April 14, 2003, Stamford, CT - We picked up the motorhome in the beginning of March and immediately went camping in the snow. We had a good time getting to learn the inside of the motorhome as we were putting away all the stuff that we transferred from the 37G. Amazingly it all fit. Outside the only option that could be pursued was snow shoveling!
Camping at Aces High Campground in E. Lyme, CT - March 2003
Sunday morning arrived and after a nice leisurely breakfast in the new motorhome we broke camp for the trip home. While picking up our hoses and putting away our power cables, I accumulated huge mud clots under my sneakers, and got my feet soaked. - What a mess! So much for winter camping! Before departing the campground I had to go and find a pair of sandals so I could drive home. My
sneakers were practically trashed.
We departed the campground and headed back up on the interstate southbound for a 75 mile run back home. I put down the arms on my chair, snuggled my butt in the seat, setup the cruise control and assumed a big smile. I was having a lot of fun driving down the road in our new ride. I was liking the power of the engine and performance of the transmission and it didn't take long to get a good feeling for the 5.38 final-drive in the Dana rear. It immediately became a reality to us that the 22.5 inch XRVs were going to give us a great ride and they did not disappoint.
The wind was unusually noticeable today and it was pushing me around a bit causing me to have to drive a little bit more than usual. Being passed by trucks and busses was not affecting us very much however that 456 square feet of side wall was catching a lot of wind. Most notable was the fact that the motorhome was feeling "loose off" coming around sharper turns on the Interstate and those turns coupled with the wind made for interesting lane transitions. The motorhome essentially felt like it was yawing when negotiating those turns requiring corrective steering. Although we did feel the motion, it wasn't anything too drastic that couldn't be corrected. Quite a few times the copilot was complaining about holding my lane and I was doing my best, but it was challenging. The fact that I have a bedroom slideout, a generator, True-Air, and the washing machine all behind the rear axle made it apparent to me that driving the 38G would be different.
I was trying to figure in my mind why was there all of this extra action in the suspension and why am I working this driving thing more than I should? I then remembered the discussions that folks were posting on the board, and that the guys were talking about installing a track bar just like on a racecar. At this point I'm feeling that I need to consider this so I can keep the rear of this thing from trying to pass the front of the motorhome.
Track bar and motorhome, hmmm where did I see this before? Sure enough the brain kicked into over drive and I remembered a small 2 x 2 color picture in Motorhome Magazine about the Super-Steer Track Bar for W-20 & W22 series Workhorse Chassis.
On further investigation I browsed over to
Henderson's Line-Up∙com and there it was; the
SS-302. The SS-302 is made for both the W20 and the W22 chassis.
Henderson's Line-up Brakes & RV, Inc.
Although I was very reluctant to apply chassis modifications on my new motorhome, I just had to bite the bullet and go for it. I called Robert Henderson in Grants Pass, Oregon, (514)-479-2882, and had a great conversation about Workhorse Chassis and his experience in creating engineering solutions for early P Series motorhomes using their Super-Steer Bellcrank. I was inspired by Robert's knowledge and his friendly manner and reassuring comments that he offered about the problem that I was having. At the end of the conversation, I committed to purchase the Henderson's Line-Up Super-Steer Track Bar for $439.95 plus shipping.
The SS-302 Track-Bar Kit
By purchasing the track bar, I was breaking new ground in my way of thinking about the chassis however it was something that I needed to do. I spoke with my contacts at Workhorse and no one there had a bad thing to say about Robert Henderson. That was a good thing right there in itself. I was confident in my mind that whatever eventually got here via UPS that it would be the solution that I was looking for.
UPS came through delivering a non-descript white long rectangular box and removing the packing slip and looking it over confirmed that the track bar was here. Opening the box and reaching in for the components, I felt like it was Christmas all over again. I pulled out the bar and looked it over and it looked absolutely perfect in bright blue powder-coat paint. 3 pieces comprise the kit, the track-bar, the frame bracket and the axle plate. The kit also included all the hardware, and 6 inch piece of wire loom and a small tube of locktight.
Inside the chassis rail showing the install location for the frame bracket
Having all this nice stuff I figured, man what a great excuse to go out and get some new tools. We ran up to Milford and went to Sears and picked up a 150 piece kit for $98.00. Such a deal! - $300.00 bucks worth of tools on sale! I also picked up two combination open end wrenches up to 1 1/8 inch and a 6 inch, drive extension because the kit only came with a 3 inch extension. $150.00 bucks later we were out of there.
This past Sunday, the sun was out and it was a beautiful day, what better day to do some shade tree mechanic stuff on your new motorhome? My son Tim and I got in the car and drove off to our storage lot. Henderson's advised that the motorhome should be raised 4 inches for ground clearance under the pipes. What's really nice about the motorhome is that it comes with built in jacks. We chocked the front wheels and raised the rear of motorhome up a few inches to improve our access to the under carriage, the rear wheels never left the ground.
