Wind push P-32; Sumo Springs or Super Springs?

I think mine is good because of the combination of ALL the things I did instead of any one thing. I finally broke down and bought Michelin tires this time, but I don't know what effect that had on the overall result, if any.

Now I'm working on reducing cabin noise. I had a corner of my roof blow up in strong Iowa winds, but I resealed one side already with the other to be resealed in the spring. I can tell you Eternabond isn't strong enough to hold the roof on in the strong Iowa winds.

Adding to this, I just installed a trac bar on my unit. Still crappy handling.

UPDATE I ended up removing the spare and got a lighter mattress. I had an incident at the junction of I-40 W and I-75 N where the road was rough, and my MH literally bounced. It almost bounced off the road. I decided to lower the tire pressure to 55 all the way around. This has cured all my handling issues. I have added a TPMS with temperature gauge. The tire temperature is in the 90s.

65 psi is the lowest pressure on the tire chart, but as I state earlier in the thread, my weight is way under the 65 psi chart weight.

My hypothesis is that Winnebago made a decision to standardize tires and wheels on the entire Sightseer line and due to liability issues could not specify a pressure lower than the lowest pressure on the chart. I have the smallest Sightseer. If you extrapolate an additional 10 psi load increase downward, I still have a margin of safety. I will need to keep tabs on my weight. I think removing the spare and getting a lighter mattress (I also removed several heavy items) helped put more weight on the front. That also improved the handling. I just wish it hadn't taken me 7 years to figure it out.

One of the other things with my short wheel base is if I haul my 16 foot flat bed trailer I have to make sure the tongue weight is only at 50-100 pounds. If anything more there is a real issue with the tail wagging the dog. I think what happens is the front end has less weight on it because of more weight on the back and it really gets squirrely. When you look at my 28 footer the rear axle almost looks like it is in the middle of the motor home. Kind of a teeter totter effect.

UPDATE: My old tire gauge was off 5 pounds, so I thought I had 65 psi when I actually had 70. MH has always pulled to the right, even with a fresh alignment. I lowered the air pressure a few pounds on the left side. Now I can drive 65-70 with ease. I may lower the rear to 60 and see what that does, but the coach went from almost undrivable in the beginning to driving pretty well. 62 psi on the right and 57 on the left may be the ticket. It rides like there is too much air in the tires. That is supported by the scale result. Even at 60 psi I have a huge margin of error.

gonesouth wrote:
The worst problem was being passed by Honda cars and SUV's

Maybe we Honda drivers just go faster than others? ;-) I think My Odyssey is about as quick as the 383 Magnum Challenger I had when I was 18. Maybe even a hair quicker, and based on how it felt when I once was in a passing situation where I was (unintentionally; it was just so smooth and torquey, to coin a phrase) travelling at a speed I won't state here suspect it is probably faster, as well.

Is the Honda Push Factor limited to cars and SUVs only, or do Odysseys also do that? I'm planning to put air tabs on my MH this year; I wonder if putting air tabs on a passenger vehicle would also make it less "pushy" to other vehicles when passing.

In any case, I totally believe you about Hondas. I haven't really surveyed which cars do it, but there's a road near my house where the speed limit is 50, and a lot of people go faster than that. When sitting in a left turn lane there, I've noticed that some vehicles really rock my Odyssey as they pass, even though they're going the same speed as others. I'm going to have to start watching to see if they're Hondas :-)

gonesouth wrote:
Good to hear you found an answer. My first motorhome was a Tiffin Allegro with a P30 chassis and it always had a lot of blowback from Trucks, though it was better after i replaced the air bags. The worst problem was being passed by Honda cars and SUV's .....I never figured out if their view of the road made them drive closer when passing or if the shape just gave them more unstable air and thus more turbulence and pushback for you. Hondas are the only thing close to a Flxible bus for pushback.

Yes, i have my Nomex on.....I know the Honda owners are going to s--t on me full-time for saying that.

Your not crazy, when we had a TT the little Ford Escort sized cars would raise holy heck with the trailer. I even started watching for them so I could crowd the edge of the road to lessen the effect.

I still get the push; that's just physics. The difference is I can control it. Steering input actually works. I just steer left and all is well.

Good to hear you found an answer. My first motorhome was a Tiffin Allegro with a P30 chassis and it always had a lot of blowback from Trucks, though it was better after i replaced the air bags. The worst problem was being passed by Honda cars and SUV's .....I never figured out if their view of the road made them drive closer when passing or if the shape just gave them more unstable air and thus more turbulence and pushback for you. Hondas are the only thing close to a Flxible bus for pushback.

Yes, i have my Nomex on.....I know the Honda owners are going to s--t on me full-time for saying that.

Just drove it for a day and a half to Daytona area. It is like a different coach. With a load the Sumo Springs are perfect. I do not understand how the Steer Safe makes such a difference, but it does.