Looking for Nexus Class Viper & Phantom Owners

[dlbapm]

Are there any owners of Nexus Viper or Phantom coaches that frequent this forum. I own a 2014 Nexus Phantom 28P with which I am not very happy. Would like to hear other owners experiences with these Nexus coaches.

Doug

[j-d]

Doug,

What are your Front and Rear Axle Weights? Truck Scale, Loaded for Camping/Travel

What are your Front and Rear Tire pressures?

What are your Front End Alignment Numbers? CASTER, Camber, Toe-In

What are your Front and Rear Sway Bar Diameters? The aftermarket bars I'm familiar with from Hellwig and Roadmaster are 1-3/8 Front and 1-1/2 Rear

[b17drvr]

I'm very happy with my Ghost 34DS.

[dlbapm]

On the 28P another place to get additional storage space is under the jack-knife sofa. On our sofa the "front panel" just hangs on the front of the sofa frame with two large "hooks." If you "jack-knife" the sofa a little you can lift the front panel off - no tools required. We keep about 4 large Rubbermaid tubs under the sofa for storing various things. Also keep our computer printer under there. Decided last night that I would replace the "hooks" on the front panel with hinges and reinstall it. Also will need a bracket of some type to hold it in the raised position. It will make the interior of the coach look a little better.

Doug

[dlbapm]

Thanks to all for the info.

We have the twin-be version Nexus 28P which has some issues that do not apply to the island-bed version. We like it a lot except for two things which are common to the island bed version:
> Poor weight distribution - left side heavy and front end light.
> Long rear overhang (10 feet 6 inches) - excessive dragging.

We took delivery of the coach in November 2013. After a 2700 mile trip from Elkhart I got it home and immediately replaced the Ford OEM shocks with Konis, installed a heavy duty steering stabilizer and a track bar. Did not replace the sway bars as the Ford bars are almost as heavy as the after market (RoadMaster-IPD) bars.

The light frontend causes the coach to not track well. When being passed by large trucks the front of the coach gets pushed to the right. (It is hard to teach yourself to steer into the truck.) With the storage facilities of the 28P, you cannot correct the poor weight distribution by relocating loads. Our two large rear compartments are almost empty. When "loaded for the road" the frontend weight of our 28P is between 800 & 1100 pounds less than Ford's recommended value. With an "empty" coach the frontend is light by about 500 pounds. With either a "loaded" coach or an "empty" coach, the left side is about 500 pounds heavier than the right side.

As the first step to addressing the long overhang, I installed a set of Timbren "helper" springs which are always in contact with the axle. This leveled the coach and gained almost 1-inch of rear ground clearance. I then had the hitch receiver completely rebuilt which raised it about 2 inches. Also had "good" skid pads implemented and I had the spare tire carrier moved forward; just behind the gas tank. These actions reduced the rear end dragging a bit.

We always flat-tow a Jeep Cherokee. The extension of the tow bar behind the hitch receiver increases the drag potential a lot. We live in an area where I cannot leave the neighborhood with the tow bar installed on the coach without serious dragging.

I had considered adding spacer blocks between the axle and the frame ("frame lifting"). However, it is my understanding that Ford does not like this idea. I know of a couple of Viper owners with similar long overhangs that have added leaves to the Ford spring pack with various degrees of success.

My first priority is to address the "light front end" issue. I will not let my wife drive the coach until I can improve the way it handles. If need be I can learn to live with the long overhang problems.

I must admit that I am spoiled. Our previous coach was a 2005 Lazy Daze Mid-bath; 27 feet long, 176 inch wheelbase, and a 9 foot 5 inch rear overhang. It had neither weight distribution or rear end drag issues. I had added steering stabilizer, Koni shocks, track bar and IPD sway bars. The coach had excellent road manners.

Doug

[bzboy]

We have a 2014 28p. 15k miles on it already. Very happy with it.

[slowtrot]

We are on our second Nexus. First was a 23P and we put 37,000 miles on it. Only real problem was refrig. mother board died. I put the 5 star tuning on it to help the quick shifts. I put extra leaf springs on it to level the loaded coach along with air bags on the rear and we drove it all over Alaska. We spent 5 solid months in that rig and were pleased with the overall quality and performance.

We recently traded the 23p in and now have a 28P. I put 1 1/2 inch spacer blocks on rear axle to lift it a little and now have very little drag. Does not seem to need the 5 star tuning or heavier springs.

We really like the 28P. Plenty of room and an easy bed to get in and out. I have had not one thing wrong with the 28p. We had the couch replaced with two recliners and I moved the TV to the other side and added some custom drawers in the galley. I put a cherry 4 inch wall around the overhead bunk and we use that for storage with plastic bins. I built more shelves in the over main bed storage and put a cherry step and box for my wife to use to get into the bed without jumping

If the handling does not please you there are some things to do with sway bars and the like that can make it more stable. MIne seems to behave ok but none of these is going to handle like my now gone Z3

[Desert_Captain]

I'm guessing you are the same Doug (Baker?), that is on the Nexus owners group e mail. If so I just sent an e mail extolling the virtues of our 2012 Phantom 23P which we absolutely love. Feel free to PM through this Forum or ask specific questions and I will be happy to address them.

Steve