The axle plate mounts here using existing bolt holes
We began by removing the left side bumper mount using the new drive tools we just bought. The mount is located behind the duallies on the side of the frame. I draped a ground cloth over the tires and was able to hold the head of the bolts with a wrench while Tim spun off the nuts on the inside of the chassis. I removed the mount and placed it on the ground. We repositioned the chassis mounted wiring harness by removing the plastic retaining clamps and raising the harness as high as was needed to clear the track bar frame bracket. Once moved we secured the harness with 4 additional tie-wraps. The harness was previously running straight across the back of the bumper mount and had to be relocated. We wiped off the frame with a rag before installing the frame bracket. Tim asked me to cut down a piece wire loom from the kit to 3 inches and hand it to him. The piece was installed over the anti-lock cable going down to the sender. Our concern was that it may have rubbed on the hydraulic line so the wire loom was installed.
The like-air bag mount on the chassis
I picked up the bumper mount and started to look it over as to how to get the 2 lower bolts out of from behind the air bag. The neoprene bag was attached vertically to the mount by a 3/8 rod and this had to be removed in order to allow the 2 lower bolts to clear the bag. The nut and lock washer came right off using some WD-40, and a deep socket on a 3/8 drive ratchet. I removed the old bolts and replaced them with 2 new bolts and reinstalled the bag on the mount taking care not to over tighten the retaining screw that held the bag.
The air bag being removed and reinstalled shows the new bolts ready to be installed on the chassis
The next step was to remove and discard 3 pinion carrier bolts on the right side of the banjo and install the axle plate for the track-bar. We had a heck of a time breaking those 3 bolts free with a inch ratchet.. The lower bolt is immersed in differential fluid and care should be taken not to loose any fluid. A tiny bit came out of the rear and we temporarily stuck the bolt back in the hole as a plug.
Axle plate mounted and torqued to specifications
Realizing that we had struggled in getting off the old bolts we figured this would be a good time to go out and buy a torque wrench.
Henderson's provided 7 - inch bolts and lock washers for the frame bracket and axle plate and they were about an inch longer than the stock bolts. Aligning the 2 Grade 8 zinc plated bolts with the lower bolt holes, I pushed them through and positioned the mount on the outside of the chassis. The next step was to install the track bar's frame bracket over the 2 lower bolts coming through the chassis. Subsequently I pushed in the top 2 bolts while Tim fitted the lock washers and nuts and snugged everything up. The ear on the frame bracket is mounted facing the front of the chassis by the way.
The frame bracket was mounted using all the existing holes.
We tightened up the 4 bolts that hold the mount and frame bracket and then we torqued out the bolts to 65 ft/lbs. Henderson's included red lock tight but not enough to do all the fasteners so we bought some on our own and applied it to the 4 mount/bracket bolts before assembly.
The axle plate is made from 3/8 inch thick steel and features 3 arced attachment holes that follow the bolt pattern on the pinion carrier. From the bottom there are 2 machined holes and a horizontally slotted hole on the top for adjustment or wiggle room. We applied the red locktight before installing the new bolts and lock washers into the banjo. Removing the lower bolt we left in as a plug, the new bolts and lock washers were inserted through the axle plate and snugged up using our " drive ratchet. The bolts were then torqued to 100 ft/lbs.
The track bar installed on the frame bracket
We brought the non-adjustable end of the track bar up to the front of the frame bracket and inserted one of the inch bolts and washers through the track bar's bushing. The emerging bolt was saddled with another washer and the bolt was pushed through the frame bracket and Tim screwed on the locking nut. We tightened up the track bar's bolt as tight as we could get it with the inch ratchet using a 1 1/8" socket. Once the track bar was mounted on the frame bracket here came the fun part, attaching the track bar to the axle plate.
The backside of the frame bracket showing the location of the wire loom
To complete the installation it's important that
the entire weight of the motorhome be put back on the suspension, therefore we raised the jacks. We backed off on the jam nut that holds the adjustable bushing end and turned out the track bar end until the holes lined up in the bar and the axle plate. We achieved what we thought was an excellent alignment and held a washer in place on the inside of the bar and inserted a inch bolt through the axle plate and caught the flat washer on the way by and continued to push the bolt through the track bar bushing. The installation of the axle plate bolt was completed by adding another inch flat washer on the backside and a self locking nut.
We tightened the axle plate bolt with our ratchet before tightening the jam nut. The jam nut was tightened using the prescribed wrench and was lengthened by using a second wrench for leverage. Henderson's wants 125 ft/lbs of torque on the jam nut but we were only able to tighten it as much as we could. Once the jam nut was secured, we finished up by torquing both of the 3/4" pivot bolts to 150 ft/lbs, and that was that. As a side note the torque value is missing from installation instructions. The time to accomplish the installation took about and hour and a half as stated.
