Have some wandering while driving my Itasca Spirit

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OldGuyOnTheRun

OldGuyOnTheRun

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While driving the RV does not seem to track well . It wanders around the lane...not severely exaggerated but enough to be bothersome. It appears that the shocks may be the originals. Tires are fairly new, 2017 purchased by previous owner, lots of tread left. This is a new-to me 2000 model Winnie Itasca Spirit, Ford E350 - V10 chassis.

I am thinking of first installing new shocks and getting a complete lube job on the front end. Then see if that makes a difference. What has been your experience with wandering steering?


Also, Does anyone have a recommendation for good shocks for this RV?

Thanks,
 
First thing that comes to my mind is getting a front end alignment.

Shocks will certainly help dampen the front end, and can play into a wandering effect especially at highway speeds.  A lube job is important and should be done with every oil change.

Whoever lubes and checks alignment can recommend shocks they stock.  I certainly wouldn't make a shop chase after a specific brand, and most places wont install items you hand carry in too them.  (They like marking up the prices)

 
The Ford chassis have a known problem of wandering ie: rut tracking. I had a new 1999 Winnebago Brave and had this problem right from the start. Took to Ford dealer and was told that this was a known problem. Suggested installing a track bar in the front. I installed a Davis Tru-Track and it fixed my problem. Check the Ford RV chassis site and you will find this information.
 
Sc4668 probably has it. But there is one other thing that can be checked.


Not sure what type of steering box is on that unit, but if it is the older style recirculating ball, they tend to have a lot of free play at Center. As they age, that free play increases, which allows them to wander more. These boxes can be adjusted to some extent to reduce the free play at Center, and this can be done by the same people who do the front end alignment.
 
Take a look at the rear stabilizer.  If the bushings are old replace them with the blue poly type.  Did this on our old 1999 Ford F53 chassis Aerbus and it made a huge difference in handling.  Also check the library for information on handling.  Many things can cause handling issues.  Good luck. 

 
 
Start with a front end alignment and correct (optimal) tire pressure for the actual load.  A competent alignment shop should identify any worn suspension & steering parts that need replacement.  Shocks are probably due for replacement because of age, but they have nothing to do with steering/wandering. Their purpose is to dampen suspension movement and keep the tires in contact with the road when the surface is bumpy.

If wandering persists, consider adding a track bar (panhard rod). It is generally helpful on any leaf spring suspension that carries a heavy load. Here are a couple example for the E350 van chassis:

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Ox-TT2402-TigerTrak-Class-C/dp/B002NOGIBG
https://supersteerparts.com/product/trucks-vans-suv/ford/e-350/ford-e350-trac-bars-supersteer/

For more on gas chassis motorhome handling problems and solutions, please see my Motorhome Handling article in the RVForum Library at http://www.rvforum.net/miscfiles/MH_Steering_Handling_%20Primer.pdf
 
Hi Techies, Experts, and Wizards:

Thanks for all your ideas and help.

1) I have checked the tire pressure - first thing. All good, definitely not overinflated.
2) Some these remedies mentioned are expensive and certainly altogether they would be a big chunk to swallow all at once. Including...
      a) Front end alignment + parts needing replacement + check & adjust center play in steering box + lube job
      b) Shocks
      c) Rear Track Bar
      d) Bushings on rear stabilizer
      e) track bar in the front, like Davis Tru Track
      f) bushings on front sway bar
These all seem like reasonable and correct things to consider & do. Question is how to prioritize these given the expense and my limited mechanical capacity. Re my mechanical ability, for example I did install my CRV toad Roadmaster baseplate + all wiring in RV and CRV. But these suspension parts I think are a bit heavy for me. Well, maybe the sway bar bushings I might try.

Please see attached pics of 1) front end damper(?) or track bar, and 2) space in the front sway bar bushing fitting- passenger side. Re the front end track bar picture...is this an OEM item or an after market addition? I know you can't tell if it functions by looking at the picture, but how does it look to you?

Any thoughts are much appreciated.





 

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Looks like the steering stabilizer is leaking, that would be a first repair. Air pressure should be set according to load Not what it says on the placard, big difference if you're not loaded to capacity. I'd weight it and set the pressures accordingly. 
 
