New to me--2014 Freelander 21QB rough ride
I've recently purchased (3 days ago) a 2014 Coachmen Freelander 21QB. Drove it home from the seller (about 90 miles) around Nashville. It handles fine--BUT I was about beat to death on the ride....
Forum Discussion
Welcome to class c life.
As you add all your stuff inside the rv as well as water, you will see that it will ride better as you load it. You will get some relief as you load more weight in it and make a few alterations. I run my rv with full 50 gals water and 3 grp 27 batteries. That alone is in the 600# range and makes a difference in the ride, as you add all your other EQ that you will leave in the rv, the ride improves.
In general, they have to ride hard when unloaded in order to support weight when loaded. These rvs have to be stay in control during an unexpected emergency maneuver, like avoiding a deer. Having a stiff suspension will help keep it in control with less body roll, therefore getting you to where you need to go in one piece.
Its one of things that seems to get better once we get over the shock that you are experiencing. All the pros of our rv lifestyle outweigh the occasional jolts that we feel.
* The over the road , open road driving that we mostly do is a lot less jolting.
1. make sure you get a good truck alignment shop to properly align it because the rv mfg does not do that once they build the rv on the chassis.
2. A little less tire pressure will help but you have to make sure you do not go to low because the rear tires can begin to rub together as the tire footprint will widen as you decrease pressure. You will have to experiment with that till it feels right but also supports the weight you carry.
I run my 24ft E450 tires at 75 psi rear and 70 psi front. They have an 80 psi max rating.
You have to experiment: Try them all at max psi then experiment driving it over the same route to see how your rig reacts to a change in tire pressures.
Some people run the fronts at 60-65 and the rears at 70. RVs carry more of their weight on the rear axle opposed to the front axle. Tire pressure becomes more important as we load the rv closer to its max axle capacity, sometimes the tires can be the limiting factor for a fully loaded rv .
If its a 450 then you have a 14,500 Ford or 14,200 GM gross rating that you'll never max out unless you load concrete in it. Generally, your 23-24' rv will roll down the road in the 11,500-12,500 range .
3. I also changed my shocks to Bilstein in the front and FSD shocks in the rear but you can use the BILS all around as many people do, its less expensive and seems to work equally as well.
4. Once you load it for a trip and the rear of your rig is sitting lower in the rear than it was while sitting empty, many people say that adding air bags helped with the ride as well as returning it to a level sitting position.
*Measure the distance before and after you load it, bumper to ground. If it 'doesn't sag' then the AB's will NOT do much as the case with most small 450's which are not overloaded.
I tried them and ended up removing them for a full refund. Air bags do not offer you too much more lift if you are already sitting level, therefore the ride difference is insignificant. I used them on my previous 'sagging' pickups and they were great and worth the money.
As you add all your stuff inside the rv as well as water, you will see that it will ride better as you load it. You will get some relief as you load more weight in it and make a few alterations. I run my rv with full 50 gals water and 3 grp 27 batteries. That alone is in the 600# range and makes a difference in the ride, as you add all your other EQ that you will leave in the rv, the ride improves.
In general, they have to ride hard when unloaded in order to support weight when loaded. These rvs have to be stay in control during an unexpected emergency maneuver, like avoiding a deer. Having a stiff suspension will help keep it in control with less body roll, therefore getting you to where you need to go in one piece.
Its one of things that seems to get better once we get over the shock that you are experiencing. All the pros of our rv lifestyle outweigh the occasional jolts that we feel.
* The over the road , open road driving that we mostly do is a lot less jolting.
1. make sure you get a good truck alignment shop to properly align it because the rv mfg does not do that once they build the rv on the chassis.
2. A little less tire pressure will help but you have to make sure you do not go to low because the rear tires can begin to rub together as the tire footprint will widen as you decrease pressure. You will have to experiment with that till it feels right but also supports the weight you carry.
I run my 24ft E450 tires at 75 psi rear and 70 psi front. They have an 80 psi max rating.
You have to experiment: Try them all at max psi then experiment driving it over the same route to see how your rig reacts to a change in tire pressures.
Some people run the fronts at 60-65 and the rears at 70. RVs carry more of their weight on the rear axle opposed to the front axle. Tire pressure becomes more important as we load the rv closer to its max axle capacity, sometimes the tires can be the limiting factor for a fully loaded rv .
If its a 450 then you have a 14,500 Ford or 14,200 GM gross rating that you'll never max out unless you load concrete in it. Generally, your 23-24' rv will roll down the road in the 11,500-12,500 range .
3. I also changed my shocks to Bilstein in the front and FSD shocks in the rear but you can use the BILS all around as many people do, its less expensive and seems to work equally as well.
4. Once you load it for a trip and the rear of your rig is sitting lower in the rear than it was while sitting empty, many people say that adding air bags helped with the ride as well as returning it to a level sitting position.
*Measure the distance before and after you load it, bumper to ground. If it 'doesn't sag' then the AB's will NOT do much as the case with most small 450's which are not overloaded.
I tried them and ended up removing them for a full refund. Air bags do not offer you too much more lift if you are already sitting level, therefore the ride difference is insignificant. I used them on my previous 'sagging' pickups and they were great and worth the money.
