 11:01 PM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:08 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.