Wallowing Beast

[BOBS66440]

My new to me RV runs and drives well, but definitely feels wallowy, overloaded and top-heavy. It's somewhat unnerving to drive, though once on the open road it seems fine. I have never driven one of these before and my buddy (who has) says generally, that's just the way they are. I used to have a CDL and have driven big trucks before but this is very mushy compared. The shocks and springs are good I think. It has a front anti sway bar and the bushings are good but it does not have a rear anti sway bar. I have seen aftermarket rear bars and am wondering if this is an improvement that will make a difference? Thanks!

[CharlesinGA]

pnichols wrote:
You need to:

2. Run your rear tires at the Load E maximum of 80 lbs..

Common mis conception is to run tires at sidewall max inflation pressure. This creates a harsh ride and poor tire wear. There is a magic number for every circumstance based on weight the tires are carrying, and it isn't the max. On my 10,200 lb Max Gross View with 225/75R16 E rated tires, the number is about 62 lbs.

Scroll down to page 21 of the PDF linked to for LT tire inflation ratings for 16 inch wheels, both single and dual. You have to know the load on the axle to read the charts, and this is for Michelin tires, but I suspect that other brands will not vary much from this.

http://www.michelintruck.com/assets/pdf/Truck_Tire_Data_Book_Jan2007.pdf

Charles

[CharlesinGA]

BOBS66440 wrote:
I have an angled one like you posted, thanks

It needs to be straight on the end, with the reverse angle on the side, not the typical end that is angled both ways.

Charles

[BOBS66440]

Thanks for the replies and advice. New tires are definitely in the plans for spring.

[Bordercollie]

You mentioned that your tires had some wear and probably need replacing. If they are over 5 years old and have sidewall cracking they may be ready to blow or come apart underway . A whipping steel belt in the rear can severely damage items like holding tanks, wiring and propane lines. A front tire blowout/failure can cause loss of control. RV tires fail from sitting parked and often fail before they have much tread wear. Web surf and check tire prices, local tire stores will often meet or beat internet prices. Get good quality tires of proper load range and type specified for your rig.

[pnichols]

You need to:

1. Have a rear sway bar installed.

2. Run your rear tires at the Load E maximum of 80 lbs..

3. Counter-act (through use of a soft rear shock affect) the pounding in the rear from roadway cracks and pot-holes that you normally would get from 80 lbs. pressure back there - while at the same time getting a stiff rear shock affect to control sway back there - by having two of these dual-action shocks installed in the rear (to spread out your cash flow you can add them in the front later, if you want):

http://www.konirv.com/FSD.cfm

4. Bias vehicle weight down low to help control sway. Travel as much as possible with as much weight down low by traveling with a full fresh water tank and a full propane tank. Having a built-in generator, which is heavy and mounted down low ... will help reduce sway too. Not loading an overcab bed up with a lot of weight will also help. Grey water and black water tanks having some liquid in them when underway will help bias the weight down low ... but of course you must be able to count on being able to empty these when stopping to camp.

[Horizon170]

j-d wrote:
Charles is right. Posted all the Good Stuff. Gauge and Chuck where one head is Straight. And those Air-Through Caps are a blessing. Look carefully and see if you need Straight or Angled gauge and chuck. Then, you can probably get by with ordinary METAL valves. Not regular or "high pressure" ones involving rubber. With those and air-through caps, you should be able to check and inflate your tires.

IF IF IF you use the long gauge and chuck. I wanted to be able to check and air up with whatever was available, and many air stations are for cars and single wheel trucks only.

So I got Dually Valves by BORG The kit looks something like this for GM Class C


The straight valves for inner tires suggest that a straight gauge and chuck will be best for you.

What YEAR is your Chassis (may be different from the Year Model of your Coach, and Registration might show either)? I'd like to look at the Installation Instructions for the Hellwig rear sway bar to fit your chassis.

I had a set of those installed on my "C" and believe me they are the "Cats Meow". Well worth the money and since you have to break the tire down I will suggest you install balancing beads and remove the lead weights.

[BOBS66440]

Just an update, I installed a Hellwig rear anti-sway bar. The installation went easy enough and in the spring we'll see how it is...

[BOBS66440]

j-d wrote:
Charles is right. Posted all the Good Stuff. Gauge and Chuck where one head is Straight. And those Air-Through Caps are a blessing. Look carefully and see if you need Straight or Angled gauge and chuck. Then, you can probably get by with ordinary METAL valves. Not regular or "high pressure" ones involving rubber. With those and air-through caps, you should be able to check and inflate your tires.

IF IF IF you use the long gauge and chuck. I wanted to be able to check and air up with whatever was available, and many air stations are for cars and single wheel trucks only.