The adjustment was easily accomplished by turning out the bushing and aligning the holes
Once everything was tightened up, I was curious about raising the motorhome up on its hydraulic jacks now that the rear end and the frame were tied together. We operated the jacks and although the bar pivoted at the chassis bracket and the axle plate everything looked normal. The chassis just came straight up and it didn't look like anything was going to present any problems.
The SS-302 Henderson's Line-Up Super Steer Track Bar - Installed
Now the moment we've all been waiting for the "Test Drive"
Tim jumped into the driver's seat because he figured he did most of the work. Colleen was already aboard. Tim drove the motorhome straight out of the storage facility and turned left out onto the street. I closed up the gate behind the motorhome and climbed aboard and grabbed the co-pilots' seat and away we went. Approaching the stop sign at the end of the street Tim made a rolling stop, negotiated a right hand turn, and kept on going since there wasn't any traffic in either direction. I felt and knew immediately that the rear of the motorhome did not continue to swing out in the direction of the turn. It felt solid and Tim knew it as well.
We drove up the entrance ramp and onto Interstate 95 and headed north up through Stamford and set a comfortable cruising speed. We have a few mild S turns on the interstate through town because of construction and we also have a banked right hander exiting town. Negotiating the highway we both remarked practically at the same time how well the motorhome was tracking. Tim driving the motorhome allowed me to feel what the copilot would be experiencing while sitting in her seat. Meanwhile the real co-pilot was on the couch listening to everything Tim and I were talking about and appreciating the fact that the money I just spent was worth while.
We were finally getting the great ride that I hoped would be the benefit of installing the track bar and it did not disappoint us. Initially I was thinking that we only needed to go up the road a couple of exits but it was so nice out and I was enjoying the ride so we continued up the Interstate to Exit 40 some 34 miles away. We eventually arrived at our local Pilot Truck Stop, fueled up, had lunch at the Wendy's and switched drivers.
I took to the con at this point and drove the south bound leg of our trip. What a difference I felt. The motorhome was absent of any yaw tendencies and was now tracking straight and true and had no inclination to drift out of the lane. I was able to hold a nice line in the granny lane adjacent to the close in Jersey barriers with no problem. I never felt like I was getting too close or had to make excessive corrections. Bridgeport, Connecticut is undergoing a lot of construction and features tight Jersey barriers on both sides, winding esses from one side of the highway to the other and very irregular pavement surfaces. The motorhome tracked through this 4 to 5 mile stretch much the same as our TrailBlazer would have. Back out onto straight and level highway the motorhome was unaffected by light side winds and passing vehicles and drove straight with normal steering input.
Traveling in cruise at 60 to 65 mph, I believe that the ride is now as good as it gets. You will also find like I did that the perceptions about replacement shocks and more anti-sway bars in the front of the motorhome will disappear as the miles roll by. As far as I'm concerned the ride was darn near perfect. When the time comes to replace the stock shocks, I may look at the Koni adjustable shock absorbers that Robert was suggesting. The Super-Steer track bar would make an excellent confidence builder for the novice or untrained driver on the largest gas-powered motorhomes
In closing, may I respectfully suggest that the Henderson's Line-Up Super-Steer Track Bar should be the first component that you should consider as an option before considering making shock absorber or other chassis modifications on your W Series Workhorse chassis. The Super-Steer Track Bar costs just about as much as 4 new shock absorbers and it will definitely give you a great feeling of confidence while you're motoring across America.
One Way - "We commit to pray for each other and our customers so that we would serve in a way consistent with our Mission Statement." (Safer and Happier Driving)
When I received my track bar in the mail I noticed a curious looking icon that featured an arrow with an embedded cross and the words "One Way". I have since come to find out that Henderson's Lineup's "Vision Statement" is represented by it and it simply states in the first paragraph that, "This business is owned by God and entrusted to
Robert A. Henderson and the people brought together to steward and
glorify God through excellence in the market place". I thought this was a nice statement regarding the attitude and business principals of the folks at Henderson's Line-Up.
Henderson's Line-Up/Super Steer
888.898.3281 ∙ 541.955.0769 ∙
fax 541.476.3851
417 SW Marion Lane ∙ Grants Pass, OR 97527
Contact Henderson's by e-mail:
info@hendersonslineup.com
<font color=blue>03 Winnebago 38G/Workhorse W22 " 22.5" Tire "
Adventurer
02 Chevrolet TrailBlazer LS
Aventa II " Brake Buddy
Nor'Easters
"We Will Never Forget"</font color>
<font color=red>
88 " Robert Yates Racing " 38
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[This message was edited by DriVer on Fri April 18 2003 at 07:03 AM.]
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