replacing steering stabilizer on my class c rv

I put Steer Safe on my Class C and two Class A's. Yes, it made a big difference to me.

You may get better responses if you have the Moderator move this to the Class C sub forum :B

You have too little +caster for highway speeds.

Ford ships these E350/E450 Cutaways off the assembly line
with +3 to +4 degrees of Caster. Those settings are
OK for city driving BUT you want to have +5 to +6 degrees
of Caster for highway driving, OTHERWISE:

POPULAR MECHANICS MAY 1973:
START QUOTE:
If too little caster exists, the car will wander and weave,
thus necessitating constant corrections in steering.
END QUOTE:


There are at least two ways to increase the effective
runtime caster:

1. Decrease the tire inflation pressure to the required
minimum for load (to increase Pneumatic Trail), and or

2. Increase the caster angle during an alignment
(to increase caster trail).

If you find an improvement in reducing the tire pressure
you will be amazed what it is to add +2 degrees of caster. IMO.

The specified range of Caster for the E350/E450 is
from +1.5 to +7.0 degrees. As you can see
almost any possible setting is "within spec"
for the "tweak the toe and you are good to go"
alignment services. Stay away from Ford
dealerships and have it done at a "good"
truck front end shop".

Caution, "You may need to teach a new dog old tricks."

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Reply Post by 2kGeorgieBoy

Re: Wandering at highway speeds
Reply #36 on: March 14, 2018, 09:07:02 PM


START QUOTE:
Jeff..Although we have a 2000 Georgie Boy 31' Maverick "C" on a Ford E450 chassis, I can fully agree on the caster effects, at least for us. When we got the unit in Jan 2014, the dealer had us take into a truck shop for an alignment. It turned out OK....A trip to Moab shortly there after brought out the problems. I then started reading the threads and comments here about the caster settings....esp., from Harvard. I checked the data from the first alignment and found that it was set at about 3 1/2 degrees positive...about in the middle of Ford's recommended range. Shortly before a cross country trip to Maryland in fall of 2016, I returned to the shop where the first alignment was done. I talked to the service manager and he knew of the problems with the E450's and was happy to increase the caster as I asked. The alignment tech was also familiar with it and ended up with settings close to 5.5 degrees positive. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! The unit tracked straight down the road, passing semis no longer caused a white knuckle hold on the wheel, and overall it was just a lot more enjoyable. It did however increase steering effort a little but not anything to worry about. But, be sure that the shop you go to is willing to "think outside of the box". Our first alignment was "plain vanilla", right in the middle like it was always done. Second time out, they were very willing to increase settings beyond what normally would be done, and still stay with in Ford's guidelines (0-7 degrees, I believe). I realize that our E450 chassis is an entirely different animal than yours, but I was trying to add support to the caster increase thinking and how it helped us......if you go down that road.
END QUOTE:

Three things will help you with your 2014 E450 chassis. If after you do all three and you still are not satisfied, then there is another list. But do these first, then move on from there.

1) The right tire pressure with consideration to the weight on your front tires.
2) A front wheel alignment done with your rig loaded up as if on a trip
3) A heavy duty steering stabilizer (which you are researching)

Our 24 foot rig with 158" wheel base has a Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer and we like it very much.

As you have learned, the stock steering stabilizer provided by Ford is ineffective.

The worst handling class-C rigs are the shortest ones with huge rear over-hangs behind the rear axle. The longer the rig, the more stable it is on the road. The sweet spot seems to be an extended wheel base around 200" and 26-27 over-all length.

Here is another RVer who has a project in progress on this same issue

Note how their first alignment a year ago was a dud so they went the Safe-T-Plus route.

ron.dittmer wrote:
The worst handling class-C rigs are the shortest ones with huge rear over-hangs behind the rear axle. The longer the rig, the more stable it is on the road. The sweet spot seems to be an extended wheel base around 200" and 26-27 over-all length.

I have not found this to be the case.

Our 158" wheelbase, 24 foot, E450 based Class C handled just fine right from the start when new. However, Winnebago did design it wisely with the heavy refrigerator, generator, and 18 gallon propane tank items well forward of the rear axle and primarily in the overall front half of the wheelbase. Our total weight is around 12,000 lbs.. I use 65 lbs. in the front tires and 80 lbs in the rear tires. I just recently had the stock front steering stabilizer shock checked at slightly over 71,000 miles, and it was still OK.

I think it's a combination of things causing steering wander. With alignment and weight distribution being the primary concerns.