Community Forums

vanbuskirk · 10-30-2012, 06:04 PM

My husband and I used our Class A 32 ft motorhome for the first time this past weekend and found the ride very different from our Class C. For the most part it was smooth but when my husband hit a major change in the road surface the coach rocked and gave us a feeling like being on a boat. I called the dealer in route and he said that it was normal and could be attributed to weight distribution. However when we arrived at our location...State College PA with 900 other campers my husband asked a couple of other Class A owners and some said yes and other said no. So my question is.... is this typical and just very noticeable because we were used to being lower to the ground in our Class C? Or is this something that we need to address with the dealer. We purchased a pre owned 03 32R Windsport with low mileage that was completely checked out by the dealer and inspected.

TXiceman · 10-30-2012, 06:09 PM

Which chassis is the coach built on? How many miles on it?

It may need better shocks or anti-roll bars.

Ken

vanbuskirk · 10-30-2012, 06:14 PM

Ford chassis...410 motor and the mileage is 26K

winnie32v · 10-31-2012, 03:11 AM

Up & down rocking...would check out the shocks.
Side to side rolling...would check out the stabilizer bar (front & back) bushings.

My rear stabilizer bar bushings were totally decomposed and I replaced them.
Made a BIG difference in the stability of ride.

wa8yxm · 10-31-2012, 09:18 AM

The following modifications are fairly common, I made two of them (Starred)

1: New and better shocks (Depends on what you have now)
2: Sway bars (Control side to side rocking)
*3:Stearing Stablizers (Try to keep you going straight down the road
*4: Track bars (One or 2) The theory which is good, is that when a vehilcle has leaf spring suspension the body can move slightly side to side on the axle If the front moves right while the rear moves Left then the body "Wags" like a dog's tail. .Sitting as you are, inside the body you preceive this as a change in direction and compensate. Which adds to the wag.. The Track bar, also called a pan-hard bar. Locks the body over the axles (side to side) so this can not happen.

If your car has Strut suspension, then these bars are part of the design, Independent front suspension also includes this feature as part of the design, But motor homes have a one-piece front (and rear) axe which can benefit from the addition of a Track Bar.

How much difference did it make:

In 2006, Jan-2, I drove from Detroit to Las Vegas.. When I got there the towed was a pleasure to drive I mean I was very worn out by the Motor home.

I made the trip again in November of 2006, after the mods starred above.. The very same towed was very HARD to drive, squirrely as blazes after driving the big house.