19.5 versus 22.5 tires

I try to put as much weight as I can near the front axle. And as little weight as I can behind the rear axle. Never fill the water tank above half full.

How much can you expect to pay for a standard 4 wheel alignment on a class a with a chevy P30 chassis?

Murphy, keep in mind that your driving a house on a truck or bus frame, they just don't steer great to begin with! And most roadways are supered (you have a 3 inch difference from centerline to fog line) which doesn't help with steering either. The supering is done for drainage! And add wind it just adds to your steering problems. Have your front end checked if it's O.K. I would stay with the 19" wheels.

Had a similar problem with my 98 itasca towing my 07 elantra. turned out to be the tow bar joints were all loose. Had to rebuild the tow bar, now problem is all gone.

I don't know about Ohio, but many states allow you to do that at the weigh stations. They leave the electronics on 24/7 so if they aren't open you can still use the platforms. Then many state officials allow you to weigh your rig if they are open but not busy. It's a SAFETY issue and they shouldn't object in any event. In Florida, you can go to a police station and get 4-corner weighings (if they have the equipment), or they'll send someone to you. Need to call to set up an appointment.

Here's phone numbers for Ohio, give them a call and ask: Ohio weight stations...

In Oregon, they are left on, and OFTEN but not always, depending on the design of the platform, I can do a four corner weighing by driving two on, than one off, front and rear. And subtracting.

Everybody tells me get 4 corner weight. I can find no plce to have that done.

HELP, in Columbus, Ohio.

Jim@HiTek wrote:
Your first step should probably be to get your four corners weighed.

Once you have those numbers, there's two things to do:

1) If one corner or side has more than the RV manufacturer's recommended 'differential' in weight one side to the other, then you need to rearrange your things to try to balance the weight on that axle. (I believe this number is 10% of the RV's total weight...for example, if the RV weighs 25,000 lbs, then the differential should be less than 250 lbs, don't quote me though...check your manual). There are cases where the house manufacturer did a poor job getting this differential low in the design, and that's when all those add on products for 'stability' come in.

2) Go to the tire manufacturer's website and air up the tires to their specs for the weight. And, the advice given earlier about setting each tire to the pressure suggested for the weight at that corner is incorrect. Set the pressure to the highest weight setting across the AXLE. So all tires on that axle have the same pressure, based on the highest weight.

Once that's done, test drive on a road where you can drive in the fast lane a few miles rather than the truck lane. This avoids the ruts caused by 10's of thousands of trucks traveling that road.

Rut tracking has often caused folks to think they need an alignment when actually, it's a tire, tire pressure, or balance problem.

Perhaps you do have an alignment problem, but you should at least check these other simple things first by getting four corner weights. Usually, you can do that on a weekend at a state weigh station. They leave the equipment on even when they are closed. Many states will allow you to get weighed when they're open too. Some aren't designed for 4-corner weighing though.

Your first step should probably be to get your four corners weighed.

Once you have those numbers, there's two things to do:

1) If one corner or side has more than the RV manufacturer's recommended 'differential' in weight one side to the other, then you need to rearrange your things to try to balance the weight on that axle. (I believe this number is 10% of the RV's total weight...for example, if the RV weighs 25,000 lbs, then the differential should be less than 250 lbs, don't quote me though...check your manual). There are cases where the house manufacturer did a poor job getting this differential low in the design, and that's when all those add on products for 'stability' come in.

2) Go to the tire manufacturer's website and air up the tires to their specs for the weight. And, the advice given earlier about setting each tire to the pressure suggested for the weight at that corner is incorrect. Set the pressure to the highest weight setting across the AXLE. So all tires on that axle have the same pressure, based on the highest weight.

Once that's done, test drive on a road where you can drive in the fast lane a few miles rather than the truck lane. This avoids the ruts caused by 10's of thousands of trucks traveling that road.

Rut tracking has often caused folks to think they need an alignment when actually, it's a tire, tire pressure, or balance problem.

Perhaps you do have an alignment problem, but you should at least check these other simple things first by getting four corner weights. Usually, you can do that on a weekend at a state weigh station. They leave the equipment on even when they are closed. Many states will allow you to get weighed when they're open too. Some aren't designed for 4-corner weighing though.

MURPHY55347 wrote:
Alignment has never been done so it sounds like that should be my first step. Thanks you folks are awesome.

Please post back after you get an alignment.

The buffing around on two lane roads is something that just happens with gasoline motor homes because they are a lot lighter then diesel coaches. Same goes for the handling of the coach with strong cross winds. Gasoline motor homes usually have long over hangs on the rear. With cross winds you are going to get the wag the tail situation which will effect your control on the steering wheel. All this posts that say your camber is off and this and that are wasting your time and money.

Diesels do not have that problem because the diesel engine is on the rear, do not have the long over hang and usually weight around 10K lbs more then a gasoline coach of the same length.

Tires are applied by the manufacturer according to weight. The more weight, the bigger the tire to handle that weight.

Sorry, but that is the way it is, and that is why I only put 5K miles on a brand new gasoline coach and I got rid of it. Best move I could have ever made, even though I did lose some money, but I am happy for making such a move.

MURPHY55347 wrote:
So I have had my Winnebago Vista 35F gasser for 3 seasons now. It feels like when driving down the road I'm constantly sawing back and forth on the wheel to make it go straight. Then factor in trucks and crosswinds and it can be quite a handful and quite tiring to drive. So far I have I have done nothing to the chassis. I read all the things that can be done to make it handle better, but I am wondering if anyone, with first hand experience, can tell me what part my having the smaller 19.5" tires might play?
What chassis upgrades aside from the CHF will give me the best bang for the buck to address my problems?

Can't be due to the tire size, as our Chevy P30 goes straight down the road with only needing your pinky for control. Naturally the tag axle helps as well, but our older one didn't have it and it wasn't a problem either.
I really think that the only reason for larger tires and wheels are for carrying more weight and for still having a decent ride on lower pressures.