E-450 Exhausting Drive

What are your tire pressures?

Jim, "Diagonally parked in a parallel universe."

Few know more about motorhome handling and tracking than Henderson's in Oregon. When they align a Class C, they do what Harvard here on this forum discovered on his own. Don't set the CASTER to the middle of is range which is around 3-degrees. Instead go for at least 5-degrees (max is 7-degrees). Because of the way the front end's built, passenger side caster will be 1/2-degree more than driver side.
Be sure your front tires are inflated only to the pressure required by the actual load determined on a scale. That alone will aid steering AND ride.
Back to Henderson's. They told me that adding a Safe-T-Plus stabilizer to the front and a SuperSteer Track Bar to the rear settles most Class C handling issues. Personally, I'd rather get the alignment right first, but they're the experts.
Weighing it at a truck stop costs only $10 and adjusting tire pressure is free. Here's Michelin's Pressure Chart

The biggest pet peeve for me was the noise inside the motorhome. I am fanatic about running silent. For me, the biggest culprit was the side door. This past June, before I went on vacation, I went over the inside of the motorhome with a fine tooth comb. I placed a hollow, rubber molding around all the areas of the side door that would come in contact with the screen door, the outside door, and the frame. All the noise those two were making are 100% gone. I also went over every single cabinet door and made sure the latches held the drawers in tightly, not just closed, with no movement whatsoever. I replaced the latches as necessary. I also made sure each drawer had a small felt pad. I Made sure the stove top and inside grate were secure. The microwave dish was secure, and anything that moves secured. I found out that another noise maker was the tv over the cab. It has a swivel which has a small amount of play and makes noise. I secured it to the wall plate with a bungee cord. The difference is like night and day. Although there are still some minor squeaks from the cabinetry flexing and moving, the difference is like night and day. I am also running my front tires at 72 psi, instead of 75, and the rears at 80. Everything is stock and it tracks quite well and the ride is phenomenal. My 31M Tioga now drives like a dream and is a pleasure to drive.

Handbasket wrote:
What are your tire pressures?

Jim, "Diagonally parked in a parallel universe."

Yup. I thought I had to run at the max pressure stamped on the sidewall. Lowering the pressures 10-15 psi made a lot of difference.

Would airbags help?

ratfink09 wrote:
Just got back from a trip to northern Vermont and much more exhausted than usual from the drive. Between the harsh ride and interior noise from every bump in the road, I could not wait to get home. Rv is a 2011 Chateau 28 ft long. I have done Hellwig sway bars and Bilstein shocks which helped handling. Just got a new set of Michelin MS2 tires under the recall. Should I be looking at replacing the stock steering damper, front end alignment, a track bar etc.? Open to suggestions!

What year is it? how many miles on it? Are you first owner?

It's not an "E-450" problem. It is the make and model of the MH.

I drove MANY MH's before I bought and some make/models where SO loud and handling sucked.

Not going to get into a brand name war so since you already own this MH my advice would be tire pressure, leaf springs and the Michelin's.

Lower the tire pressure in just the front. All 6 tires should NOT be the same pressure. It should be lower on the fronts.

Have a good and reputable frame shop look at your leaf springs. Metal fatigues. Everyone always want to run to aftermarket items when all what is needed is new leaf springs. I went new leaf springs and added a leaf. I couldn't believe I was driving the same MH after I had that done!

And you won't want to hear this part.......
I put all new Michelin's on my MH before heading out full time.
THE Biggest mistake I ever made.

It CHANGED the handling. Fought for months trying to pinpoint the problem surely not thinking it would be my brand new $$$tires.:R

It took an over the road truck driver to point out my problem.
The outer rib on those tires are too aggressive for a heavy MH chassis and they move back and forth giving you a tire roll front end feeling.

He took 2 fingers and easily moved that outer rib back and forth. Add the weight of the MH on that and you get the idea. Heavy semi's actually have a bald out rib to prevent tire roll.

Solution to that problem?
Take them off and replace the tires or wait years and miles for them to wear down. IMHO they need to STOP selling those tires for MH's.

rockhillmanor wrote:
It's not an "E-450" problem. It is the make and model of the MH.

I drove MANY MH's before I bought and some make/models where SO loud and handling sucked.

Not going to get into a brand name war so since you already own this MH my advice would be tire pressure, leaf springs and the Michelin's.

Lower the tire pressure in just the front. All 6 tires should NOT be the same pressure. It should be lower on the fronts.

Have a good and reputable frame shop look at your leaf springs. Metal fatigues. Everyone always want to run to aftermarket items when all what is needed is new leaf springs. I went new leaf springs and added a leaf. I couldn't believe I was driving the same MH after I had that done!

And you won't want to hear this part.......
I put all new Michelin's on my MH before heading out full time.
THE Biggest mistake I ever made.

It CHANGED the handling. Fought for months trying to pinpoint the problem surely not thinking it would be my brand new $$$tires.:R

It took an over the road truck driver to point out my problem.
The outer rib on those tires are too aggressive for a heavy MH chassis and they move back and forth giving you a tire roll front end feeling.

He took 2 fingers and easily moved that outer rib back and forth. Add the weight of the MH on that and you get the idea. Heavy semi's actually have a bald out rib to prevent tire roll.

Solution to that problem?
Take them off and replace the tires or wait years and miles for them to wear down. IMHO they need to STOP selling those tires for MH's.

My MH a E450 29 ft. with three slides, it is 10 times better riding than one I had 20 years back, it rides better than my pickup and not as good as my car. I put on a new set of tires (at 13,000miles) when I bought it use , name brand. It only has 20,000 miles on it, it came with the Hellwig system on it so I don't know what it would ride like without it, I do run my tire at 60 lbs, I can't believe how easy it drives with hardly any noise in side.

After adjusting tire pressure for the load actually on the tires, the second thing to do is an alignment with the maximum amount of caster you can get (hopefully at least 5 degrees). After that, a rear track bar will probably help the most.

pauldub wrote:
After adjusting tire pressure for the load actually on the tires, the second thing to do is an alignment with the maximum amount of camber you can get (hopefully at least 5 degrees). After that, a rear track bar will probably help the most.

Paul meant to say "caster",not "camber".