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Denbie1's avatar
Denbie1
Explorer
May 31, 2015

Handling of my class A

Hi everyone. I just got a used 2002 Holiday Rambler, class A Vacationer. When I drove it home from Nashville, Tenn it seemed to drive good, although I had only drove one once before. We went on a trip not too far from the house, and the rear end just moves so much. It's just plain scary. I have read a little online and someone described it as "the tail wagging the dog". The front handling is great, and it has new michenlin tires on it. It's just the rear end. It does seem to have a lot of bounce. Anyways, I am putting it in the shop this week and I would really like to hear of anyone elses experiences with this. I just don't want to start "throwing money" aimlessly guessing what the problem is. Where would any of you start? Also, if I should need shocks what is some recommendations? Are Koni shocks worth the extra money? Thanks in advance for any help!
Class A
  • Ivylog's avatar
    Ivylog
    Explorer III
    May 31, 2015
    The good news (sort of) is it a Workhorse chassis, not a R4R with the trailing arm recall. The clue is "new tires" which means they probably put too much air in all your tires now. You need to weigh your axles and adjust your tire pressures for the load, not max sidewall pressure. Before spending money, check your tire pressures as they are probably inflated to max which will cause tail wag. Besides your seat there is a sticker which will give you a better recommendation of what pressures to run in not able to weigh this week.
    With two people and a tape measure you can check the toe in on the front by measuring between the same spots on the side of the tire (front and back). You want a max of 1/4" less (toe in) on the front measurement.

    You can also search on here about "track bars" and Koni shocks.
  • Denbie1's avatar
    Denbie1
    Explorer
    May 31, 2015
    It is a 2002 workhorse 22 sorry I forgot to include that in my post.
  • rgatijnet1's avatar
    rgatijnet1
    Explorer III
    May 31, 2015
    Have you had it weighed when it is loaded for travel? After it is weighed, you adjust your air pressure and then see how it rides. Naturally the rear shocks could have failed but I would check the axle loading first.
  • jdavidsmi's avatar
    jdavidsmi
    Explorer
    May 31, 2015
    i had the same issue on my new to me 2004 Terra 31H, all new tires, crawled under and discovered the rear sway bar bushing on the right was completely gone and the one on the left almost gone. i replaced them, adjusted the tire pressure, now it rides much better, almost no sway.

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