Have Freightliner Steer tag axle or plan on buying one, watch how the tag steer works

[Rd1]

Originally Posted by Anthem46

Our son was gracious enough to let us borrow is Ventana over the New Year's holidays. It has the steerable axle on the Freightliner chassis 4500 miles. .

If they are setup right, they will be ok, otherwise, the wondering you'd experience, could be a bit of safety concern.

However, to really see how good the design is, you would need 20-30k miles at a minimum to see how reliable it is. The 8 tires that had to be replaced in about 7500 mi on mine would be a bit painful, if it has to be done in regular basis. The bottom line, for a company involved with making chassis for coaches for many years, it is understandable they may have issues from time to time. However, it is entirely in-excusable for them to hide it.

[DrPhil]

ChassisGuy mentioned in a recent companion post that the OP here was experiencing engine braking noise/vibration, but I went back to look at these videos. It would seem to me that this is showing the TAG axel doing the vibration and not the drive axle, but what do others think? Am I missing something???

[BBorgo]

I don't think you are missing anything. The Freightliner wandering tag has happened to enough owners that there is a TSB. While I will note that any one individual can put in enough complaints to cause a problem, this is a case of many owners have the same problem. In the case of the wandering tag, more than one case is enough for the factory to take a look. They are instead going with the traditional "I've never heard that before".
You placed calls yourself and got a run around! Despite what some on the forum claim, I believe the Spartan for 2017 to be the better choice. Thicker frame rails and disc brakes made the decision for me at the International Rally. Your phone calls made the decision for you.
I'm really happy for your new coach Dr. Phil, love the paint job!!

Bob

[ChassisGuy]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

ChassisGuy mentioned in a recent companion post that the OP here was experiencing engine braking noise/vibration, but I went back to look at these videos. It would seem to me that this is showing the TAG axel doing the vibration and not the drive axle, but what do others think? Am I missing something???

It's neither axle. When test driving with the engine brake off (customer ALWAYS had engine brake on), the vibration/noise went away. The larger X engines produce this more so than the smaller L & B engines. What he's describing is an alignment issue.

[Canuck53]

Why having the engine brake on cause vibration? Is this normal or is there an issue that is not related to the alignment?

[ChassisGuy]

Originally Posted by Canuck53

Why having the engine brake on cause vibration? Is this normal or is there an issue that is not related to the alignment?

It's just the normal operation of the brake when it disengages around 10 mph. The engine brake command also tells the transmission to downshift to 2nd gear somewhat aggressively so it puts a load on the drivetrain and that's why you feel it. I notice it more with the ISX/4000 series trans combo. Again, this is normal and NOT at all related to an alignment.