JOSAM

[Cutch]

I have an appointment at Josam tomorrow morning for a full alignment after reading articles on this site about handling problems, alignments and Josam.

Back in December when I purchased new from Lazydays in Tampa, I took the rig for a ride on I-4 and noticed the steering wheel way off center. I told the salesman that it needed an alignment. It went to the Chassis shop and shortly after, I followed to see a mechanic crawling out from under the front. He said the steering wheel was aligned. Thought is strange, but he is the mechanic.

In February we attended a Spartan school in Tucson Arizona where I asked Big Mike about the misaligned steering wheel and how LD fixed the problem. He said the only real way to straighten out a misaligned wheel is an alignment. We came back to Florida in November and had some items that needed attention so I went back to Lazydays. I brought up the poor alignment job done back when I purchased the coach and they refused to pay for a real alignment, so did Spartan since I now had 11,000 miles on the coach.

Regardless, I'm getting a "real" full alignment in the morning and will pay for what I know is and has been needed. I also plan on sending a letter with a copy of the paid bill to Lazydays, Entegra and Spartan. This problem should have been noted by the driver who delivered the new coach to Lazydays and Lazydays or Entegra should accept responsibility.

In any event, I learned another lesson. Report immediately and demand resolution, not a short cut fix.

I will report Josam's findings and the difference in handling as we will be headed back to Lazydays since a power reel they installed in December 2016 just broke yesterday.

[DSL417]

Agree...with all you say. That said, $400 or so is a small price to pay for a smooth ride, and more importantly, extending the life of the tires which cost big bucks. Sorry you're having to go through with this. I will be in Orlando in October and will have my alignment checked while there...as far as I am concerned, they are the best in the country, including the Spartan factory.

[sam-3]

Another thing you could try is writing to the action line for Motor home and or trailer life. Many times the companies don't like the free publicity and will reimburse.

[edgray]

I think you will find the cost of a three axle alignment at Josams will exceed $600.00, mostly due to your IFS. Immediately following the TSS I paid Josam a few dollars shy of $600.00 for my solid front axle "K2" chassis. On arrival, my only complaint was that it pulls to the right just a little. They did the 3 axle alignment, showed me their before and after readings, and explained that essentially my two rear axles were headed in opposite directions before they did their thing. I left Josam confident that it was money well spent, however the very gusty conditions driving north made it impossible for me to tell if the coach handling was improved or not. Now, after driving it another 1,000 miles or so, I'm still having to steer slightly to the left to keep it going straight. I've been told this problem MAY be "radial pull" and that rotating the front tires MAY cure the problem. That will be my next move because it is just too far to go back to Josam now. SAD.

[Cutch]

I made my appointment and it was shown that the Toe End was out enough to cause the "wandering", plus I had them grease all the fittings. I was there the entire time. I asked about an opinion on Koni shocks and as a result I had 6 Koni shocks installed, plus 4 corner weighing. After leaving Josam I had to go back to Lazydays for one final quick fix and I was amazed at the difference in ride quality. Absolutely no wandering and much more comfortable. Could not feel many of the road defects as with the factory Bilisteins.
I can say without hesitation that this was well worth the money. The first thing I will do after purchasing another coach will be to install Koni shocks and get an alignment from Josam or another qualified facility.
Oh and the staff was very friendly and helpful. Plus you can monitor the work done on your coach.

[brobox]

Glad a good alignment and Koni shocks did as much for you as they did for me. Very sad the condition of the front ends when they leave Spartan.

On mine I had 4 alignments done before replacing just the front shocks. What a difference!!! and something I wish I had done first. I learned more from this forum than 4 alignment shops, 2 of those being Spartan factory and Entegra.

[Lault]

I will be there in 2 weeks to take my turn getting all wheel alignment, all though i have very little issue but want it perfect.

[Bigd9]

As a general comment, a chassis manufacturer makes and then ships the chassis to the coach manufacturer, sometimes in a modified-shortened version of the final length. As the coach manufacturer makes the coach adding floors and walls, roof and lots of weight, etc the chassis alignment will change. Thus, it's up to the motorhome manufacturer to align the coach chassis as it leaves the final assembly station.

[brobox]

Originally Posted by Bigd9

As a general comment, a chassis manufacturer makes and then ships the chassis to the coach manufacturer, sometimes in a modified-shortened version of the final length. As the coach manufacturer makes the coach adding floors and walls, roof and lots of weight, etc the chassis alignment will change. Thus, it's up to the motorhome manufacturer to align the coach chassis as it leaves the final assembly station.

My front end went way past a normal alignment, but you are correct on the coach leaving the factory needing an alignment because of chassis loading.

However the chassis should leave their factor with proper steering, not growling and jerking, properly shocked and the steering wheel somewhere in a straight position.

[smlranger]

Originally Posted by Bigd9

As a general comment, a chassis manufacturer makes and then ships the chassis to the coach manufacturer, sometimes in a modified-shortened version of the final length. As the coach manufacturer makes the coach adding floors and walls, roof and lots of weight, etc the chassis alignment will change. Thus, it's up to the motorhome manufacturer to align the coach chassis as it leaves the final assembly station.

Do most of the coach manufacturers even have chassis alignment capability at the factory? Country Coach used to claim they dyno tested and aligned every chassis before it left the factory.

Also, you would think with the number of buyers of these high dollar coaches who replace the stock Bilsteins with better shocks (primarily Koni it seems), the coach manufacturers would spec them with Koni's. Even the new Spartan 'Travel Ride III' chassis we saw at the Foretravel display in Tampa had Bilsteins on it.

[brobox]

Entegra has an alignment rack, problem is experienced operators. Entegra did finally upgrade the shocks on the 2017 to a 60 MM piston Bilsteins

[lowejug]

Originally Posted by Cutch

I made my appointment and it was shown that the Toe End was out enough to cause the "wandering", plus I had them grease all the fittings. I was there the entire time. I asked about an opinion on Koni shocks and as a result I had 6 Koni shocks installed, plus 4 corner weighing. After leaving Josam I had to go back to Lazydays for one final quick fix and I was amazed at the difference in ride quality. Absolutely no wandering and much more comfortable. Could not feel many of the road defects as with the factory Bilisteins.
I can say without hesitation that this was well worth the money. The first thing I will do after purchasing another coach will be to install Koni shocks and get an alignment from Josam or another qualified facility.
Oh and the staff was very friendly and helpful. Plus you can monitor the work done on your coach.

Which version of the koni shocks did they put on? Were they the new 99b ones
Or the adjustable ones? Just curious

[brobox]

Originally Posted by lowejug

Which version of the koni shocks did they put on? Were they the new 99b ones
Or the adjustable ones? Just curious

Me too.

[Cutch]

Fronts were 99B3234 that were non adjustable. Rears were not adjustable either. Fronts were about twice the diameter as the original Bilsteins.