So I got Dually Valves by BORG The kit looks something like this for GM Class C


The straight valves for inner tires suggest that a straight gauge and chuck will be best for you.

What YEAR is your Chassis (may be different from the Year Model of your Coach, and Registration might show either)? I'd like to look at the Installation Instructions for the Hellwig rear sway bar to fit your chassis.

The chassis and coach year are both 1995. The kit is the same part number for 1995-96.

http://www.sdtrucksprings.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=3612

[j-d]

Charles is right. Posted all the Good Stuff. Gauge and Chuck where one head is Straight. And those Air-Through Caps are a blessing. Look carefully and see if you need Straight or Angled gauge and chuck. Then, you can probably get by with ordinary METAL valves. Not regular or "high pressure" ones involving rubber. With those and air-through caps, you should be able to check and inflate your tires.

IF IF IF you use the long gauge and chuck. I wanted to be able to check and air up with whatever was available, and many air stations are for cars and single wheel trucks only.

So I got Dually Valves by BORG The kit looks something like this for GM Class C


The straight valves for inner tires suggest that a straight gauge and chuck will be best for you.

What YEAR is your Chassis (may be different from the Year Model of your Coach, and Registration might show either)? I'd like to look at the Installation Instructions for the Hellwig rear sway bar to fit your chassis.

[BOBS66440]

Racine96 wrote:
How old are the tires?

They are old enough that they will need to be replaced I think.

[BOBS66440]

CharlesinGA wrote:

DrewE wrote:
As with most (all?) duallies, the valve stems on the rear are in between the two wheels. I'm assuming you have daullies; it sure looks like it from the picture, though it's hard to tell with absolute certainty. If the chrome things are wheel simulators (i.e. hub caps), it may be easier to get at them with them removed. The ones I have, and others I've seen, are held on by two of the chrome lug nuts, the remaining ones being fakes. It's not hard to tell which are functioinal by tapping them gently with a wrench or something and listening to the sound.

You do of course need a dual head tire gauge to get at the valve stems of duallies. At least with the Ford wheels, the ones with a straight-on end chuck, rather than an angled one, seem to work better. The angled ones are somewhat more common, though.

Ditch the wheel simulators, will make life much easier.

straight and angled head tire gauge with long stem.



Straight and angled tire servicing chuck for truck tires.



Alligator V2B thru the cap inflation caps. No caps to remove.



Charles

I have an angled one like you posted, thanks

[BOBS66440]

j-d wrote:
We had an older Class C, about the size of yours, on a Ford E350. Rebuilding the front sway bar with new end links and end bushings, made a big difference in the coach's stability. I replaced rubber with polyurethane.

I helped an OP here on RV.net with installing a Hellwig rear sway bar on a Chevy chassis and he noted a big difference. Even more importantly, his WIFE noted a big difference...

EDIT: From the pic, it doesn't look like the rig is riding low in the rear, but it's certainly possible that the rear leaf springs have gone soft. An RV isn't like a box truck. RV is pretty much fully loaded all the time. That's a lot of weight standing on the springs, 24x7, the whole life of the RV.

The Hellwig bar is what I was looking at and will likely install. Thanks

[CharlesinGA]

DrewE wrote:
As with most (all?) duallies, the valve stems on the rear are in between the two wheels. I'm assuming you have daullies; it sure looks like it from the picture, though it's hard to tell with absolute certainty. If the chrome things are wheel simulators (i.e. hub caps), it may be easier to get at them with them removed. The ones I have, and others I've seen, are held on by two of the chrome lug nuts, the remaining ones being fakes. It's not hard to tell which are functioinal by tapping them gently with a wrench or something and listening to the sound.

You do of course need a dual head tire gauge to get at the valve stems of duallies. At least with the Ford wheels, the ones with a straight-on end chuck, rather than an angled one, seem to work better. The angled ones are somewhat more common, though.

Ditch the wheel simulators, will make life much easier.

straight and angled head tire gauge with long stem.



Straight and angled tire servicing chuck for truck tires.



Alligator V2B thru the cap inflation caps. No caps to remove.



Charles

[Racine96]

How old are the tires?

[j-d]

We had an older Class C, about the size of yours, on a Ford E350. Rebuilding the front sway bar with new end links and end bushings, made a big difference in the coach's stability. I replaced rubber with polyurethane.

I helped an OP here on RV.net with installing a Hellwig rear sway bar on a Chevy chassis and he noted a big difference. Even more importantly, his WIFE noted a big difference...

EDIT: From the pic, it doesn't look like the rig is riding low in the rear, but it's certainly possible that the rear leaf springs have gone soft. An RV isn't like a box truck. RV is pretty much fully loaded all the time. That's a lot of weight standing on the springs, 24x7, the whole life of the RV.