Just picked up my 15 Four Winds 22E on the Ford E350 chassis after having the caster/camber adjusted to improve handling. Drove it home on a 2 lane hwy and back country roads. It is better, the steering is harder/tighter and doesn't need correction as much as before. But it is not night and day difference like many on here have said. The mechanic has been doing this for 30 yrs and was dissappointed that it didn't improve more. He suggested that I take off the steering stabilizer first and try that. He thinks it is overkill on this size MH. He said another thing I could try is loosening the steering worm gear and he showed me how to do it. I'm getting ready to leave on a cross country trip so I may play with it. Should be much better on a smooth interstate(if there are any left).Caster is now +5.75 and +5.25 and Camber is .90 and .90.

Given the positive influence our Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer provides, I would not be quick to remove yours. I also feel it is concerning to loosen the contact within the steering gear box. Resistance in steering in the E350/E450 has been a benefit to most including me. The wheel is not quick to return to dead center, but I find that real good compared to the "floaties".

Most E-350, smaller (19 - 24'), C's don't suffer from the handling issues of the larger/longer coaches. Have you weighed the coach and aired up (or down), your tires for the load they are actually carrying? An E-350 that is properly loaded, with the correct psi for that load should need nothing further to improve handling/ride.I don't know what year and how many miles you have and certainly things wear out but "keep it stock" is usually pretty good advice.As always.... Opinions and YMMV.:C

Tire pressure? Going above the recommended front tire pressure will also give a drifting feeling. I believe the E350s spec between 55-65 depending on which GVWR.

Thanks all. It's a 2015 on a 14 chassis with 2200 miles. The steering always needed correcting. Go around a curve and you had to physically correct the steering. Just staying in a lane required constant steering. That is very tiring after a few hours. Windy conditions were constant work. I haven't weighed the coach but have a good idea of the weight. I use the Michelin guide for tire pressure and am running about 65 right now. I have the rear tires set up with pressure stabilizers/monitors so can monitor the pressures pretty well. The mechanic thought the steering was too tight. That is why he suggested a quarter turn trial adj on the steering box. He said that I should take off the stabilizer before I played with the steering box. It's easy and I could do it while on the trip to try it. If I didn't like it, put it back on. Going to drive it for a while to get used to it.

I hope the 5.75 is Right/Passenger side and the 5.25 is Left/Driver side. The front end is built to have Right 1/2-degree more than Left. Go ahead and weigh, soon as you can. Pretty sure you'll find 65 is too high for your actual front axle load. You can run the rear tires at higher pressure than a weighing and chart specify. All it'll do is harshen the ride. Front'll harshen too, but worse, hurts steering and tracking.

Got my caster increased on my E350 | Good Sam Community

15 Replies

gwwing2
Explorer
Jul 11, 2015
On my Coachman Freelander CB19 had the realignment and bushings done and went with Sumo Springs. Easy install for the front which made maybe the most difference. Then had my mechanic install the rear sumo springs. Now the copilot is telling me not to drive like I am on the motorcycle. Seems to handle the wind we have out here in the west well and the mountain roads are no longer a white knuckle drive. Very happy with the upgrade. other then the alignment, bushings and Sumo springs nothing else done. The RV did come with Michelin tires.
tpi
Explorer
Jul 05, 2015
I have a little range I'll keep the front tires at. When I fill them, I overshoot my target by a few PSI. I won't fill them again till they're a few PSI below my target. The handling is sweetest right before I fill them.

I don't think the rear tires pressure influence handling much. They do influence ride quality. The way I see it, if you want to eek out maximum fuel economy go for pressures closer to the sidewall maximum. If you want the softest ride, go for pressures based on weight. I'm in the middle on this..
j-d
Explorer II
Jul 05, 2015
Going with the Sticker is the chassis builder playing it safe in case the user loads to full GAWR front and rear. That's all the sticker is. When chassis is under an RV, where loading once determined is fairly constant, pressure should be based on weight not sticker.

