Community Forums

Evo1 · 06-08-2023, 06:10 AM

I wanted to give a shout out to Truck Align in Altoona, WI. I had posted earlier about the issue with my coach being all over the road. I upgraded the shocks and had it aligned at another shop which made it a bit more stable than it was, but still not right - and they did not fix the steering wheel which was off center which they said they did. When I posted earlier that it had been fixed, it was after a short drive on county roads. As soon as I got on the interstate it was apparent that most of the issues were still present. As I described it before it still felt like there was a "dead spot" while going down the road. After a lot of searching in my area, I found Truck Align. Made an appointment and brought it to them. They found that the previous alignment company had left the steers toe out by a fair margin. They drove the coach twice to make sure and that the steering wheel was centered and drove like it should. Now finally the dead spot is gone, steering wheel is straight and it is stable going down the road. The previous company did refund my money after I sent them pictures of me going down the highway with the steering wheel cocked to the right by about 30 degrees, so there is that. I know it is difficult to find good shops, so I wanted to let everyone know that Truck Align knows what they are doing and were great to work with. Plus the total bill was half of what the previous shop charged. I can now drive one handed with a relaxed grip on the steering wheel

bevandtomH · 06-08-2023, 07:32 AM

Glad you found a shop to your satisfaction, better yet, the other shop was pretty good to refund your cost as well.

brobox · 06-08-2023, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evo1

I wanted to give a shout out to Truck Align in Altoona, WI. I had posted earlier about the issue with my coach being all over the road. I upgraded the shocks and had it aligned at another shop which made it a bit more stable than it was, but still not right - and they did not fix the steering wheel which was off center which they said they did. When I posted earlier that it had been fixed, it was after a short drive on county roads. As soon as I got on the interstate it was apparent that most of the issues were still present. As I described it before it still felt like there was a "dead spot" while going down the road. After a lot of searching in my area, I found Truck Align. Made an appointment and brought it to them. They found that the previous alignment company had left the steers toe out by a fair margin. They drove the coach twice to make sure and that the steering wheel was centered and drove like it should. Now finally the dead spot is gone, steering wheel is straight and it is stable going down the road. The previous company did refund my money after I sent them pictures of me going down the highway with the steering wheel cocked to the right by about 30 degrees, so there is that. I know it is difficult to find good shops, so I wanted to let everyone know that Truck Align knows what they are doing and were great to work with. Plus the total bill was half of what the previous shop charged. I can now drive one handed with a relaxed grip on the steering wheel

Thank you for reporting it sometimes take more than one shop. My first corrective alignment was done at Spartan. By the time I got to MO the front tries were wearing. Through the advise of Ambetter here on the forum, I headed to Perry Legends where they found the steering timing 180 degrees out. Spartan also reimbursed me with the computer printout, but still the factory could not even alighn their own front ends?

Gary.Jones · 06-08-2023, 08:06 AM

I had my steering adjusted at the factory in Charlotte after I had had my 2 year warranty visit at Entegra in Middlebury. Part of my issue was that there was a dead spot in my steering also. My service tech at Spartan was the head fellow who left about three years ago (he was a great guy and sorry he hit the road but it was for a big step upward at some other company). Anyhow, he explained that he would be able to "tighten up" on the "steering slop" but it might result in the steering wheel not being perfectly straight ahead when heading down the interstate. Well, he was right. Now my steering wheel is ~ 3-5 degrees off of straight ahead but the steering is nice and tight and I got used to feeling the wheel "off" slightly from dead center. Much improved.

I have always wondered why Spartan can't get it right before it leaves Charlotte, or of there is part of the assembly process in Middlebury that tends to screw-up the steering calibration. More than a few coaches have had the problem!~

I have never felt the need to have the coach fully aligned, but that may be something for the next year. I have noted that the edges of my tread on the tag axle are showing some wear pattern.... I assume it is from" side scuff" of the tag tires on turns (even with the very expensive and IMO largely useless tag axle "steering" option) but I have 50,000 miles on the tires at this point and the age is 6 years in Spring of 2024 so drive and tag tires will be up for replacement soon.

Gary

brobox · 06-08-2023, 08:30 AM

Gary the steering wheel can be centered with the drag link underneath. My shop here in Ft Myers has me hold the wheel centered while they adjust it....last step of the alignment. JME, but not good alignments a Spartan factory.