Class A Gas Steering Wandering

[Marshalone]

I did the same thing. My 38 ft. 2018 Jayco Precept wanders all over and if there are wind gusts.....look out. I paid for the Super Steer, Safety Plus and Koni shocks. Not much difference other than a bit nicer ride with the new shocks. Wouldn't have spent the money. I looked at Liquid Spring but even if I could find someone to install the system in my state, I can't see spending that much money. I adjusted my tire pressure and made sure the load is spread out in the basement. Again, any run on the highway is tiring with the constant struggle to stay between the lines. Add the constant rattle and wind noise and you have a situation that most would not accept. If I can ever get my brake pedal to stop rattling it would be a godsend. Other than that, we enjoy our MH but the campsite is the enjoyment, not the journey. Happy camping.

[BuzzDoc]

I’ve had the exact opposite experience. Have a 2016 Thor Windsport 34F on F53 chassis. I have Safety T. Loni shocks. Sumo springs and cheap handling fix with longer sway bar links. Drives centered with one finger. Have never had an alignment and run tires at 80 psi with normal tire wear.

10k miles on this setup.

[Rmuddog]

Update
After adding the steering stabilizer and correcting the tire pressure feeling the 35mi/hr side gusts coming down a one lane mountain pass was drastically reduced. I easily kept the MH in my lane. Before I made these changes I would have been in the on coming lane.

[Mike8253]

Originally Posted by Rmuddog

Update
After adding the steering stabilizer and correcting the tire pressure feeling the 35mi/hr side gusts coming down a one lane mountain pass was drastically reduced. I easily kept the MH in my lane. Before I made these changes I would have been in the on coming lane.

Curious what your axle weights were when you weighed your MH, and if that aided your finding a solution to your wandering issue

[Rmuddog]

Steer axle weight is 8,713 before adding 10%.
Drive axle weight is 16,631 before adding 10%.

Toyo M154 tires were inflated to 110# on all tires. This made my MH feel like the rear wanted to pass me on curves. Rear tire would spin on wet roads. I would feel every bump on the road.

With the proper inflation:
Steer tires plus 10% are at 85#
Drive tires plus 10% are at 90#

Inflation is per Toyo tires for the M154 tire.

Now
* Sping drive tires on wet roads GONE.
* Rear end wanting to pass me GONE.
* Feeling Imperfections in the road GONE.
* Hard time keeping the MH in my lane
REDUCED.

Addition of the steering stabilizer also helped.

2005 Winnebago Journey 32' DP

[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by Mike8253

1. Have you weighed your MH?
2. Are the Frt. and Rr. axle weights at their max ratings (GAWR)? Or do you have margin between your actual and max weights?
3. Have you acquired your tire manufacturer's inflation chart to determine the Mfg's inflation to axle weight PSI recommendation?

It may well be that your tire inflations, while conforming to the "VIN placards", are still too high for the weight you are carrying. If this is true, this "over inflation" may very well be contributing to your sense of a controllability issue.

Finally, you need to get some miles under you. Until you do, don't waste money on fixes that in the end you really may not need. I've 22 years, now, driving F53 chassis MH's. In the beginning it was a bit of a test. But it didn't take long before I was entirely comfortable driving it anywhere. MH's will never drive like a car, but the more you drive yours, the more comfortable you also will feel; and you'll look back on your early experiences wondering about why you were so concerned.

That is not over-inflation, it is exactly the same thing you do to your car and pickup, you follow the Federal Tire Placard for the vehicle-right?
Load/inflation charts show the minimum inflation for the corresponding load, are you running your tires at the absolute minimum air pressure, which is 100% of tire capacity?

[Mike8253]

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

That is not over-inflation, it is exactly the same thing you do to your car and pickup, you follow the Federal Tire Placard for the vehicle-right?
Load/inflation charts show the minimum inflation for the corresponding load, are you running your tires at the absolute minimum air pressure, which is 100% of tire capacity?

You neglected to put the term "over-inflation" in parentheses as I did, because I recognize, as I stated, that he was in compliance with the placard in his RV. However, at that end of the inflation spectrum, the OP was experiencing controlability issues to the extent that he felt the need to reach out to this community. Your not wrong in what you stated, nor was I; but the 100% inflation route was at the crux of his controlability issue in this case. I'm still curious, though, what the OP's axle weights are, given he was at his GVWR without knowing how each axle was sharing that weight.

[Mike8253]

Originally Posted by Rmuddog

Steer axle weight is 8,713 before adding 10%.
Drive axle weight is 16,631 before adding 10%.

Toyo M154 tires were inflated to 110# on all tires. This made my MH feel like

Just a FYI comment on the 10% add calculation...

If you look at the attached .bmp, you will see that adding 10% first (the #'s in red to the right) to your axle weights before looking up your inflation #, vs calculating your inflation based on actual weights and then adding 10% to that PSI will potentiality give you a higher PSI number. That is because the weight ranges for each PSI recommendation are not uniform in their breadth. I've seen someone in the past try to explain why that is, but I don't remember exactly what it was. Just something about the calculation methodology used for the charts.

