Front suspension

[budhorning]

I have a 2008 Sea Breeze. The front tires could run over a dime and I could tell you if it was heads or tails. I am looking for a smoother ride, something that won't rattle and shake things loose as I drive down the road. Is there something I cane do to the front end?

[BFlinn181]

Have you weighed the RV to get axle weights? Tires should be inflated for the actual load carried on the axle. This inflation pressure can be found on tables published by the tire manufacturer. After trying that, what brand of shocks and how old are they on the front?

Some P series Workhorse chassis have air bags in front to help, you didn't mention which chassis you have, but something to be aware of.

http://www.deserttruckservice.com/pd...ssis.guide.pdf

[Jeff H]

How many miles on the shocks?

[Richard S.]

Based on the weight of my motorhome and the Michelin load chart I run 75 / 80 psi
and get a very smooth and controllable ride. 07 SEABREEZE LX 22.5 wheels

[Karlos]

Hey budhorning,

You seem to be experiencing the wonderful ride of the Ford F53 truck chassis! Hitting expansion joints or road cracks used to jolt my rig terribly and shake out my fillings. Lots of us have tried to soften that ride without giving up too much handling. Take in all the opinions and start with the cheapest fixes first.

Weigh your vehicle FIRST. Truck scales can be hard to get all corner weights, but you can drive on just the front axle, move forward and get both axles, move forward and get just rear axle. Back up and realign and get just the passenger front corner, then both passenger side wheels, then just the back passenger wheels. Do a bit of math and you have a good estimate of the weight at each corner of your rig.

Find the inflation table for your brand/model tires and adjust accordingly. My 19.5" tires were set at 95 psi when I purchased. Based on my weights, I reduced them to 85 psi. VERY slight ride improvement.

I replaced my front shocks, thinking that would dampen the initial hard bumps. VERY little or NO improvement in my case.

I replaced the tires. Did lots of reading on RV tires in this, and other forums. Lots of strong opinions out there ... it's like a religious or political argument. In my case the previous owner put on a very cheap third-tier truck tire. I looked for a softer riding tire that wouldn't break the bank like the first-tier RV tires. I ended up selecting the Toyo M143 all position truck tire. This second-tier tire cost me a little over $2100 and has softened the ride tremendously and maintained good handling.

Good luck to you!
Karlos