wind

Some could be setup, some could be alignment.
Much is expectation or lack of understanding.
And FWIW, I’ve seen more than one Ford E350 chassis cab that came from the factory looking like a pigeon toed, knock kneed victim of palsey.
Idk why. But they do. Buddy has a couple newer E350 short wheelbase box vans for his business. They look like a blind monkey with a rock and hammer could have aligned them better.
He only uses them for local travel and they drive like .... he don’t fix em because he hates Fords and enjoys Showing off how bad they are, lol. And he got them with the business so no choice in the matter. I’m talking rotate the tires outside in on the rims every 10k miles because they eat front tires so bad.

So it’s entirely possible the OPs RV is off from the factory. But lack of understanding doesn’t help fix it.

DesertCaptain wrote:
If you were buying a nice SUV {BMW, MB, Range Rover} spending well over $100,000 would you accept the salesman explanation that it would need a full alignment and several thousand dollars of additional after market add ons to make it ride and handle decently??? [emoticon]
I didn't think so, so why do buyers of a motorhomes do this all of the time? [emoticon]

The rv is a specialty vehicle. We want it. We have to have it no matter what ! We are adult children ! The rv industry knows it and we keep buying them , period !

When buying a car, we deal with the dealership who deals directly to the car mfg. Things are easier to get done.
When buying an rv, we deal with the dealership, the rv mfg AND third parties ! * Third parties are the problem step.

Getting an alignment means the dealer usually must set it up at another shop and pay the bill. From my experience , I do not think the rv mfg will go along with paying the dealership. That leaves having to do this extra nonsense ourselves or have a very good dealer to back us.
As for all the other stuff like sway bars, shocks, rear track bars....they are all specific handling upgrades that we as individuals feel we need. They are not considered mandatory to operate the rv. Nobody but the individual will pay for those.

billy1davis,

I did not read through the other replies, but here are my thoughts.

You mentioned that your rig has heavy duty front and rear stabilizer bars. Our rig has them as well. But I learned that having them does not necessarily mean they are doing their job. Stabilizer bars (heavy duty or standard) require tightening every 20,000 to 30,000 miles. Play from wear develops within the links and so they require tightening to once again respond properly.

The life expectancy of shock absorbers is another surprise for many RV owners. People are reporting that their shocks are lasting between 25,000 and 35,000 miles. That is also my own experience. CLICK HERE to read about it. I included many pictures for clarity.

So make sure what you have is working properly.

One more point. A heavy duty steering stabilizer helps to limit excessive steering compensation.

Harvard wrote:

pnichols wrote:
So does my Ford E450 based Class C handle very well - and it did right from the dealer when brand new with no modifications.

However, our Class C is only a 24 footer. I'm thinking that it's the longer Class C motorhomes that may experience poor handling without modifications.

So if my caster theory holds water your 24 footer sitting on 4 wheels would be in the range of nose level to nose up?

My 2005 24V Itasca Class C sits about level - or ever so slightly higher in the rear (maybe 1/2" to 1" higher by eyeball ... never measured it).

My previous maintenance shop did recommend some type of "tapered shim" on each side in the front suspension system several years ago, and I went ahead and let the shop install them. The MH handled fine before the shims and no different with the shims. Those "shims" just might be what you have recommend for quite some time to correct caster(?), and if so I guess that I have had that adjustment in my E450's front suspension for several years now.

I feel that my 24 foot Class C's excellent handling is basically due to having a chassis under the coach that is overkill for the weight of the coach ... IAW, "a somewhat lightly loaded E450".

I learned my lesson about high winds the hard way. The weather predicted severe wind in the Sacramento area. I owned a 22 foot motorhome, and I thought I could handle anything. Well, a gust hit me so hard that it felt like the rig was going on it's side. It actually broke a weld on the chassis. I sought refuge beside the outside of a Walmart, and there we're already 3 other rigs there too. Never again.

Harvard's "Theory" {see the post above} makes a great deal of sense. The nonsense that every Ford C handles badly and needs thousands of after market garbage is beyond absurd. The problems, both real and imagined commence when buyers do not do a thorough test drive, thorough as in at least hour on varying road conditions to include a busy interstate.

If you were buying a nice SUV {BMW, MB, Range Rover} spending well over $100,000 would you accept the salesman explanation that it would need a full alignment and several thousand dollars of additional after market add ons to make it ride and handle decently??? :S
I didn't think so, so why do buyers of a motorhomes do this all of the time? :h

If any C does not ride and handle well right off of the showroom floor it will not get one bit better on its own but... more often than not all it needs is proper tire pressures based upon the load they carry {remember that number changes often} and perhaps a proper alignment or at least some increase in camber.

