Steering wobble.

[Nakinto]

I own a Holiday Rambler Alumalite 1986. I have owned it since 2012. Only put about 2,000 miles on it since purchasing. The other day after taking a turn as I accelerated hard steering started to wobble, like death wobble. I let off the gas and the wobble went away, I repeated heavy acceleration and wobble was immediate, I stuck to low-mid acceleration for the rest of my trip. I have inspected all tie rods and ball bearings and can't find anything loose. I did have a lot of extra weight in the vehicle, about 600 lbs batteries plus full water tank (empty gray and black tanks) food, the generator she came with plus a little Honda, and various other things. I am PRAYING I just had to much weight on the rear end (almost all the weight was on or behind the rear wheels.)

Anyway, anything else anyone can think of to check? The last 2 trips were 500 miles round trip and no problems, other then a blown tire. I haven't driven her in 4 or 5 years before this trip, could sitting for such a long period throw the tire balance off?

Thank you guys!

[Nakinto]

The air in the fuel pump was coming from the generator. The line had a hole at the connector to the Gen. After I fixed that I drove almost 200 miles. Then she wouldn't run under load... You guessed right, the fuel filter was clogged. For anyone not familiar, the fuel filter is located in the carb on this one. I spent a while trying to locate an inline filter...

[oldave]

I had a 30ft 86 HR Alumilite, we had many wonderful trips in it. One thing I recall was that it was prone to vapor lock. Vapor lock is when the fuel gets so hot that it boils. The fuel pump and carb doesn't know what to do with vapors. There were some modifications to help with the issue.

#1 was a sheet of aluminum that guided air to move past the pass exhaust manifold.
This was to get rid of the heat near the fuel pump etc.

#2 was to move the fuel line to the outside of the frame rail, away from the exhaust.

#3 was to install a fuel pump at or inside the tank, fuel under pressure is not as
prone to boil or vaporize.

[Nakinto]

oldave wrote:
I see some RVs with extreme overhang at the rear. That could exacerbate any overloading because that's where the extra weight is likely to go.
If you have ever pulled a trailer that was way heavy in the rear then you know how important weight distribution is.
Acceleration shifts the weight even more towards the rear that's why the wobble kicks in.
Depending on the location of the tanks those could play a big part.

BTW, I consider those tires unsafe. Even if they were new, 4 to 5 yrs
puts them near the end and sitting all that time cannot be good.
I would replace them all. Rearrange your weighty items and go somewhere.

Thank you everyone for your impute! Front tires were way out of round according to the shop, rear tires were not as bad but replaced all 7 (spare was blown from another trip) the only problem they said the steering had was 'lots of grease' as I am stupid and don't remove the grease when I do it. Drive home was great until I went to park and the fuel pump air locked... I thought I had fixed that last year (fuel line between the tank and pump had a cut in it) Good to know these things before I leave though! More work to do, again, thank you for the information guys!

Edit: PS, When I went looking for a motorhome I was VERY clear not to have overhang, I go places where that overhang would hit things a lot. 30 foot Alumalite has I think a 3'6" overhang

[oldave]

I see some RVs with extreme overhang at the rear. That could exacerbate any overloading because that's where the extra weight is likely to go.
If you have ever pulled a trailer that was way heavy in the rear then you know how important weight distribution is.
Acceleration shifts the weight even more towards the rear that's why the wobble kicks in.
Depending on the location of the tanks those could play a big part.

BTW, I consider those tires unsafe. Even if they were new, 4 to 5 yrs
puts them near the end and sitting all that time cannot be good.
I would replace them all. Rearrange your weighty items and go somewhere.

[SuperBus]

Nakinto wrote:

SuperBus wrote:
Certainly the other factors you mentioned could be in play, but I would also recommend checking out your steering stabilizer(s) if equipped.

I wish there was a stabilizer! That thing really helps with hitting bumps or potholes with only one wheel!

