Towing with my old Class C

ljhl wrote:
I ordered a Quiet Hitch just a few minutes ago.

It won't perform miracles, but it will help. The worse the play between the two, the more it will help.

Thanks again folks, I ordered a Quiet Hitch just a few minutes ago. I am in Houston, TX and the Coachmen is at the TT Preserve storage yard near Hershey, PA. I plan to drive my CRV to PA next month and bring the Coachmen back to TX. It has lived with my elderly parents in Maine since new. That being the case, I don't know about rear sway bars or anything, just know it has the steering spring devices (?) installed and has less than 23K miles on all other suspension parts. I'm really looking forward to playing with it over the coming TX winter.

TyroneandGladys wrote:
Also just a 1/8 of slack in your receiver can make huge problems. Local fabrications shop drills a hole in the top and one side of the receiver and then welds a nut over the hole when you use a bolt through the nut it takes out any play in the hitch.

That's what Quiet Hitch does. They are cheap to buy and install yourself in a minute.

I believe in doing the basics first hook it up and have your RV loaded with water fuel cargo and people and all where it/they would be on the road and go to a scale. As dalmationlovers stated you might be light on the front axle. You need a minimum of 75% of rated capacity on the front axle if you can get to 90% so much the better. Also just a 1/8 of slack in your receiver can make huge problems. Local fabrications shop drills a hole in the top and one side of the receiver and then welds a nut over the hole when you use a bolt through the nut it takes out any play in the hitch.

You got lots of good advise above on troubleshooting.

- Do you have a rear stabilizer bar? If not, get one, if so, is it in good condition?
- Are your front stabilizer bar end links worn with lots of play?
- A rear trac bar will help immensely
- A Quiet Hitch could help

Thanks a lot folks for all the great info. I rebuilt my Blue Ox tow bar last winter with new bolts and washers etc from Blue Ox. I put it back together with all the swivel joints pretty tight. This was no problem for my DP, but made towing with the Coachmen really scary. I loosened the tow bar swivel joints quite a bit and it helped the way the Coachmen drove a great deal, no longer scary, just required too much steering corrections. I'm going to get one of those Quiet Hitches for sure, can't do any harm and may improve the way it handles even more. Thanks again everyone!!

My first thought was gotsmart's suggestion re: QuietHitch. Eric Davis is an RV handling guru (along with the Henderson clan and a few others) and he warned me there cannot be looseness (such as any form of side play) in the Toad/Baseplate/Towbar/Drawbar(including Drop/Lift Adapters)/RV Hitch. Said as much as 1/2" will cause the toad to bump-steer the rear of the RV.
Is your C on a Ford E350 chassis? And, what is the Wheelbase? Our 24-ft C was on E350 with 158" (a stock wheelbase) and rear frame extension for a bumper-bumper length of 25-ft. Heaviest toad we pulled was 2500-lb and it did not detract from handling.
If there's not looseness in your towing rig, I have another suspicion. That your C might be right on the cusp of a handling problem and the toad pushes it over. I did VERY few things to the E350/460/C6 Chassis/Engine/Transmission setup.
1. I found the front sway bar end link bushings were shot. All but nonexistent. Replaced with a kit from NAPA that turned out to have hard black poly bushings. Again, end links only. I never changed the center bushings, and the change with good end links was stunning. With swing axles, side/side interference at the rear will try to raise one front corner and lower the other. That will cause it to "steer" and you don't want that. A tight sway bar will help.
2. I found the front end was Toe-OUT by a good amount, and adjusted it to a slight Toe-IN. THAT change took it from White Knuckle/Elbows on Knees driving to try and hold it straight, to an Easy Driving Vehicle. Easier in fact than out later E450 (Signature).
3. Replaced Steering Gear Box. It seemed to have play and when I adjusted that, it started to leak so I installed an AutoZone reman box. I don't really think the steering box was that much of a problem.
4. Replaced front shocks with Monroe RV Gas Magnum. Did that When...
5. ...I replaced Front Axle Bushings. That was the two where the swing axles meet the crossmember (one on each axle) and the two Radius Rod Bushings (those shafts that angle back to the frame). Not sure that was absolutely necessary either, but I saw an E350 van that wandered all over the road with bad swing axle bushings, and could also tell that if the Radius bushings got soft, the steering would Toe-OUT.

Most of what I did was plain dirt cheap (providing my own labor of course) and I never took it to an alignment shop. Results were stunning as I mentioned.

I replaced tires too. 8.75R16.5D, and ran at 55-front, 65-rear. If your fronts are at a higher pressure than the load calls for, tracking is compromised.

A rear trac bar/rear sway bar will help reduce or eliminate tail wag caused by towing. If the MH has a factory installed rear trac bar/rear sway bar there is a good chance it is under-sized for use in a MH.

A Quiet Hitch on the tow bar or draw bar takes the wiggle out of a loose receiver. A tow bar or draw bar that wiggles in the receiver can cause tail wag. It is a simple device that can vastly improve towing characteristics.

Review the owners manual for the tow bar. I have a Roadmaster Falcon 2. The Falcon 2's manual says that the tow bar's arm should be no more than +/- 3 inches from level when connected to the base plate of the toad. You may need to add an adapter in the MH's receiver to lower (or raise) the hitch height to bring the tow bar into the manufacturer's operating specifications for the tow bar.

Other potential performance improvements:
upgrade the shock absorbers
install/upgrade the front sway bar
replace the factor steering damper with a heavier duty version: like a Safe-T-Plus

Most of these suggestions happen because the cut-away chassis that many of the Class C MHs are built on were designed for delivery vans and not for the weight of an RV sitting on the chassis - and not all of the coach companies upgrade these parts in their Class C MHs. For many RVers replacing these parts with heavy duty versions is what is needed.

tenbear wrote:

I think dalmationlovers may have the right idea, reduces weight on the front axle.

He said he's towing 4 down. I can't see that adding weight to the front axle. :@

I can tell my Subaru toad is there, but it doesn't affect the handling.

I think dalmationlovers may have the right idea, reduces weight on the front axle.

AFAIK the tow bar angle only affects the braking. In hard braking the rear of the MH goes up and the front of the car goes down. I guess in an extreme case the toad could end up under the MH.