Nexus has {had?} and alignment station at their factory and it was the very last stop in the production line. Unless the original owners of our 2012 E-350 Phantom had it realigned in the 18 months and 6K miles they owned it, and I sincerely doubt it, Nexus got it right. For nearly 7 years {and 61,000 miles I have maintained my tire pressures religiously adjusting for almost every trip to reflect what load I was running. My tires have all worn evenly and the ride and handling have been beyond excellent.

At 33K miles I replaced the original shocks with a set of Heavy Duty Bilstein's and have added nothing else and not surprisingly they made for a HUGE improvement. When I started hauling motorcycles in various trailers ending up with my current 6 X 10' {8+' tall} cargo I added Airlift 5K# airbags to the coach to deal with the increased tongue weight. Adding 50psi keeps the trailer and coach dead level at the recommended 16" ball height. They recommend keeping 15 - 20 psi in the bags even when not towing and I found much to my amazement that the excellent handling and ride I had enjoyed for 5 years actually got noticeably better when running light {not towing}.

Currently we are sitting in the Yellowstone Grizzily RV Park in West Yellowstone. Yesterday we left the bike and trailer as it was in the mid 30's and drove the coach 180 miles exploring the park for 6.5 hours and the experience was awesome. No problem parking anywhere and as always the ride and handling was excellent. Hopefully it will warm up enough this morning to ride the bike but if not the coach will be just fine.

As always... Opinions and YMMV.

:C

pnichols wrote:
So does my Ford E450 based Class C handle very well - and it did right from the dealer when brand new with no modifications.

However, our Class C is only a 24 footer. I'm thinking that it's the longer Class C motorhomes that may experience poor handling without modifications.

So if my caster theory holds water your 24 footer sitting on 4 wheels would be in the range of nose level to nose up?

So does my Ford E450 based Class C handle very well - and it did right from the dealer when brand new with no modifications.

However, our Class C is only a 24 footer. I'm thinking that it's the longer Class C motorhomes that may experience poor handling without modifications.

IAMICHABOD wrote:

klutchdust wrote:
.........."My RV is on a Chevy Chassis which handles much better than the ones on Ford chassis "

Fact or opinion. I understand the leg room difference based on the engine placement and doghouse area but to say one handles better than the other one I need some stats. . What is your statement based on.

The only stats I can give you is this.

I test drove about a dozen or more of the same types,Tioga 26Q, all on Ford Chassis none handled very well,They wandered around and there had to be a lot of input to keep them in a lane,I thought that is just the nature of the beast so I went with it,I did see on the Forum the same complaints and the expensive fixes.

I then had a chance to test drive the same RV on a Chevy Chassis,it was a world of difference,I was sold on the comfort,the handling and over all feel of it.

I bought a 2006 Chevy based Tioga Class C 26Q,and I am very happy with it. There are quite a few other members here that like their Chevy based RV,may be ask some of them.

Thank you, it was a good post. I like to know the issues and possible remedies. My Ford handles quite well but then again I haven't driven a GM chassis either.

klutchdust wrote:
.........."My RV is on a Chevy Chassis which handles much better than the ones on Ford chassis "

Fact or opinion. I understand the leg room difference based on the engine placement and doghouse area but to say one handles better than the other one I need some stats. . What is your statement based on.

I have a theory. some E350/E450 have handling issues, some do not, the following may explain the difference:

Ford ships all E350/E450 cut aways with identical fixed, non adjustable caster/camber sleeves, "one size fits all". You can recognize these sleeves because they are keyed and cannot be rotated. They are marked "F8UA-AA 0+.25" on the passenger side and "E97A-CA +0-0" on the drivers side.

The RV builder almost never changes the Ford sleeves, as a result:

If the final RV build is nose down one degree then the runtime caster will be about +3.5 degrees. These units can have a real wandering problem.

If the final RV build is nose level then the runtime caster will be about +4.5 degrees. These units are probably indifferent.

If the final RV build is nose up one degree then the runtime caster will be about +5.5 degrees. These units are probably just fine.

So, some Fords have a problem with wandering at highway speeds and some do not have a problem. I once made the mistake of saying all Ford E Series have the problem and I was quickly shot down.