Forum Discussion

Gjac's avatar
Gjac
Explorer III
Mar 10, 2014

Short DP's Handling

I was on I 95 in Fla. the other day when I came up to a Tiffen Breeze (28-32 ft) as I passed him he almost came into my lane. As I watched him in my rear view mirror he was all over the road and had a difficult time staying between the lines. It was not windy. I have read on here many times about the wheel base to length ratio having to be .50 or higher for a good ride. I suspect it is more than this ratio. I suspect it has more to do with the weight being evenly distributed on all four tires. It just seemed to me that with the eng in the rear the front end would have less weight on the front tires making for this white knuckle ride. Many on here report that their short MH,s ride well. I am interested in shorter MH's but would be very disappointed with this type of ride. I was wondering what others did to obtain a stable ride that have shorter MH's. Front end alignment tricks, suspension, weight distribution etc. Also would a 32 ft gas Class A be more stable than a 32 ft DP?

24 Replies

  • And never forget that SOME drivers just cant drive worth a D***!!
  • Was it a section of segmented concrete or just plain 'ole asphalt? I once saw a short DP purposing so bad on 95 leaving a rest area it was actually funny looking until I thought about the poor guy driving it. Might have been loading I guess...
  • Effy's avatar
    Effy
    Explorer II
    I would think as a generalization a DP would always be more stable than a gasser simply by virtue of chassis and weight. My light gasser does not handle as poorly as the guy you describe. Maybe he was a bad driver or something was in the road? Maybe PSI was off or his load way unbalanced? Who knows. But it doubt the coach is to blame.

    Maybe he put it on auto pilot and went back to make a sandwich.
  • Whomever was driving the other rig needs kessons in loading. Either that or the driver was competely freeked out drving something like that. Shorter rigs pose no diving problems when set up correctly.