I wonder what that shop does when they mount Load Range "E" tires on a coach with your sticker numbers? Go to 80 because that's what the sidewall says? Absurd!
loneryder
Explorer
Jul 05, 2015
Update: So I'm 1000 miles from home and finally was able to weigh my MH. With all my stuff in it, the front axle is 3480 and the drive axle is 6800. My motorcycle trailer's axle weight is 1500. The bike is well balanced on the tongue. So according to Michelins tire guide, I should be running 55 all around. That is for 11620#. I have lowered it to 60 and the handling inproved and it built upon the increased caster. I will try going to 55 next. When I first asked this question on the forum, most suggested I run it at 75#!!
This MH is not stressing this 350 chassis at all.
Harvey51
Explorer
Jun 29, 2015
Good information, thanks to all.
I am experiencing moderate difficulty steering, particularly in wind. I don't know how the camber is set. Can I measure it myself?

Front: 770, 760 kg. Rear: 1350, 1160 kg
Michelin chart says 45 psi front, 40 rear.
Ford sticker says 65 front, 60 rear

A tire shop said go with the sticker, so I just went down down to 60 all around. I will soon be trying 50 or 55 on the front.
AJR
Explorer
Jun 26, 2015
I had the castor increased on my camper two months ago. That made a huge improvement in crosswinds. The last short trip I took it was misting out and the water was going horizontal across the windshield. It was not a pleasant 200 mile drive home. My camper is 30’ long.

After putting a Safe-T-Plus on my previous class A with great results. I decided to put one on my current E350 based camper. Yes it does feel like it “tightens” up the steering on the E350. I was lucky because I had the same very good local mechanic install both. We learned with the class A it takes real fine (like 1/16th inch adjustments) to get it to track down a flat road without putting a hand on the wheel.

By the way my numbers were Caster Initial/Final; +4 ¼ +4 5/8 and +4 1/8 +5 ¼. That made a heck of a difference. You may have over done the castor, just a thought….
tpi
Explorer
Jun 25, 2015
loneryder wrote:
Thanks all. It's a 2015 on a 14 chassis with 2200 miles. The steering always needed correcting. Go around a curve and you had to physically correct the steering. Just staying in a lane required constant steering. That is very tiring after a few hours. Windy conditions were constant work. I haven't weighed the coach but have a good idea of the weight. I use the Michelin guide for tire pressure and am running about 65 right now. I have the rear tires set up with pressure stabilizers/monitors so can monitor the pressures pretty well. The mechanic thought the steering was too tight. That is why he suggested a quarter turn trial adj on the steering box. He said that I should take off the stabilizer before I played with the steering box. It's easy and I could do it while on the trip to try it. If I didn't like it, put it back on. Going to drive it for a while to get used to it.

Are you running the 65 based on weight on front wheels? I do and run 10 pounds less than you are. It makes a difference. I don't think loosening steering will help-actually I think it will make it worse. Tightening it to remove any play would be good. I don't think removing steering stabilizer will help.

Drive it a while once you actually weigh the front end and set pressure accordingly. If after some usage (some of this is just getting used to a top heavy truck) you still think there is a problem my suggestion would be in this order: shock absorbers with more control, and heavier anti roll bars front and rear.
carringb
Explorer
Jun 24, 2015
I'm a little skeptical that a steering system could be "too tight". Also, since the OEM damper is not a centering spring damper, I don't see how that could make it worse.

Have you had a chance to weigh the rig by axle? Ford requires 32% total weight minimum on the front axle. Most other trucks require 35%.
PSW
Explorer
Jun 24, 2015
My experience when we first got our Phoenix Cruiser was a bit of wondering and constant need to adjust the steering. A good alignment and reduction of the pressure in the front tires resulted in perfectly acceptable handling.

On a long trip, I simply tried adjusting the front and rear pressure every couple of hundred miles. I found 60 front and 75 rear seemed best for me, but I suspect that could vary from brand to brand. We travel fully loaded for boondocking and with the water tank full.

Adjusting the front tire pressures alone made a really big difference.

Paul
cgmartine
Explorer
Jun 24, 2015
I think you now have to experiment with tire pressure. No more than 65 up front, and 70-75 in rear. Try from 60 to 65 in front. Like someone said, a motorhome of that size should have little to no wandering, with front tire pressure possibly having the greatest effect.