E-450 alignment!!!

Anytime I've heard of aligning 1992 and later, all the way to 2017, E-350/450, it's been concentric bushings. The earlier E-Series with Twin-I-Beam like 1975-1991, used Kingpins, not Ball Joints, and I think there was a beveled part that allowed a slight "twist" in how the axle itself was oriented. I've heard of them referred to as "Plates" but not "Shims." A typical double wishbone suspension uses Shims on the Upper Control Arm to change the position of the upper ball joint. But on Twin-I-Beam with Ball Joints, The Bushing changes the position of the upper ball joint.

Would love to see a pic of those beveled parts!

Are "sleeves" and "shims" the same thing with regards to E450 alignment? If not, what's the different functions of the two in Ford Twin I-Beam suspension systems?

The first time we had our E450 aligned at our mechanic's shop (a commercial truck shop) was several years after we had bought it new, and even then there were no issues with it wandering when going down the road - I had it aligned just as routine maintenance. I don't know if during manufacture Winnebago had the chassis aligned or if we were just lucky with no wandering right from the start.

However, when our truck shop did align it they said that it needed some shims installed, and they brought the shims out to show me what they were (they looked like heavy steel beveled washers - thicker on one side than the other). I had them do it and it still steers excellent with no wandering (the same as when it was new) - one hand on the wheel is all that's required, except in cross-winds or when big trucks pass us.

Another related question is - are these shims, then, what's required to adjust Caster on Ford E350/E450 Twin I-Beam front suspensions?

crasster wrote:
One other thing that can help with some of the control is lower the tire pressure by 5psi. It can make a surprising difference.

This is NOT good advice if your starting point is the manufacturers recommended pressures or a calculated pressure based on an actual weight measurement.

It might be OK if your starting point is the MAX shown on the sidewall.......but then the right pressure might be MORE than 5 PSI below that.

You should never purposely run your tire pressure below what is recommended. AND you should not blindly run it at what the sidewall says either.

One other thing that can help with some of the control is lower the tire pressure by 5psi. It can make a surprising difference. However, if there was a lot of wind, your coach is a sail and it will push no matter what you do.

Harvard wrote:
You are on the right track, just do not consider the job complete until you get at least +5.0 caster on LH and about +5.5 caster on right hand. Make sure you can see the alignment report. Good luck.

BTW, it is easy to install the sleeves as a DIY project if you are a Red Green type of guy :) PM me for details.

Before I started in an attempt to get our former 23D Aspect handling a bit better, I only had an approximate +1.5 Caster on each side. I could only get a total of +4.5 out of the sleeves but the result was worth the effort. Certainly not a silver bullet by any means but just another addition to the growing list of adjustments I made on that Class C. I also added just a bit more toe for a total of +3/16" which I felt tightened the steering feel some. Camber was way positive when new from Winnebago too which caused exceesive tire wear. New shocks, tires, air bags in the rear, trac bar, heavier sway bars, steering stabalizers and adjusting tire pressures to meet corner weights all helped make our Aspect handle much better.
I was shooting to improve the handling which I accomplished but didn't want to fool myself that it was going to handle "like an SUV". Safe to drive I felt now in modest winds (and we do have winds here in the midwest!) and worth my effort for sure.

j-d wrote:
Some shops will say adjustable sleeves aren't for RV's. Actually, catalogs don't list them for RV's and Box Trucks. They don't have the locating/indexing key that fixed ones do, and the worry is they'll work loose. ...

I am of the opinion the main reason for the keyed bushings is to make the alignment job on the assembly line a 2 minute "tweak the toe and its good to go" job. And that is what the RV owner gets, a one size (caster and camber) fits all with the keyed bushing. JMO.

Some shops will say adjustable sleeves aren't for RV's. Actually, catalogs don't list them for RV's and Box Trucks. They don't have the locating/indexing key that fixed ones do, and the worry is they'll work loose.

This from the folks at Henderson's Line Up in Grants Pass OR. If the parts are assembled clean and grease/oil free, and the pinch bolt is properly torqued, those adjustable bushings WILL stay in place. The torque spec for that bolt is pretty high for the size of the bolt, 65-70 ft-lb if I remember. The instruction sheet tells you.

Henderson repeats the Caster spec Harvard quoted, zero Camber, just a little positive toe, say 1/8" toe-in.

Toot Mc wrote:

Driving from Houston to Amerillo a couple of weeks ago with wind gust to 30 made me believe I needed a little help. front end felt like it was on ice..!! Haha wasn't funny at the time.

The caster modification makes a WORLD of difference......with eliminating most of the "wandering" when there is no apparent reason for it.

BUT....It won't really help much when there IS a reason, like strong cross winds or another large vehicle overtaking you from the rear.

Still well worth the money in my opinion.

Note: The first place I went to insisted that I needed a whole front end rebuild, to the tune of something near $1000 IIRC. The second did it for a little less than $300, without any new parts except the sleeves.

You are on the right track, just do not consider the job complete until you get at least +5.0 caster on LH and about +5.5 caster on right hand. Make sure you can see the alignment report. Good luck.

BTW, it is easy to install the sleeves as a DIY project if you are a Red Green type of guy :) PM me for details.