Forum Discussion

superrayzor's avatar
superrayzor
Explorer
Apr 28, 2016

When does the fear stop?

I jumped in having never owned an RV before and purchased a 32' Class A motorhome. I am a very confident driver having driven for over 20 years anything from a tiny sports car to a big ass truck. I've rented 28' Penske Trucks and didn't hesitate in driving them at all. Drove a few hundred miles in the 28' Penske and didn't batt an eyelash.
I have zero issues driving at slow speeds in the coach(40 MPH). I am confident in my corners, watch my mirrors, give myself extra time, etc..

What I have issue with is highway speeds. I have taken it up to 60MPH, but above 50MPH i'm just slightly freaked out. I had my wife follow behind me in the minivan and she says from behind it looks great. But I am scared up there. Part of it could be because of the winds here in AZ - been getting hit by 12-15 MPH wind gusts all day combined with my first day of driving an RV. Also looks like the wind is going to follow me on my trip up north going into the 20MPH range.

Tomorrow I am making a 200-300 mile trip over to California. Also I will be towing my minivan 4 down. Already took the dinghy for a short 25 mile trip with no issues, even been passed by a semi, but still quite tentative about the whole thing.

I just dropped the coach off to have the Safe-T-Plus installed after hearing it really helps with the wind/shaky feeling.

How long did it take for people to get use to this?
Class A
  • Naio's avatar
    Naio
    Explorer II
    May 11, 2016
    I had this problem with my little van! I could not drive over 45.

    I thought it was me, until a couple friends drove the van. I third the suggestion that you get someone else to test drive your rig.

    Once I knew it was not me, it took a lot of trial and error, evals by 4 or 5 different shops, and discussion with folks here on the forum to figure out what I needed to do to the suspension to improve it.
  • frankdamp's avatar
    frankdamp
    Explorer
    May 11, 2016
    Washington scales are also always on, even when officially "CLOSED", and have weight displays easily readable from the scale platform.

    I weighed our 32-footer at a scale just out of town one evening after it closed. I weighed 5 different ways - all four wheels on the scale - front wheels on the scale - back wheels on the scale - right side wheels on the scale and finally left side wheels on the scale. I had to turn round and approach the scale from the opposite direction to get the left wheels only weight.

    I could then calculate the individual wheel loads.

    I never found it necessary to alter the sway bar settings and the rig tracked very well. Most trips were coastal in WA and OR, so the winds were usually from offshore and steady. We made three trips into Eastern WA in the four years we had the Class A. All were over Washington Pass on SR-20 and into Winthrop. Our 32' Class A (an '02 model year on an F53 chassis) was a lot easier than our older (1986) 26' Class C on an E350.
  • TNGW1500SE's avatar
    TNGW1500SE
    Explorer
    May 11, 2016
    superrayzor wrote:
    timmac wrote:
    What year and what chassis do you have, you might need sway bars or adjust the current ones, as to wind you will get use to it, takes time but you will be a pro..


    2016 F53 chassis. It has billstein shocks installed on it which is nice. After the Safe-T-Plus if I still have issues, I might consider the sway bar. Is it just the front, the rear, or both? What recommendations?


    Does your sway bar have an extra set of holes? If so look at this thread:
    http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/28728729.cfm
    Made a big difference in mt F53
  • big_jim_2's avatar
    big_jim_2
    Explorer II
    May 10, 2016
    My wife and I faced the same problem about 13 years ago. Surprise after a few trips we didn't even think about it. We have driven from Key West to Fairbanks, Nova Scotia to California, and almost all states in between relax and let experence be your guide!
  • atperci's avatar
    atperci
    Explorer
    May 10, 2016
    I don't think anyone addressed your question regarding where to get weighed. Truck stops sometimes have them, Cat Scales is one. Some moving companies have them. Google "public scales" and you'll probably find one somewhere along your route. The State of Oregon actually leaves their highway scales on 24/7, you can pull off and check your own weights.

    After you get either your front/rear or four corner weights, if you can, use a tire inflation chart to verify the appropriate psi for your size tires. This could help with the ride as well. All tire manufacturers use the load charts. I think I used Toyo charts as they were the easiest to locate online.
  • mrsportys's avatar
    mrsportys
    Explorer
    May 01, 2016
    We made the mistake a few weeks ago of heading from Chicago to Florida on a Saturday where the winds were "expected" to be gusting st 40-60mph . Loaded tow dolly in a snow storm.
    As soon as we were heading south on the open fields of Illinois oh brother... Trucks passing you you get use to the slight pull but under each bridge you got sucked in and immediately slammed in the side by the west winds.
    5 hours, half a tank of gas to go 150. Exhilarating to say the least. If you slow down in a 65 mph zone to 45 use your flashers had too pass a couple campers doing 40.
    We finally stopped when we started seeing trailers overturned in the ditches. Sat the rest of the day ,night in a small rv park watching movies.
    Mentally your in charge up their ,stay on the right side of the road .
  • frankdamp's avatar
    frankdamp
    Explorer
    Apr 30, 2016
    I was very lucky with my early RV experience. Shortly after I took early retirement (at 57), we bought an older Class C to "try the lifestyle", to find we loved the lifestyle but not that turkey RV. We sold it after less than a season.

    About then I was tiring of the retiree life and went to work for our county transit agency and did two years driving buses. After many hours horsing 40-footers through city rush hour traffic, our 32' Georgetown Class A was no problem.

    If things don't improve for you, I'd suggest asking our local transit authority or school district if any of their drivers could help you get more confident. If 60-year old grandmothers can drive a 40' bus with about 60 screaming kids on board, they ought to be a source of help.
  • jmagic's avatar
    jmagic
    Explorer
    Apr 30, 2016
    Listen to Harvard. Ford spec for caster on F53 is +4 1/2 degrees +or- 3/4 degrees. This is a common fix on trucks. www.stempf.com The shims go between the axel and springs and it's well worth the effort.
    Heavy duty sway bars, a steering stabilizer and good shocks really do the deed.
    Happy trails.
  • rgatijnet1's avatar
    rgatijnet1
    Explorer III
    Apr 30, 2016
    As you can tell from reading some of these posts, the fear never does leave some RVrs.
    I still suggest having someone else drive your coach that is familiar with an F53 chassis and see what they think of the handling. The fault may be correctable and can be corrected or you may fight it for as long as you have the coach. Most handling problems can be corrected as long as you have enough money to throw at them.

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