wandering front
A couple of years ago I read a road test on setup similar if not the same as I have. I cannot find the article so Need to see if anyone else has encountered and cured. In the article they talked a...
Forum Discussion
Yeah, I know. Call it counterintuitive, but... An OP here called Harvard tore this issue apart trying to get his E450 to track AFTER he paid a shop to align it. What he finally did was crank his adjustable offset upper balljoint bushings up by 2* Caster over where the shop left it. Went from around 3* to +5.0*L and +5.3*R and got it to track like a passenger vehicle. Everybody who's gone with his suggestions has reported vastly improved tracking.
But I have personally been to The Mountain. Visited the Mecca of RV suspension tuning. Hendersons' Line-Up in Grants Pass OR a couple weeks ago. I mentioned Harvard's 5* caster and John said "Sure. I worked in the shop 25 years and did lots of alignments. That's what we do." That settles the debate far as I'm concerned. John also didn't see Class C tracking as the major issue we hear about here. Said a Rear Track Bar and Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer usually gets them driving well. That's another point of note about Henderson. They've chosen the best components for each item. They're big on Roadmaster for sway bars and other items. But they go Safe-T-Plus for stabilizers, not Roadmaster's Reflex competitor. Henderson owns SuperSteer, so those components, like Track Bars and bellcranks for Class A are their own products.
I'm told that too much Caster will make one shimmy, but I'm not convinced an E-Series, which is what we're discussing here, can be set high enough to reach that point with the alignment kits that are available. Hank is on track trying to use some rear suspension lift to shift weight to the front axle but there's only so much that an inch of lift will do.
I'm asking what the Aspect Model is so I can look at both Length/Wheelbase AND Floor Plan. I'm forming the opinion that handling problems originate from the Floor Plan. What? Lemme 'splain: Marketing tells Styling that a Walk Around Rear Queen layout, perhaps with a Slide back there, is what sells. So don't just do that on the 31-footers. Put it on the 27's and 29's too. What's ahead of the bedroom? Bath and Kitchen. The Fridge and the Shower offer a place for the wheel well bulges, so Styling tells Chassis what the Wheelbase should be. Shorter coaches get the same "rear clip" as longer ones and it can impact axle loading which has a relationship to tracking.
But I have personally been to The Mountain. Visited the Mecca of RV suspension tuning. Hendersons' Line-Up in Grants Pass OR a couple weeks ago. I mentioned Harvard's 5* caster and John said "Sure. I worked in the shop 25 years and did lots of alignments. That's what we do." That settles the debate far as I'm concerned. John also didn't see Class C tracking as the major issue we hear about here. Said a Rear Track Bar and Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer usually gets them driving well. That's another point of note about Henderson. They've chosen the best components for each item. They're big on Roadmaster for sway bars and other items. But they go Safe-T-Plus for stabilizers, not Roadmaster's Reflex competitor. Henderson owns SuperSteer, so those components, like Track Bars and bellcranks for Class A are their own products.
I'm told that too much Caster will make one shimmy, but I'm not convinced an E-Series, which is what we're discussing here, can be set high enough to reach that point with the alignment kits that are available. Hank is on track trying to use some rear suspension lift to shift weight to the front axle but there's only so much that an inch of lift will do.
I'm asking what the Aspect Model is so I can look at both Length/Wheelbase AND Floor Plan. I'm forming the opinion that handling problems originate from the Floor Plan. What? Lemme 'splain: Marketing tells Styling that a Walk Around Rear Queen layout, perhaps with a Slide back there, is what sells. So don't just do that on the 31-footers. Put it on the 27's and 29's too. What's ahead of the bedroom? Bath and Kitchen. The Fridge and the Shower offer a place for the wheel well bulges, so Styling tells Chassis what the Wheelbase should be. Shorter coaches get the same "rear clip" as longer ones and it can impact axle loading which has a relationship to tracking.
