24 ft ClassC MH downsides

pnichols wrote:

ron.dittmer wrote:

Gjac wrote:

ron.dittmer wrote:

Gjac wrote:
Never realized that short C's had handling issues with a WB/L ratio of .54 of 54%. Mine is 52% and I drive it like my car with one hand even with trucks passing me. I notice most of the C's I looked at were as high as my A. I wonder if the height to length has more affect because of the higher CG. Do shorter C's feel tippy when cornering than say longer C's on the same chassis? ............just not sure of the corner bed and getting up 3 times a night to go to the bathroom, but everything is a trade off.

Any class C with a poor wheel base ratio (like we have) will not handle as well as one with a better ratio. Fortunately if your new rig has a "handling" problem, $1000-$3000 in aftermarket upgrades will get you satisfied.

You should have a much better chance with a brand new E350/E450 today than I did back in 2007, to have the rig handle well without that additional investment. I read somewhere that Ford is installing some of the aftermarket "equivalent" upgrades into the RV package of their new 2021 chassis with 7.3L-V8 engine. They got with the program installing heavy duty front and rear stabilizer bars. You might still have to invest in a rear trac bar or heavy duty steering stabilizer, but you are at a much better starting point. You might even find your new rig to handle just fine without further investment.

. Hi Ron, I must be missing something if you do the math a 24ft MH with a 158 in WB will have a WB/L ratio of .54 or 54% which is suppose to be good. So I don’t think poor handling of these shot MH’s is do to poor WB/L ratio. That is why I thought there must be something else causing poor handling like height to length or weight distribution or too much weight for the Ford chassis.

Our rig is surely "tail heavy" which takes weight off the front axle, thanks in-part to the wheel base.

Some time since, our specific rig became available on a Sprinter with a 170" wheel base. The Sprinter handled our model rig much better because of the longer wheel base that also distributed the weight better....more weight placed on the front axle.

Ron, your 2350's floor plan is very similar to that of our 24 ft. 2005 Itasca 24V on it's 158" WB Ford chassis.

However, I have never experienced the handling issues you had that you attribute to maybe not enough coach weight forward onto the front suspension of your chassis.

From a weight distribution perspective ... where is your motorhome's generator and propane tank located?

My Onan 4000 and 18 gallon propane tank are centered under our dinette. Those two relatively heavy items towards the front help to load the front suspension.

Also, my spare tire is not way at the back above the bumper like yours is. My spare is down low between the frame members and slightly further forward right up against the gas tank. The spare is fairly heavy, so maybe having it mounted both down low and slightly further forward help with front loading and tail wagging a bit.

These are just me thinking out loud on what could be going on. :h

Here is the distribution of our weight. Our front axle weighs 3160 (rig empty), and 3260 (rig full during a trip including people in the front seats), obviously the teeter-totter effect is in play here. Note that we don't have a slide-out and we always carry a full load of fresh water.

A major difference between your rig and my rig is that though the same generation of chassis, you are on a 2005 E450, I am on a 2007 E350. Up to and including model year 2007, the E350 cutaway chassis was not equipped with any kind of rear stabilizer bar. Starting 2008, Ford installed them on every E350 cutaway.

I have all the aftermarket heavy duty suspension upgrades and extras for improved handling, but they obviously don't influence weight distribution. My front axle weight is light enough that it allowed me to swap out the front coil springs to a lower-rating (Rock Auto, Moog Springs, $100/pair). The result was a lowered front end by 1-1/4 inches that leveled the rig. Needless to say, both we and our house are happier with the softer ride up front.