Steering stabilizer

"If you're not sure what the correct tire pressures are, check the placard on the driver's side door. "

This is very poor advice. The door stickers are one size fits all and cannot take into consideration how and what you have loaded. It also assumes you have the original tires and suspension which many do not. More bad advice that I have often seen on this forum is to just inflate to the max psi shown on the sidewalls. Very few coaches need anywhere near that much pressure and overinflated tires will make your coach handle like a pig on skates.

The one and only way to properly inflate your tires is to load your coach as you would for a trip and then take a trip to the CAT scale. Take the results to the your tire manufacturers load inflation table and use those numbers.

Keep in mind that as your load varies on different trips {and it can vary a lot} you need to adjust your tire pressures accordingly {again use your tire manufacturers load inflation table}. Before every trip I roll into Discount tire and have them check and inflate/deflate to the appropriate psi. They do it for free but I always tip the guy a few bucks and thank him for the service.

:C

bobndot wrote:

It was money well spent.

...You would really appreciate that well spent money in the event of an emergency avoidance maneuver...

You hit on an excellent point of which I have a story to support it.

The first year out with all the upgraded suspension equipment, we were leaving Yosemite National Park out from the north/east where you slalom down that steep grade for many miles. Already in a low gear, in an effort to avoid over-heating the brakes, I would let up on the brakes early in the turn, and roll on the straights, slowing down as I approach the next turn. I misjudged one turn approached way too fast. My braking continued through all of the turn, the cabinet doors flying open, stuff on the floor, G-forces way too much.

Our tow at the time did not have tow brakes. It was a little Toyota MR2 Spyder that was a border-line case for a tow brake requirement. That made matters worse yet.

I truly believe we would have died if not for the suspension upgrades which kept all wheels firmly planted on the road for braking performance as well as maintaining control of the rig while the tow vehicle pushed hard from behind.

It was money well spent.

I agree with that. Most of the time we all think of crosswinds and a more comfortable ride. You would really appreciate that well spent money in the event of an emergency avoidance maneuver to avoid a deer, road debris or accident. Having an rv well tuned with stout parts will likely give you an edge in an event like that. Then it would be 'money very well spent'. :C
:)

Everyone is providing sound advice.

If proper tire pressure, a wheel alignment, and a good working steering stabilizer helps but does not yet make the grade, then consider replacing your stock front and rear stabilizer bars with heavy duty versions. Also a set of heavy duty Bilstein shocks.

Our rig built on a 2007 E350 chassis had some handling issues so I gave it the full treatment when the rig was new, and we continue to benefit from that investment. It was money well spent.

Front end alignment by a qualified shop is a must.

When I bought my rig (used) it was all over the road & I thought it needed front shocks. After a trip to the alignment place it was night & day better in every aspect.

1 Side was out of spec enough that I had them put in an aftermarket caster/camber sleeve that allowed them to put that side well back within specs. Apparently Ford doesn't send them off the line with adjustable parts in that area of the suspension. I was charged $60 for that part & the install.... money well spent.

Like Drew, my stabilizer was blown when I bought mine (at only 30k miles, btw). I replaced it with a Roadmaster Reflex (coilover type) and it helped, but I have no way of knowing how much of that help was due to the old one being shot, vs the return to center spring. Either way, it did help a little with highway manners, but putting in a new OEM may have been the same.

My alignment is just under 5 degrees caster, the best they could do without replacing parts. It handles well, and I probably won't do any further modifications other than shocks soon (I'm sure they are shot too, but not visibly leaking).

Tire pressure definitely makes a difference. Don't use the sidewall pressure, with the ease of finding CAT weight stations, there's really no excuse to not know your axle weights these days. Once you have your axle weights, look up the tire pressure chart for your tires and set the pressures accordingly. It really does make a difference in ride/handling. I personally ended up using 65 psi front, 70 psi rear.

Do you have an E450 chassis or an E350 (or something else)?

I certainly agree with the recommendations of making sure the alignment is correct and the tires are properly inflated. It would also be well to verify that the tie rod ends and ball joints are tight, which I think they ought to be checking when doing the alignment.

I think the E450s all come with a steering damper from Ford: basically a horizontally mounted shock absorber for the tie rod. If it's worn, replacing it with an equivalent or OEM part (not necessarily a full-fledged steering stabilizer with spring centering) can make a noticeable difference. It's an easy part to replace: readily accessible, with just a couple of bolts to hold it in.

On my motorhome, when I bought it from the previous owner, the damper was definitely shot and had leaked some of the oil charge out over the years. When I replaced it, I discovered that the old one would act like a spring for small displacements (due to the air bubble compressing) and like a damper for larger displacements (with the remaining oil circulating as designed). Needless to say, that caused a bit of odd steering feel.

One other suggestion: when driving, keep your focus as far down the road as practical. It's easy to overcorrect when driving a motorhome or other long-wheelbase vehicle if you aren't particularly used to them. Steering corrections take longer to have an effect, and the result--doubly so if you're focusing on the spot right in front of you--is a tendency to overdo them and end up overshooting towards the opposite direction. Making small adjustments and looking far down the road are the solution. (Looking farther down the road is likewise advisable to give yourself plenty of time and room to brake when that's needed.)

Have you checked your tire pressures?
Overinflated tires will cause your class C to wander all over the road.
If you're not sure what the correct tire pressures are, check the placard on the driver's side door.

Dusty R wrote:
I would do a front end alignment first.

x2. *That seems to have made the best difference for my class c. The shop had to add the Ford front end kit to give a +5 positive caster which was needed. *experiment with tire air pressure to fine tune.

The stabilizer was the last of 5 handling mods that were done and it offered the least difference.

My mods:

alignment ( made it track better and helped with the crosswinds)

FST / Bils shock upgrade, rear/front rear track bar (smoothed out the bumps)

Rear track bar - (much like the proper alignment, helped being pushed by crosswinds and big rig bow waves)

H.D. f/r sway bars by Hellwig (helped with side to side motion)

Roadmaster steering stabilizer ( cant really say it did anything that I could feel)

as I'm reading what others have posted, I should clarify that I replaced my OEM steering stabilizer that was not worn with the Roadmaster. That's probably why I did not notice that much of a difference.

I would do a front end alignment first.