Ye ole steering wander problem...

Well, I don't always get it right.
If you give me some time to make up an excuse I'll post it :E.
Anyways it's fixed now.

Admin

Admin wrote:
Well, I don't always get it right. If you give me some time to make up an excuse I'll post it :E. Anyways it's fixed now. Admin

Thanks, Bro!

For OP: I visited Hendersons' Line Up specifically to meet John and talk about issues like this. Before meeting John I talked with their parts manager. It became apparent that Hendersons' promotes/installs specific parts from various manufacturers, that they consider best. For example:
They sell SuperSteer, of course,
And Roadmaster components (but Davis Track Bars since SS doesn't do front)
But for Steering Stabilizers, they go to Safe-T-Plus, breaking ranks with Roadmaster who offers RSS. John told me he's found adding an S-T-P is "like setting Caster to 5 degrees."

S-T-P categorizes their stabilizers by the spring pressure they produce, and they differentiate them by color. For a Class C, it'd be the Silver "140" series, meaning it uses 140 pounds of spring pressure to force the steering back to center.

Roadmaster offers RSS in RSS-C and RSS-A but I don't know what the pressures are.

Both involve removing the OEM Damper (horizontal shock abosorber with no Centering Force), and its brackets. Then you install a new set of brackets that adapt the S-T-P or RSS to your Make/Model/Year.

Then there's an Adjustment Process to make the device force steering to the "Center" you need for most of your driving. There are YouTube's showing how to do that.

I was ready to make a suggestion, but first, you say you've adjusted tire pressures according to axle weights. So let me ask:

1. Did you weigh it loaded as for travel, with People, Supplies and Stuff?

2, What were your Axle Weights?

3. What Tire Pressures are you using?

4. Are you towing a vehicle?

5. What vehicle?

6. Does the RV handle differently with and without that vehicle?

7. How?

j-d wrote:
John told me he's found adding an S-T-P is "like setting Caster to 5 degrees."

Not exactly.

It depends upon what the CAUSE of the problem is.
If it is the typical 350/450 design defect having the alignment set improperly.....then a "steering stabilizer" won't solve that.

But of course a shop that sells and installs S-T-P's is going to promote them......even sometimes when not appropriate.

FIX THE ALIGNMENT FIRST.

I did not see anywhere in the thread where you weighed the coach. If you have not done a 4 corner weight (loaded for travel), you should do that FIRST !!!

I read the first post, to think OP has weighed this coach, at least by axle (not corner maybe) since he says he's set Tires to Weight. So I asked what those weights actually were. "More is Good" doesn't apply to Front Tire pressure on a Ford Class C.

My take on Henderson's "S-T-P like going to 5* Caster" is that it's based on a unit with the front end in good condition AND aligned to spec. That said, the Mid Range of the Spec is 3*. Our good friend Harvard came up with the 5* number having found he had Ingalls Adjustable Bushings. Somebody had supposedly done an alignment and probably set to 3* calling it "spec" since it's mid range. Sadly, many shops "align" Ford Twin-I-Beam Axles "Toe and Go" doing only the Toe and ignore Caster and Camber.

So, adding an S-T-P (or an RSS-C) could help apply centering force like more Caster will.

Please note that many application catalogs/web pages do NOT show Adjustable Bushings for RV Chassis and Box Trucks, basically anything with Dual Rear Wheels. They believe that the Adjustable Bushings will not stay in place. Non-adjustable (Fixed) bushings have a Key on them, that engages the Pinch Bolt that holds the Ball Joint in place. Adjustables can't have those, because they have to be turned to various positions to achieve adjustment. Again Henderson... Says They Will Stay if Installed Clean and Properly Torqued. The Pinch bolt isn't all that big but its torque spec is something like 65-ft-lb. I've had alignment shops tell me if they find Adjustables they take them out and use Fixed Bushings.

j-d has it right.

But if you are like me, degrees of caster and all that tech-talk becomes over-whelming. So here is my plain and simple story about our rig "Wandering" all over the road.

When we bought our 2007 E350 chassis motor home brand new, it handled like a drunken sailor. A few months later, I took the rig fully loaded as if ready to leave home for a trip, to our local truck suspension shop HERE. George at Champion Frame Align recommended the following which I agreed to having Champion do.

- rear heavy duty Roadmaster stabilizer bar
- front heavy duty Roadmaster stabilizer bar
- front Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer
- heavy duty Koni-RV adjustable shock absorbers set to the strongest setting
- rear Henderson trac bar
- front wheel alignment which required offset bushings.

The difference went from a drunken sailor to a stead-as-she-goes experience. I went from two hands clinging to the steering wheel compensating constantly, to one hand gently holding it steady. Driving it for the past 10 years since the work was done, has been a real pleasure. My wife and I both enjoy driving, even with trucks passing, reasonably uneven road surfaces, and the occasional side blast of wind.

If I had it to do over again back in 2007, I would have gone with the heavy duty Bilstein shocks because I still get a little front end up/down porpoising action because our rig is light up front and heavy behind the rear axle. Today because they are now available, I would consider the Koni-FSD-RV shocks.

A lot has been said about 5 degrees of caster for the E Series and in hind sight it should been said to just add +2 degrees of caster with the bushings.

As such, in my case, I would be riding with +6 degrees IF my fore to aft profile were level. But I am not level, I travel at about 1.0 degree nose down so my runtime (or alignment rack) caster is about +5 degrees AFTER adding the +2.

ron.dittmer wrote:

- front wheel alignment which required offset bushings.

The difference went from a drunken sailor to a stead-as-she-goes experience.

First place I went to told me that the front end was "worn out" and needed $3000 in repairs before they could do an alignment using the procedure that I printed out from a post on here.

I walked. It wasn't old enough to be "worn out".

The second place looked at the sheet I gave them and said "Sure. We've done that before a few times." About $300 later and it was rock solid; well, as solid as a big "box truck" can be if the wind is blowing.

Which is why I suggest doing the alignment part FIRST to see what the result will be.

Doing ALL OF THAT EXPENSIVE STUFF at the same time won't allow you to know which parts were really necessary and which not.

But......it's your time and your money and you need to do whatever YOU think is right......for you. That doesn't mean that it is right for everybody though.

Harvard wrote:
A lot has been said about 5 degrees of caster for the E Series and in hind sight it should been said to just add +2 degrees of caster with the bushings.

No, I don't think that is right at all.
Or at least grossly misleading.

What if you started out at 0. Then you would end up at +2 which is still not nearly enough.

If the tail (overhand behind the rear wheels) is too long, it will NEVER be a hands off coach. All of the things suggested will contribute to "some" improvement (track bars and steer stabilizers more than others) and go from white knuckle to manageable. If your wheelbase to overall length is over 55% you have a poorly designed coach - something that has been known for over two decades. Manufacturers don't care. The Marketing department rules; engineers suck wind.