Class C steering response

rbutton wrote:
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I did an alinement - am lucky as I also race sports cars so have heavy turntables with an alinement system.
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Just curious, where did your caster end up at ?

I'm gathering parts and planning time to rebuild the front end in our E450 soon. What angles did you set the alignment at?

From what I gather 1. Here, 2. Alignment Shop, 3. Major RV Rental Service Manager, the Ford chassis has a lot of front end issues. As few as 20,000 miles and major components can be worn out.

I agree that you need to check the ball joints. I bought a used 2004 Jayco 31ft Granite Ridge. When we bought it I noticed the inside edges of the tires were a bit more worn. It only had 24,000 miles on it.
Test driving the MH the steering was really loose - too much play in the steering. Found the upper ball joints badly worn. I pulled the ball joints and replaced the OEM joints upper and lower. As long as I had it apart also installed new shocks, steering dampner, and upgraded the sway bar. As long as I was under the MH also replaced the rear shocks - hardest part of all the work - and installed a heaver sway bar in the rear.
I did an alinement - am lucky as I also race sports cars so have heavy turntables with an alinement system.
We also pulled all 6 tires as they were the OEM's and installed all new with valve stems - half of the valve stems were leaking!

We have been out on an extended traveling with the MH and after about 15,000 miles, I find the driving easier to manage now. Yes I still get a bit of push when trucks go by but the steering easily manages it. No play, in the steering means a more relaxing drive now. It's what I call comfortable to drive now and the wife is happy to share the driving.

ron.dittmer wrote:
Make sure your tire pressure is proper for the load the tires carry.

If it still wanders after following the advise above, there are other relatively affordable remedies.

Being a 2003, you could benefit from any or all of the following.
- heavy duty front & rear stabilizer bars (the Ford stock front stabilizer bar is near useless)
- heavy duty shock absorbers
- rear trac bar (especially beneficial if towing)
- heavy duty steering stabilizer (ex: Safe-T-Plus, Steer Safe, other)

For our 24 foot rig built on a 2007 E350 chassis, I had all that done 800 miles after buying the rig brand new. It's handled perfectly since....just like an SUV.

X2 on what Ron posted. Also have the upper and lower ball joints examined. Mine were shot. After replacing them with NAPA ball joints with Zerk fittings (highly recommended) the steering was much improved.
This post has the link to Ford owners website. This is where I found out that my 2005 Majestic has a 2004 E450 chassis:
http://forums.goodsamclub.com/Index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26750467/gotomsg/26780319.cfm#26780319
If your in-dash cigarette lighter doesn't work, the OBD port may not work either. in 2004 they share the same fuse:
http://forums.goodsamclub.com/Index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26939578.cfm

Here are some other related posts of mine. Some have price information:
http://forums.goodsamclub.com/Index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26104099/gotomsg/26107293.cfm#26107293
http://forums.goodsamclub.com/Index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26870002/gotomsg/26870491.cfm#26870491
http://forums.goodsamclub.com/Index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26369398/gotomsg/26369586.cfm#26369586
http://forums.goodsamclub.com/Index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26960889/gotomsg/26994178.cfm#26994178
http://forums.goodsamclub.com/Index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26035008/gotomsg/27541146.cfm#27541146

Jayco-noslide wrote:
Recently purchased a 30 ft. 2003 Itasca Spirit with the Ford V-10..One thing I don't like is that the Itasca's steering feel is very unresponsive and a lot of wheel movement is required ..I guess I'm wondering if this is normal with this or any Class C chassis??

More common in the Ford than the Chevy. ;)

trop-a-cal wrote:
Of course you can't drive a A or C in cross winds of more than 20 MPH without fighting the steering even with everything set up right.

Fords seem to have more problems with this. My Chevy drives just fine. If the wind gets real strong the wind noise will cause me to turn up the radio volume. Of course, mine is only 22'-5" long. ;)

derh2o wrote:
i am surprised this has not been mentioned yet, but your problem is most likely what is referred to as "tail wag".....

"Tail Wag" can also be caused by the ratio of wheelbase divided by overall length. Should be 52% or more. If that tail sticks out too much, side winds can really wag the tail.

Beverley&Ken wrote:
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Make and model of tire can also affect handling, ours improved when the factory Michelin LTXs were replaced with Michelin Ribs. I actually prefer driving the MH on the highway over the CRV.

Beverley and Ken

I'll second that statement, emphatically. I've seen too many Ford E-series owners here and on the class B board post that when they replaced the LTX's with other tires, the handling/driving/tracking improved noticeably/dramatically. To a lesser extant, I had this same issue with LTX's on a previously-fine-driving Chevy class B.

Jim, "Dear Algebra, Stop asking to find your X. She's not coming back."

We have a Winnie Outlook 29B, 30 feet long. We get the same experience you have when 1) front tires are overinflated. Michelin guide recommends 65psi for our weight, we run 70psi. When shop inflates to 80psi (sidewall max) we have problems. 2) We have auxillary rear air springs and when they lose pressure, handling is adversely affected, I try to maintain 70psi in the airbags.

Try these measures first, cost almost 0 dollars. If your still having problems then do as Donn0128 said, take it to good alignment shop that work on heavy vehicles, have them inspect the chassis for worn or broken parts.

Make and model of tire can also affect handling, ours improved when the factory Michelin LTXs were replaced with Michelin Ribs. I actually prefer driving the MH on the highway over the CRV.

Beverley and Ken

i am surprised this has not been mentioned yet, but your problem is most likely what is referred to as "tail wag". A rear sway bar will resolve a lot of your problems. As mentioned above, do a search for "wandering" and you will find a lot of suggestions.

T'n'G, I looked at the Spirit brochure for 2003 and 29B has 190" WB. The 31T has 220". I really like the 29B layout, but the WB seems a little short.
OP calls the coach "30-ft" so we don't know yet which model it is.

I did new Monroe shocks followed by a front end alignment. Like a completely different Unit.