Based on that, though, I've chosen to get my PSI number 1st, based on my actual axle weights, and then add "X" % to that result vs. adding that "X" % to the axle weights first. I should add that my (PSI 1st) X% calculation method shown in the attached also rounds up to the next higher 5% just keep my inflation targets to just ending in "0" or "5".

[bikeeagle1]

Just to update, I removed the Safe-T-Plus and drove the MH about 200 miles yesterday, on a nice smooth highway with not much wind. I experienced no change in the wandering, which confirmed my suspicion that the Safe-T-Plus wasn't making a difference, other than to make the steering feel heavier. Overall, I much prefer the light steering now, so I am definitely sending the Safe-T-Plus back.

After reading back through this thread, and considering my experiences with the steering feel both with and without the Safe-T-Plus, I have the following thoughts.

1. I had the MH weighed early in our ownership of it, and it came in right at 18,000 lbs. (2023 FR3 30DS). I'll have to get that done again, checking the weight on all four points, as some suggested. Where can I do that? The door placard calls for 84 psi on all tires. At that weight, are some of you saying that I should lower the tire pressure?

2. As I have driven the MH (over 8,000 miles now), the feeling of wandering has lessened, as many of you suggested. That alone has probably been the most significant improvement.

3. I am intrigued by the various alignment suggestions. I don't know what the truck alignment company set it at when the installed the Safe-T-Plus. Ensuring that I have some small toe-in sounds like a great idea. At some point, I may take it to another alignment shop and have that done. Also, it sounds like increasing the caster would help?

4. Now that the steering is much lighter, I do notice a slight bit of play in the steering wheel. In other words, it takes a small amount of movement of the steering wheel before any effect happens. I'll have to research the suggested adjustments to see if I can improve that also.

Thanks again for all the suggestions!

[DarkSideJeep]

When I got my 2018 Thor ACE handling was horrible! I did the Safe-t-Plus, CHF and rear Trackbar in that order, each change made a noticeable difference. My shop also spent a lot of time getting a "pulls to the right" condition corrected. The net result was that the F53 Chassis Thor was a much easier drive when I sold it but it was still a handful and very tiring to drive. I traded the ACE in for a 2022 Entegra Aspire and now I wonder why I ever put myself through all that with the gas coach with the sudden unintended lane changes and twitchy handling. Honestly my Jeep Gladiator is more work to drive in windy conditions than the Aspire is.

Oh yeah, I do not remember the Tiffin Allegro on the 454 Chevy P30 chassis being as difficult to drive as the F53 chassis Thor ACE.

[bikeeagle1]

Originally Posted by DarkSideJeep

When I got my 2018 Thor ACE handling was horrible! I did the Safe-t-Plus, CHF and rear Trackbar in that order, each change made a noticeable difference. My shop also spent a lot of time getting a "pulls to the right" condition corrected. The net result was that the F53 Chassis Thor was a much easier drive when I sold it but it was still a handful and very tiring to drive. I traded the ACE in for a 2022 Entegra Aspire and now I wonder why I ever put myself through all that with the gas coach with the sudden unintended lane changes and twitchy handling. Honestly my Jeep Gladiator is more work to drive in windy conditions than the Aspire is.

Oh yeah, I do not remember the Tiffin Allegro on the 454 Chevy P30 chassis being as difficult to drive as the F53 chassis Thor ACE.

What is "CHF"? Thanks.

[DarkSideJeep]

Originally Posted by bikeeagle1

Just to update, I removed the Safe-T-Plus and drove the MH about 200 miles yesterday, on a nice smooth highway with not much wind. I experienced no change in the wandering, which confirmed my suspicion that the Safe-T-Plus wasn't making a difference, other than to make the steering feel heavier. Overall, I much prefer the light steering now, so I am definitely sending the Safe-T-Plus back.

After reading back through this thread, and considering my experiences with the steering feel both with and without the Safe-T-Plus, I have the following thoughts.

1. I had the MH weighed early in our ownership of it, and it came in right at 18,000 lbs. (2023 FR3 30DS). I'll have to get that done again, checking the weight on all four points, as some suggested. Where can I do that? The door placard calls for 84 psi on all tires. At that weight, are some of you saying that I should lower the tire pressure?

2. As I have driven the MH (over 8,000 miles now), the feeling of wandering has lessened, as many of you suggested. That alone has probably been the most significant improvement.

3. I am intrigued by the various alignment suggestions. I don't know what the truck alignment company set it at when the installed the Safe-T-Plus. Ensuring that I have some small toe-in sounds like a great idea. At some point, I may take it to another alignment shop and have that done. Also, it sounds like increasing the caster would help?

4. Now that the steering is much lighter, I do notice a slight bit of play in the steering wheel. In other words, it takes a small amount of movement of the steering wheel before any effect happens. I'll have to research the suggested adjustments to see if I can improve that also.

Thanks again for all the suggestions!

PUT THE Safe-T-Plus BACK ON!!! It is not there to make normal handling better it is there to help in case of something like a blowout. In my case the Safe-T-Plus probably saved mine and my wife's lives when a wheel bearing seized. Even with the Safe-T-Plus I nearly ended up in the ditch. I do not think I would have maintained control had it not been for the Safe-T-Plus.