High top conversion van Handling in the wind

stan909 wrote:
Slow down as last poster stated. LT rated tires with stiffer sidewall helps wallowing under all conditions.

Stiffer sidewalls AND rigid tread.

Yup my bet is they put real aggressive tires on your van and the outer tread is flexing.

I know all too well what that does to handling.
Sadly I replaced all 6 of my tires on my MH with VERY expensive Michelin tires that I let my tire shop pick out for me. I thought the more expensive the better.

My perfect handling MH went from excellent to ALL OVER THE ROAD. Because of the flexible outer tread of the new tires. :(:(

Truck repair shop guy showed me. Took two fingers to the out side tread on my new tires and wiggled it back and forth with very little effort. Now put the weight of a MH on top of that and you'd know why it wanders all over.

Slow down as last poster stated. LT rated tires with stiffer sidewall helps wallowing under all conditions. Watch the YouTube videos regarding the roadmaster set-up. I was thinking of the Roadmaster until I bought my Hurcules ATs with very stiff sidewalls. Now it drives great but wind is always going to be a problem with all RVs.

Arrive Alive
Drive slower, with the 4 ways on.

The first thing I would look at are the tires and it sounds like you have done that. I hope you installed light truck tires NOT car tires. Years ago when I got my first van, the previous owner had installed car tires. I suppose that seemed reasonable since they came in the correct size and were inexpensive, but the handling was terrible. I could not believe the difference when I installed proper tires. After eliminating (or correcting) tires as the source of the handling issues, I would take a look at adding some kind of rear suspension enhancement. I have used helper leaf springs which really did help, but better yet is a rear air bag system which helps more. Finally, you might consider a "Safe T Plus" type steering control system which really amounts to a large shock absorber that connects to and stabilizes the steering system. I have one on my Dodge Leisure Travel Van and it makes a difference. Beyond all of this, high profile vehicles are inherently going to be more susceptible to side wind loads than other vehicles. Driving slower in windy conditions is usually required.

Moved to Class B MH forum from Towing.

Wind can do a lot of things. I`ve been pushed over a lane in our minivan by high winds, so a hightop van will be even more noticeable. do you have a 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton van? a 1/2 ton hightop will tend to get pushed around more than a comparable 3/4 ton. unless the van wallows and drifts around under normal circumstances, I`de say it is normal.

You may get some better answers in the Class B forum, where all the RV`s are based on van chassis.