I recently purchased the above mentioned unit on an f53 chassis and wonder if anyone has had issues keeping this unit on the road. In non wind conditions and a smooth road this thing is perfect. We encountered a light side wind and it is a constant effort to keep straight. Any road ruts are almost unmanageable to get out of and semis and even cars are causing a push to the roadside. Tires are set to recommended coach psi. Just looking to make the traveling a lot easier. Unit only has 7000 miles, overall length is 38ft. I did make the CHF but have not tested it yet. Overall the steering just feels loose and wants to wander. Any input is appreciated.
2017 fleetwood storm 36f steering / handling issues
- Thread starter Jboy77
- Start date
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Larry N.
Well-known member
Where did you get that recommendation? You seem to have classic symptoms of tires being overinflated. To confirm, weigh the coach as loaded and ready to travel, at least axle by axls, but preferably wheel by wheel. Then you can use the tire manufacturer's chart (generally available online) to determine what the pressure should be, then perhaps add 5 psi or so for variations.
I once had a rig that, from the dealer, was overinflated, and there are a couple of spots on I-25 north of Denver where the bumps nearly threw the coach out of control. With proper inflation those spots weren't a problem. And as a bonus, the skittishness in handling went away, though nothing will completely eliminate crosswind effects. Still proper inflation helps a lot.
SeilerBird
Well-known member
Larry N. said:
) ) ) Larry took the words right out of my mouth and that is unsanitary. 
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
The coach manufacturer's "recommended psi" is sufficient for the coach at its maximum weight. Has to be, since they have no idea how much cargo & passengers you will be carrying. That means the tires may have a relatively high psi if the coach is lightly loaded. If you got scaled weight for each axle or each "corner", you could optimize for the actual load instead of max and sometimes that makes a noticeable difference. It would also show whether the balance of the load (front vs rear) is reasonable or not. You have a large coach for that size chassis, so it's likely you need that tire psi, but best to check it out at the scale. Fleetwood should probably have used the 24,000 lb Ford chassis instead of the 22,000 lb version, but they are always trying to keep the price down and often lowball on things like that.
Generally, though, what you are experiencing is more-or-less normal for that type of chassis. The sides of the RV act like a huge sail and any wind (natural or passing vehicles) has a dramatic effect. Two things happen: (1) the entire chassis gets pushed sideways and (2) the spring suspension leans and shifts, applying sideways pressure to the steering. In effect, this sideways pressure throws the front end alignment off.
Adding a rear track bar usually helps the suspension shifting problem. So will a stiffer anti-roll (aka anti-sway) bar than what Ford supplies from the factory. Supersteer makes a rear track bar (aka panhard rod) for the F53 chassis.
Not much can be done about the sail effect, though there are remote control steering adjustments that can bias the steering to counteract a sidewind. Those work ok if the wind is a constant velocity, but are of little use when its gusty or for passing vehicle because the side-pressure changes moment to moment. Some people add a device called a Safe-T-Plus to help dampen the steering action. I'm not a fan, but others claim it helps quite a bit. It slows the steering response somewhat, so that may make it more comfortable (or more predictable?) for some folks.
Some years ago I wrote an article on Motorhome Handling and it's in the RVForum Library. It's a little bit dated now, but might help you understand what is happening and the products available to assist.Motorhome Handling
Generally, though, what you are experiencing is more-or-less normal for that type of chassis. The sides of the RV act like a huge sail and any wind (natural or passing vehicles) has a dramatic effect. Two things happen: (1) the entire chassis gets pushed sideways and (2) the spring suspension leans and shifts, applying sideways pressure to the steering. In effect, this sideways pressure throws the front end alignment off.
Adding a rear track bar usually helps the suspension shifting problem. So will a stiffer anti-roll (aka anti-sway) bar than what Ford supplies from the factory. Supersteer makes a rear track bar (aka panhard rod) for the F53 chassis.
Not much can be done about the sail effect, though there are remote control steering adjustments that can bias the steering to counteract a sidewind. Those work ok if the wind is a constant velocity, but are of little use when its gusty or for passing vehicle because the side-pressure changes moment to moment. Some people add a device called a Safe-T-Plus to help dampen the steering action. I'm not a fan, but others claim it helps quite a bit. It slows the steering response somewhat, so that may make it more comfortable (or more predictable?) for some folks.
Some years ago I wrote an article on Motorhome Handling and it's in the RVForum Library. It's a little bit dated now, but might help you understand what is happening and the products available to assist.Motorhome Handling
Larry N.
Well-known member
Wash out my mouth with alcohol...SeilerBird said:
: ;D
P
Peteyboy
Guest
Just out of curiosity I looked up a picture of your coach as I have an Itasca 37f that is about the same length, with basically the same chassis, and was puzzled because our coach drives great under about any conditions. What I noticed in the picture of your coach is that the rear overhang seems a lot longer than that on our coach. You may want to do some measuring of wheelbases and overhangs of the same length gas coaches. My initial thought is the wheelbase and overhang are not conducive to a good handling coach and you may have to really get innovative to make it better. JMHO. As an aside,,, I have done NOTHING to the suspension or chassis on the coach and don't really do much with the tires other than to make sure they all have 90 psi in them.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
The wheelbase most definitely affects the amount of rear overhang and that is a major factor in overall handling.
Old_Crow
Well-known member
My coach has about 14' of rear overhang. I did the CHF on the rear axle only and it made a big difference when a big truck passes on the left.
I'll be doing the front, also, but I have to order longer sway bar links to do it on my coach.
I'll be doing the front, also, but I have to order longer sway bar links to do it on my coach.
Just curious. Have you done the CHF in the front (with the Hellwig adjustable links) yet?Old_Crow said:
If not, it would be way cheaper (and better IMO) if you just remove your old links, take them to a welding shop and have them cut and weld them to exactly 12 1/2" long and reinstall them to keep the original angle on the sway bar. Actually a little longer might even be better.
I have seen many people comment that they have done the front CHF using the stock links. IMHO, that's a bad idea. The angle of the links to the sway bar is reduced so drastically that when the chassis lifts (axle drops) the links are pushing back against the front axle and can cause damage. I actually don't see how using the original links would improve the operation of the sway bar at all.
Old_Crow
Well-known member
Wavery said:
I still haven't gotten around to doing the front. Just doing the rear made my driveablity problems almost disappear.
My plan is to have the stock links lengthened and reinforced.
I took one look at the front(which at the time I did the rears was almost completely off the ground to level the coach in our campsite)and knew I couldn't use the stock length links.
Old_Crow said:
I wasn't interested in doing the rear. My sway bar bushings were completely gone and one of the bushing brackets was broken as it is.
I went ahead and installed the Roadmaster 1 3/4" auxiliary sway bar and renewed the stock sway bar bushings. Hopefully, that will take some stress off of the factory sway bar and reduce the chance of losing those bushings again.
Attachments
Old_Crow
Well-known member
I don't think you'll have any further problem with the bushings, since you used the poly replacements.
My coach only had 34k miles on it when I got it, and my bushings were still in good shape. It's been around a year since I did the CHF on the rear, so I'll probably get under there and look at them when I get back to removing the front links.
My coach only had 34k miles on it when I got it, and my bushings were still in good shape. It's been around a year since I did the CHF on the rear, so I'll probably get under there and look at them when I get back to removing the front links.
