I never thought I would live to see the day that Ford actually admitted to the "generic alignment".Ford Generic AlignmentThanks to handle "ruffingit" for the posting the experience.

I actually think a “generic” is fine for a bare bones chassis, and that after the RV manufacturer gets done with the MH they should do a final alignment. Ford has no knowledge that a manufacturer may do things to the chassis such as shortening the thing.

I don't see anything wrong there. The vehicle's alignment is going to change drastically after several tons are added to it so no matter what they do, it wont be right after the upfitter does their thing. Generally new vehicle warranties allow for a wheel alignment so that's what new owners should do when they buy.

Let me explain, a "generic alignment" is a "tweak the toe and you are good to go" alignment off the production line. That is the same alignment you will get from the "Ford Truck Center" with the complete RV build after ownership. Mean while the driver gets to fight with a wandering beast that has only 3.5 degrees of caster AFTER having the full official blessing from the front end (production) to back end (dealership) of the "Ford Motor Company".We should be able to take our Ford E350/E450 RVs into a Ford Truck Center and have the caster changed from +3.5 degrees to at least +5.5 degrees for safety reasons. Period. It does not happen that way, the dealerships hide behind the +1.5 to +7.2 caster specification. JMO

It is not possible to align a bare unload cut-away chassis so that the alignment is good for the end product. Given each motor home has it's own weight and weight distribution, also considering the changes that are often done to the wheel base. I can surely understand the use of the term "Generic Alignment". It's enough to get the chassis yard-driven without ruining the tires.Some motor homes have excessive weight on the front axle squirting out the front tires from the center, while other rigs have the front axle too light, causing the front tires to angle-in toward the center. Ford cannot anticipate and accommodate for such extreme variation.

The only reason I'm at all surprised to see they "admitted" this is because it seems so obvious to me that they couldn't do much otherwise for a cab and chassis or cutaway chassis or stripped chassis vehicle. What possible non-generic alignment could suffice for the various different kinds of applications that an E series chassis gets used for: RVs, shuttle busses, ambulances, box trucks, specialty work vehicles...? Even taking a single sort of vehicle, say a box truck, the required ideal alignment could well vary depending on what and how much is generally carried in the truck, and whether it will be towing a trailer, and so forth.Bicycles are sold with generic seat height adjustments, too, for much the same reason. Refrigerators come with the shelves in generic locations (or require you to figure that out for yourself). For what it's worth, I think my class C (on a Ford chassis) has the factory caster setting, whatever it is, and it's not a wandering beast, nor difficult to control. It is a somewhat lumbering big wide vehicle, but that's just because it's big and heavy and tall; no amount of alignment is going to make it behave like my car, nor would I expect that. But I'm not chasing it all over the road, nor is it exhausting to drive it for a some hours (unless in bad traffic or weather or other nasty conditions).

Ford admits to "Generic Alignment" | Good Sam Community

Harvard
Explorer
May 30, 2018
Let me explain, a "generic alignment" is a "tweak the toe and you are good to go" alignment off the production line. That is the same alignment you will get from the "Ford Truck Center" with the complete RV build after ownership.

Mean while the driver gets to fight with a wandering beast that has only 3.5 degrees of caster AFTER having the full official blessing from the front end (production) to back end (dealership) of the "Ford Motor Company".

We should be able to take our Ford E350/E450 RVs into a Ford Truck Center and have the caster changed from +3.5 degrees to at least +5.5 degrees for safety reasons. Period. It does not happen that way, the dealerships hide behind the +1.5 to +7.2 caster specification.

JMO
ScottG
Nomad
May 30, 2018
I don't see anything wrong there.
The vehicle's alignment is going to change drastically after several tons are added to it so no matter what they do, it wont be right after the upfitter does their thing.
Generally new vehicle warranties allow for a wheel alignment so that's what new owners should do when they buy.
wildtoad
Explorer II
May 30, 2018
I actually think a “generic” is fine for a bare bones chassis, and that after the RV manufacturer gets done with the MH they should do a final alignment. Ford has no knowledge that a manufacturer may do things to the chassis such as shortening the thing.

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