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Gundog's avatar
Gundog
Explorer II
Aug 12, 2020

Handling issues 2005 Fleetwood Expedition 34H

I have a 2005 Fleetwood Expedition 34H. This is a diesel pusher with a Cat C7 and a Freightliner chassis. I purchased this coach about 18 months ago from a private party. The tires that were on it were original (Michelin)and I was afraid to drive it with tires that old so I took it straight to the tire shop before driving it the 2 hours home.

I made the tire order before picking it up so they would have the tires on hand. I had a choice between Firestone and Michelin the Michelin tires were $1500 more than the Firestone so I chose the Firestone.

The issue I am having is the coach wanders and requires a constant steering correction to stay in your lane you can't take your eyes away to hardly look into the rear view mirror with departing your lane. I have a commercial drivers license so I am not new to driving large vehicles.

The Firestone tires are FS 561 275/70R22.5 they are maximum tire pressure 130 PSI. The fronts had 95 PSI in them and the rear tires had 105 PSI in them. They tried inflating them to 120 PSI front and 110 in the rear but that did not make it better.

I ran the coach over the scales and I have 7500# on the front axle and 16240# on the rear axle.

Monday I have an appointment to have the front end aligned. The tire shop has offered to exchange the tires for the Michelin tires but I will have to pay the upgraded price. I am happy they are offering to do that Bottom line I am just trying to get this thing to handle properly I will pay to upgrade the tires if that will make it better.

I tried to contact Firestone to get a recommended tire pressure but they never responded to my email.

Can anyone add any good info for me?
Thanks Mike