Got ya. I brought it up as I put a NEW, expensive, well known aftermarket stabilizer on a 1-ton truck once, and it immediately developed death wobble at highway speeds. I put the OEM unit back on and no more death wobble. Lesson learned: a good stabilizer is incredibly effective. Anyway, this is not your issue, so good luck!

[Grit_dog]

Steering shake and accelerating in a straight line in a rwd vehicle are almost mutually exclusive.
Although you seem to know what death wobble is or learned the word. Nothing in the back half of the drivetrain gonna make death wobble.
That said, no one knows your weight or weight distribution. You could have enough weight in the back and bad enough steering components that just a little weight transfer off the front makes it squirrelly.
And for those saying tires, good guess since they’re likely old AF but square tires aren’t only symptomatic under accelerating.

[wa8yxm]

I'm guessing here but on a guess. Ball joints, king pins, or tie rod ends.

All front end suspension parts.. You need an alignment shop (Since replacing any of these items requires an alignment) Also depending on your suspension system radius arms.. (Same shop. same need)

[RLS7201]

Nakinto wrote:

RLS7201 wrote:
Holiday Rambler Alumalite 1986, came as a Travel Trailer, class C & class A.
Assuming you have a class A MH, it would be on a Chevy P32 chassis.
That chassis has a bell crank in the steering linkage that was not the best when new. Have some one shake the steering wheel and see if the bell crank moves up and down. If so, replace it with a Bell Crank from Super Steer.

Richard

Really? I didn't know there was a bell crank, I don't have anyone around right now to do anything, but I checked and there sure is a bell crank. Thank you for the link also. Ill ask a friend if they can come over tomorrow and we will yank a bit on it see if there is anything loose there. I am also going in for a tire inspection tomorrow so hopefully whatever it is is found out!

To test the bell crank properly, you need the tires on the ground and move the steering wheel back and forth. That applies the same pressure as when driving. Yanking on the bell crank by hand will not show the failings you need to see.

Richard

[wolfe10]

Nakinto wrote:
ALL the tires? YIKES! Well, going in for a tire inspection tomorrow anyway so we shall see!

Pretty easy to determine. Jack it up so the tires can be rotated by hand.

Determine RUN-OUT. Even a well balanced "egg-shaped" tire will--- you know.......

[Nakinto]

Bruce Brown wrote:
If it's sat for that long I would lean hard towards it being the tires - they don't like to sit that long without moving.

Once they start wobbling and/or bouncing they normally don't stop until you slow down, as you noted.

ALL the tires? YIKES! Well, going in for a tire inspection tomorrow anyway so we shall see!

[Nakinto]

SuperBus wrote:
Certainly the other factors you mentioned could be in play, but I would also recommend checking out your steering stabilizer(s) if equipped.

I wish there was a stabilizer! That thing really helps with hitting bumps or potholes with only one wheel!

[Nakinto]

RLS7201 wrote:
Holiday Rambler Alumalite 1986, came as a Travel Trailer, class C & class A.
Assuming you have a class A MH, it would be on a Chevy P32 chassis.
That chassis has a bell crank in the steering linkage that was not the best when new. Have some one shake the steering wheel and see if the bell crank moves up and down. If so, replace it with a Bell Crank from Super Steer.

Richard

Really? I didn't know there was a bell crank, I don't have anyone around right now to do anything, but I checked and there sure is a bell crank. Thank you for the link also. Ill ask a friend if they can come over tomorrow and we will yank a bit on it see if there is anything loose there. I am also going in for a tire inspection tomorrow so hopefully whatever it is is found out!

[RLS7201]

Holiday Rambler Alumalite 1986, came as a Travel Trailer, class C & class A.
Assuming you have a class A MH, it would be on a Chevy P32 chassis.
That chassis has a bell crank in the steering linkage that was not the best when new. Have some one shake the steering wheel and see if the bell crank moves up and down. If so, replace it with a Bell Crank from Super Steer.

Richard

[Bruce_Brown]

If it's sat for that long I would lean hard towards it being the tires - they don't like to sit that long without moving.

Once they start wobbling and/or bouncing they normally don't stop until you slow down, as you noted.