Back in March of this year (2021), I initiated this thread…
https://www.irv2.com/forums/f278/rey...le-529833.html
…to provide some personal experience with a new Reyco Granning steer axle branded as the ComfortMaster®.
In that thread, Reyco Granning engineer Brad Boehmer provided some additional information regarding the axle. Earlier this week, Brad made a post here…
https://www.irv2.com/forums/f256/the...vs-551074.html
…with more info, including photos and a couple of interesting videos. The second video is particularly informative in that it features driving impressions from three different motorhome owners. I found their comments to be consistent with my own reactions and opinions following the test drive I did back in August 2020.
Of course the big question is when we might see this new steer axle available on one or more production diesel motorhomes. As most of you know, the three major chassis builders currently active in the Class A diesel motorhome marketplace are Freightliner, Spartan and Tiffin/PowerGlide. (Newell builds their own chassis, but their annual volume is very low compared to Freightliner, Spartan and Tiffin.) Freightliner and Tiffin currently use steer axles manufactured by ZF Group, while Spartan currently uses Reyco Granning steer axles.
I doubt Freightliner will be open to a change in the near term. Tiffin might be, but I believe Spartan is currently Reyco Granning’s best candidate. Unfortunately, there are rumors circulating that Spartan is considering switching to steer axles manufactured by Meritor. Meritor is a large company, headquartered in Troy, Michigan. They’ve been around a long time and have a broad product line. But…
Looking at their website, none of the steer axles currently listed for “Bus & Coach” applications are IFS (Independent Front Suspension) axles. In fact, there is only one IFS steer axle on the entire site, and it is shown as applicable to “Construction & Utility” vehicles only:
https://www.meritor.com/products/sus...ont-Suspension
It’s certainly possible Meritor could adapt that axle for “Bus & Coach” applications, but looking at the image and specs on the web page linked above, their IFS axle appears to be similar to the IFS axles Reyco Granning has been supplying to Spartan for years. And if that’s what Spartan is considering, I suspect they’re doing so primarily for cost reasons rather than improved drivability.
Just my thoughts, observations and opinions. Differing points of view and corrections welcome.
Linear Mode
