Finding our what your "wheel cut" is?

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4ducksrus

4ducksrus

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I'm sure there are enough of you out there that can already give me this answer so I don't have to call my salesman!  We have a 40' mh, what is my "wheel cut?"  The wonderful link that Dar sent out showed how to drive your mh and in turn it said to call you salesman to get your wheel cut measurement.  It should be either 45' or 50'.  What's mine?  Hopefully, someone out there can tell me.  If any of you newby's need driving instructions...the Lazydays clips that Dar sent out in a previous thread were great!!! 
 
Wheel cut is how sharply the front wheels can turn, measured in degrees.  Crank the wheel all the way over, then use a protractor to see how far the wheel on the inside of the turn has changed from the straight ahead position.

I have a gas engine Ford F-53 chassis, and it has a shallow wheel cut - something like 35 degrees.  Combine this with my long wheelbase and it's "Give me 40 acres and I'll turn this rig around".  :)
 
The link that Dar provided had a great training video on learning to drive your rig.  It said that there are two (2) wheel cuts, one is 45' and for this one, you would use your front bumper as your gauge to make your turns and the other one is 50' and with this one you use your seat (hip) placement.  Using these two guidelines, you place whichever you have on the last spot where you want to initiate your turn and start there.  So from the front bumper to your hip it could be several feet which would change the sharpness of the turn.  I'm hoping someone with a Winnebago or Itasca 40' will tell me what their wheel cut is.  Thanks...
 
The wheel cut will depend on the chassis, and the year it was made.  Freightliner has made motorhome chassis with cuts from 45? to 55?.  I believe some other chassis were as low as 40? cut.
 
And even if you knew the wheel cut, other factors will affect your points of reference such as the distance from the front wheel to the front bumper and the wheelbase.

With experience, you will get familiar with the vehicle and it will be second nature.
 
WOW, what a great question! The diesel chassis seem to have way more angle than their gas counterparts.

If I can ask another related question -- Are the late model F53s also only ~35 degrees? Assuming same for the Workhorse W20D (essentially a "gas" chassis just with a Maxxforce diesel engine)?
 
I'll save you a call. The 2011 Meridian is built on a Freightliner XCL chassis with a 55 degree wheel cut. Here are the complete chassis specs for the 2011 Meridian

http://freightlinerchassis.com/images/pdf/Itasca/Meridian%202011%20July%2010.pdf
 
go6car said:
If I can ask another related question -- Are the late model F53s also only ~35 degrees? Assuming same for the Workhorse W20D (essentially a "gas" chassis just with a Maxxforce diesel engine)?
Click to expand...

The Workhorse W22 has a 45 degree wheel cut.  I have been impressed with the sharp turning radius of my coach.  Maneuvering in tight spaces is much easier than I expected.
 
If I can ask another related question -- Are the late model F53s also only ~35 degrees? Assuming same for the Workhorse W20D (essentially a "gas" chassis just with a Maxxforce diesel engine)?
Click to expand...

All I could find were 2008 specs.  Then, the F53 chassis came with a 50 degree wheel cut with 19.5 inch wheels, 45 degrees with 22.5 inch wheels.

My motorhome is on a 1995 chassis, with a front axle that's about 6" narrower than later models.  It's one of the first 102" wide motorhomes, and it took the chassis makers a couple of years to revise the axle widths to match the wider bodies.  On mine, the wheels are set inward about 3" from the body edge, meaning there's less room for them to turn before they hit the chassis rails.  Later chassis use wider axles to match the wider bodies, allowing the front wheels to turn more sharply before hitting things.

http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=27310
 
The Workhorse W22 has a 45 degree wheel cut.
Click to expand...

According to the Workhorse Chassis Manual (I have the 2006 edition), all W20/W22 chassis made after August 28, 2002 had a 47 degree wheel cut. Starting Jan 6,  2004, that was increased to 50 degrees. Before that, it was 45 degrees, except fr the 8500 lb front axle, which was 47 degrees from the git-go.
 
Thanks everyone - learning something new every day on here! :)
 
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