Forum Discussion

allynnc's avatar
allynnc
Explorer
Jul 12, 2016

Ride Quality

I have a 24 foot class C E-350 ford based motorhome. On good roads it rides great. Humps are handled with ease. However, pavement strips feel like 6 inch dropoffs. I just drove from south Florida to mid Oklahoma, and had no complaints until I hit I-40 from Fort Smith, AR to Oklahoma City. I thought my teeth would jar out. I checked my air bag pressure, my tire pressure, no change from leaving Florida. It was so bad that my air valve extenders on my duals actually bounced back behind the wheel covers necessitating my removing the wheel covers to retrieve them back outside the covers to check the tire pressure. Everything was jarring every few feet for 180 miles. There were a few sections that had been repaved, and they were fine. In areas where the blacktop resurfacing was peeling, it was still okay, but those concrete strips were murder.

Suggestions on how I can make my RV handle pavement strips better.
  • Concrete paved interstates are generally cupped from weight of heavy trucks and effects of weather. Some RV'ers claim that their rigs ride like SUV's after they spend big bucks on air bags, rear spring mods, and special shocks. We stop every hundred miles or so to relax and collect our wits when riding on concrete washboards. It's my theory that tire failures are more likely when riding on such roads in hot weather.

    Allynnc, recommend you don't use valve extenders, get solid metal long valve bodies like Tire Man, Borg or custom made ones at a pro truck tire shop. Vibrating extenders on rubber valve bodies can cause rubber to crack and deflate tires causing tire failure, damage to underside of RV and possible loss of control.
  • I don't think it's your class C at all. I was through Arkansas last year and not sure I want to go through the areas I visited again. VERY rough. I have heard and read enough horror story's about Oklahoma from this forum and others. I'll find out first hand when we leave for Arizona in December. UGH!!!
  • One of the reasons we moved up to a Class A. Class C tires are pretty small in comparison and just ride rougher.