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RVER's avatar
RVER
Explorer
Apr 22, 2017

Constantly correcting steering

I am driving a new to me 2003 Newmar Mountain Aire which we love except the constant steering corrections right to left and left to right. I have owned other MHs and did not feel this way. SO bought and had installed the Safe T Steer device and feel it did almost nothing for the problem. AND the rig seems to always drives straight with the steering wheel slightly to the right. I have had two truck places try to get the steering wheel straight on when going straight but with not much luck. IS it Possible that the Safe T steering device is defective or ??? I know it is a big box going down the highway but my other MH which was a Winnebago Adventurer did not steer like this constantly having to correct to make it go straight. Any ideas? I did have the front end alignment before having the SAFE T put in and the same guys then tried to get the steering wheel to be straight when driving straight(they did not install SAFE T) but then I went down to them to see if they could get the steering wheel to be straight. They worked on it and drove it and adjusted and then again and again until they said, we cannot get it exactly stratight.
  • when we first had our Saf-T-Plus installed, we left and it was pulling to the right. We turned around, went right back and they didn't want to believe that there was anything wrong. We told them we wanted them to drive it with DH onboard. They drove it 5 miles on the x-way and also turned around, came back and made an adjustment to the installations. So - what I am trying to say, it is possible that they are off a little as far as where center setting is on the installation. If your steering wheel is off, maybe that has someting to do with where it needs to be set also.
  • First is to check your tire pressures. Overinflation or underinflation can cause the wandering you're experiencing. Weigh all four corners or at least both axles and set your tire pressures according to the tire maker's inflation charts. DO NOT LET ANYONE TELL YOU DIFFERENT. Set your tires according to the weight charts plus maybe 5 psi fudge factor.

    That might fix you right up.

    It's easy enough to get the steering wheel straight when the wheels are aligned properly. I use Wingfoot/Goodyear truck tire/wheel etc shop; it's very important to ask them to carefully check all steering and suspension components.

    I have a Safe-T-Plus. The MH steers like on rails which is a great for 23 years old. Louisiana busted loose my Safe-T-Plus and I was all over the road. Really bad. So when we could check we found that the bolts holding it to the mounting bracket were broken and loose; we replaced the bolts and she was on rails again.

    My Safe-T-Plus clamps to the steering gear; it's not a tie rod but I don't know what to call it. It can take several adjustment cycles to get it adjusted to your center. Note that "center" might pull you to the left on a perfectly flat surface but would be just right on a crowned road.

    Just keep at it and don't give up.
  • My old Mallard class A would do that with even a small crosswind. If the winds were calm it rode down the interstate straight as an arrow. I got use to it over the years and stopped noticing. I never did figure out why it acted that way. For the first year or two it really scared me. Then I realized that the white knuckling wasn't helping. I learned to relax and just drive it. With that said, when it was doing that I really had to stay on task. I kinda believe that it's a combination of things going on, suspension and rebound and a slight bit of slop in the steering. Mine was on an old P30 chassis.
  • Your symptoms (wandering at highway speeds) mimic having too little positive caster. JMO
  • Your story reminds me of the older cars I owned back in the 1970's. Tie Rods and Tie Rod joints would wear out, causing lots of slack in the steering and the constant moving the steering wheel left to right and back again just to go straight.

    Sounds like your's has worn out parts. You can take the steering wheel off the steering column and reposition it so it's straight again. In the 1970's and 1980's this was a pretty common practice after getting a front end alignment. But, just repositioning the steering wheel does not fix worn joints.

    Check the front end steering system, everything. It might be time to do some major repair.
  • I find that our mountainaire, is sensitive to rutted out roadways, when the tracks of a lane are hollowed out it always tries to climb to the high side in either direction. On a smooth level road it is straight as can be.

    We do wish we had "comfort drive"
  • Sounds like something worn out in your steering. What chassis? Bell crank on a workhorse causes a problem like that.

    Who checked the alignment? Motor homes require some special setup to stop the wandering steering. Search for wandering and you might find some helpful info.
  • Were there winds involved when you had the off center bias to the steering? Does it happen all the time, low speeds, around town, etc.?