Ford admits to "Generic Alignment"

DrewE wrote:

theoldwizard1 wrote:

ron.dittmer wrote:
It is not possible to align a bare unload cut-away chassis so that the alignment is good for the end product.

So how much weight does a full fresh water tank add and will it affect the alignment ?

Hopefully people are not driving long distances with full black and gray water tanks.

For water, as the saying goes, "a pint's a pound the world around" -- not exactly, but a rough rule of thumb. My water tank adds a few hundred pounds total when full, and unloads the front axle by perhaps half that since as it's located pretty far towards the back of the motorhome. That shouldn't be (and indeed is not) enough to greatly affect the handling.

I am not quite sure why it's inadvisable to drive long distances with (at least partly) full black or gray water tanks. Generally, when they're full the fresh water tank is empty and vice-versa, at least for me. The general progression when camping is that fresh water becomes darkened, so to speak, through washing and cooking and eating and associated activities, until it's time to dump the black and gray and refill the fresh.

What Ron's referring to is a lot more than merely adding or shifting water, though; it's more like adding an entire studio apartment. It would be nice if RV builders did a thorough alignment (to suitable specs for the finished vehicle) before shipping the finished motorhome, but that's not a Ford issue by any means; it's well beyond their control at that point. It would also be nice if RV builders all consistently paid attention to installing neat electrical and plumbing and HVAC systems, and to making sure everything was sealed and tightened properly, and generally to having quality workmanship. Some makes do better than others.

When I stated "bare unloaded cut-away chassis", I am referring to this.

Ford cannot anticipate the load or distribution added by the RV manufacture and us the consumer with all we carry. Therefore any "generic" alignment done at the Ford assembly line is done so just to prevent tire damage when driving the "BARE" chassis around.