Yes, this sort of thing is irritating. I have a 2016 Chevy 3500 dually. I love the truck, but it wanders around the road worse than any vehicle I have owned. Hit a weird bump in the road and the steering wheel goes crazy with a little ?jiggle? that continues for a few seconds, not dangerous, but unnerving. In my younger years I did alignments, balancing, etc so I?m not totally dumb about such things. I have had several Ford diesel trucks, and the steering on them was always rock solid. I wish I could figure out the ?loosey goose? feel too. Doesn?t make for a fun drive.
 
OldGuyOnTheRun said:
Hi Techies, Experts, and Wizards:

Thanks for all your ideas and help.

1) I have checked the tire pressure - first thing. All good, definitely not overinflated.
Click to expand...
Did you check your tires with mfg weight charts after weighing your rig?
 
Alignment and tire pressure (optimized to scaled the weight) are steps intended to save money overall, making sure you have eliminated simple problems (camber, toe, caster) and perhaps identifying worn/damaged components.  Smarter than just throwing expensive parts underneath.

Track bars, front or rear, or not difficult to install or really heavy, but you do have to crawl underneath and have a good sized socket wrench.

A chassis lube and new shocks are a really good idea on an older chassis with an unknown maintenance status, but again I'll say there is almost no chance they are related to the wandering problem.  You can do a chassis lube yourself with a hand grease gun, but that means more crawling around.

The first photo looks like an anti-sway bar on top and a damper at the bottom. Probably both OEM. The damper serves to stiffen the steering a bit and reduce the "bump" feedback to the steering wheel. It may have some very small relationship to the wandering, but that's not its real purpose.

Some of it may be your expectations: a big vehicle is not going to handle as smoothly as your car or even a pick-up truck.  It has a lot of inertia, the heavy weight makes it track to invisible ruts in the road surface or the crown of the road, and the big slab sides are affected by even slight winds
 
OK, OK dang it. I'll figure out where my local scale is, figure out how to get weight of each corner (never done it before), and get the mfg recommended pressure for the scaled weight. ...reset the tire pressure and test drive. Personally I don't think there will be much difference with this issue doing just that. But I do know it is the right thing to do and is just one more thing to do to make the rig safer and properly set up for the road. I have just been avoiding it because I haven't done it before and I am basically lazy.

There. Now you know. Are you happy now?  :)

After properly setting TP, I think I'll get an alignment & lube job as a first step.

Thanks again.
 
You can do a reasonable weigh job with the axle weight alone.  Just make some allowance for side-to-side imbalance.  Tire pressure doesn't need a lot of precision, just in the proper range.  Factory psi recommendations are usually for a worst case weight scenario, so sometimes can be high.
 
Thanks Gary. I'm glad you put in your note about accuracy and ability to use axle weight rather than each corner weight.

I did just get the beast weighed. But the attendants said corner weight would not be accurate from their scale. So, I got the axle weights anyway.

So front is 3160lbs actual total with the GAWR stated at 4400lbs. Got some leeway there. Rear is 7260 act total with GAWR at 7810...less leeway.


Tires front are Firestone TransForce HT  - LT225/7516  load range E, max load single 2680lbs @ 80psi.  date code 2515 so three yrs old.

Tires rear are Pantera Supertrac HT - LT225/75R16 load range E, same max load 2680lbs @ 80psi, date code 2617 so two yrs old.

So now I have some information but not all the info needed. I simply cannot find the manufacturer's tire pressure chart for various loads. Called Firestone & could not get through to anyone with tire knowledge. Did my best Googling. Couldn't find the charts.

The door jam "Incomplete Vehicle" statement states 65psi in front and 60psi in rear.

I think tomorrow I'll go to a Firestone store and call Pantera.

Thanks everyone. Learning a lot.
 
There is no chart of tire pressures for varying loads from Firestone, according to the local store. And, from them, you are not supposed to use different pressures for different loads. He asked me questions about which chassis my RV was on and gave me the pressures for front 55lbs and rear 80lbs. My RV door jam label says 65 front/60 rear. And that is what the local tire shop that installed my extended valve stems set them at.

Pantera tires needed me to email them the question and it will be referred to the appropriate techie.

I am starting to think that just knowing the proper tire pressure to set each corner will not be easy.

From the responses I've gotten on the forum so far, most of you seem to be confident that you actually know the proper pressure for each corner. I'm not calling anything into question. It's just that, so far, I am not finding an answer from the tire folks. How did you become confident you have the right pressure for your tires?

Thanks,
 
Try this: https://commercial.firestone.com/content/dam/bcs-sites/firestone/TBR/load-inflation-tables/mar2015/FS_TBR_load-inflation-tables_web_2014.pdf
 
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