Anyone dissatisfied with their Safe T Plus?

[fcbbob15]

After two years of adjusting and tinkering I removed it. I had it adjusted very close but like others have said I have not found that perfect road. In my case I hated it on curves, was always correcting. Maybe some day but for now it handles better without it.

[TonyMac]

The main reason I bought it was for protection in the event of a blowout. If it increases the force required to maintain course on less than perfect road or weather conditions, I haven't noticed. My rig had a slight pull to the right. I talked to several front end guys, all said nothing could be done to my RR4R to correct it. The Safe-T-Plus corrected/hid it. It applies the same force I used to apply. Still no noticeable wear in the front tires.

[Reacher]

If it improved safety and lived up to it's marketing hype I think chassis makers and dealers would install it as it' is not expensive. I would like to hear from someone who had it installed, had a steer tire blow-out at highway speeds and attributed their steering ease of recovery to the Safe-T-Steer.

[marjoa]

Originally Posted by fcbbob15

After two years of adjusting and tinkering I removed it. I had it adjusted very close but like others have said I have not found that perfect road. In my case I hated it on curves, was always correcting. Maybe some day but for now it handles better without it.

You don't need a perfect road. The reason you and others have had difficult time dialing it in is because your approach was flawed.

We have a Safe-T-Plus installed on our coach, we dialed it in correctly and it has been a great asset ever since.

There's a video on YT that explains all this if you're interested..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhag...c&index=9&t=1s

[TonyMac]

I believe what they are saying is that when you have to hold correction against a cross wind or a crowned road, you have to hold against the centering spring in the Safe-T-Plus as well, and that needed extra force is annoying.

[NXR]

Originally Posted by Reacher

If it improved safety and lived up to it's marketing hype I think chassis makers and dealers would install it as it' is not expensive.

It's close to a thousand dollars for a blue unit installed by one of their dealers. The chassis maker will never install it because it would increase their costs and someone somewhere would sue them for some perceived failure.

Some RV manufacturers, such as Jayco, do offer third-party improvements such as Sumo Springs.

I would like to hear from someone who had it installed, had a steer tire blow-out at highway speeds and attributed their steering ease of recovery to the Safe-T-Steer.

From what I've read, even if someone did, other people would ask them how they knew unless they had a blowout with and without on the same vehicle under the same conditions. Or would argue that they've had dozens of steer tire blowouts and they're still alive. Etc.

Me? I never drove a large truck professionally except for fire apparatus. Those typically are driven short distances, no more than five miles above the speed limit, professionally maintained vehicles, etc. That driving and training helped me adapt to a Class A faster but tire failures were not addressed once during driver training. So I did my reading and decided a Safe-T-Plus could help and would not hurt.

Ray

[TonyMac]

Originally Posted by NXR

So I did my reading and decided a Safe-T-Plus could help and would not hurt.

Ditto. Do you find it takes extra effort to hold your Safe-T-Plus equipped rig into the wind? Personally, I do not.

[RichardE]

I installed one on a Newmar Mountain Aire. Took one trip and removed it. Not so much for off center but I did not like the numb feeling it gave to the steering input. I felt less connected with feedback from the steering wheel.

[Reacher]

Originally Posted by NXR

It's close to a thousand dollars for a blue unit installed by one of their dealers. The chassis maker will never install it because it would increase their costs and someone somewhere would sue them for some perceived failure.

Some RV manufacturers, such as Jayco, do offer third-party improvements such as Sumo Springs.



From what I've read, even if someone did, other people would ask them how they knew unless they had a blowout with and without on the same vehicle under the same conditions. Or would argue that they've had dozens of steer tire blowouts and they're still alive. Etc.

Me? I never drove a large truck professionally except for fire apparatus. Those typically are driven short distances, no more than five miles above the speed limit, professionally maintained vehicles, etc. That driving and training helped me adapt to a Class A faster but tire failures were not addressed once during driver training. So I did my reading and decided a Safe-T-Plus could help and would not hurt.

Ray

Well I saw them a while back for under 500.00 including mounting bracket at e-trailer. It may have been the Roadmaster brand unit, which looked like a better built device. Installation looked very easy in the video. Anyway I passed because there was no documented proof that the unit helped in a blow out. No testing of any sort to back their claims. Most reviews I read stated that the users removed after a short period of time as turning required more effort.

If I were to buy such a unit I would consider the Blue Ox TrueCenter steering control which would be useful in a cross wind or high crown situation. Where you can actually dial in the assistance needed. Rather something that would compound the problem. Just my two cents fwiw.

[Jzack]

I installed a Safe T Plus on our 08 FL XCR chassis late last summer. I really think it improved the handling of the coach. Windy conditions didn't require nearly as much sawing at the wheel and I actually LIKE the increased friction in the system. This is what improves the handling at freeway speeds. I always felt the steering was way too light before. Especially compared to my semi tractor. Many autos actually increase steering effort automatically as speeds increase. They do this to improve high speed stability. Adding positive castor also improves handling at highway speeds. For those with the Neway front air ride, pay close attention to your ride height because this can positively or negatively influence your castor angle. Too low a setting and you could have a bad handling coach. You really want all the positive castor the chassis will allow for the best handling. To the OP's complaint about fighting the wheel wanting to return to center, having enough positive castor can reduce that effect by adding resistance to the steering system as a whole.

Safety T Plus has been in business for many decades, if these were really 'snake oil' I would think they would have disappeared years ago.

[Ivylog]

Yes, they’ve been around a long time. One of their early videos shows cab over trucks (haven’t seen many of those in decades) fitted with it and the improvement in a blowout. Yes, it definitely helped in a truck that didn’t have power steering which resists the shock from a blowout. The days of a blowout ripping the steering wheel from your hands is long gone.

In another ad one of the things it resists is “oversteering” which is true but I’ve learned to not do that for free. As PT Barnum said “There's a sucker born every minute".

What I find interesting is the # of gas MH owners that sincerely feel it helps while many DP owners actually removed it... like me that found it to be a pain in windy conditions. Do more DP owners continue to go even when there are strong crosswinds compared to gas MH owners???

[Earl II]

Originally Posted by TonyMac

I believe what they are saying is that when you have to hold correction against a cross wind or a crowned road, you have to hold against the centering spring in the Safe-T-Plus as well, and that needed extra force is annoying.

Nope. Not at all.

[AKOne]

Originally Posted by Traps90

Having the Trim Kit installed to allow you to adjust on the fly is worth it.
Great in wind, also great cause you can adjust to varying crowns in the road.

Drove from East Coast to West Coast with just the Safe-T-Plus. Drove back to the East Coast with Safe-T-Plus and SuperSteer Trim Unit. 2,800+ miles each way. Trim unit was the icing on the cake. Trim unit can be found here:https://supersteerparts.com/

[super_rep]

Check out this thread about the STP with the Henderson trim Adjust.

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f258/doe...ut-409968.html

The trim adjust solves all the fine tuning of the STP and allows adjustments as road conditions and cross wind change.