Feeling a lot of motion in motorhome, what needs to be checked out?

[comuntierra]

Greetings -

We are full timers living/travelling through South America in a Class C Rockwood motorhome, and have been noticing more and more motion in the motorhome from our walking and moving things inside the house. We are in the process of getting new tires (see http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php?topic=58941.msg541718#msg541718) but I have a feeling that something else is going on here.

I'm pretty sure that our shocks must be totally out... here in South America I will have a limited amount of options on shocks, anyone have brand recomendations on heavy-duty shocks?

What other parts of the chassis / suspension do I need to get checked out? We have had the key points in the front greased up, which helped with a couple sqeaks we had developed but has not really affected general stability.

Any advice is greatly appreciated -

Ryan Luckey
www.comuntierra.org

 

[Wolf Pack Fan]

From my understanding Koni is one of the top shocks for motorhomes.  My personal experience is with Bilsteins and I like them. 

Traveling as you are I'm guessing you've got quite a lot of gear loaded in the motorhome.  You might be close to your GVWR or even over.  Any movement inside the motorhome, walking, etc. would amplify motion if you're overloaded or close to the limit.  Helper springs or air bags would offer some relief.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Shocks are not there to stabilize the body as you walk around, nor do they do much while driving except keep the wheels in contact with the road after hitting ridges or potholes.  The coach body is going to shift as you walk around unless you put stabilizer jacks down (which of course means being parked). It may be that you don't have any stabilizers installed, or maybe you have them but they have not been deployed firmly enough to stop the jiggle.  PPL has several varieites:
http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/rv-jacks-stabilizers-leveling-1.htm
http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/rv-jacks/rv-leveling-jacks.htm

If you are concerned about body lean and roll while driving, what you need is more or stiffer anti-sway (aka anti-roll) bars in the suspension.

 

[Seajay]

I agree with Gary.    Crawl under the coach and see if the ''sway bar'' has come lose.  It is the long bar that goes from the frame to the rear end to keep it from ''walking around'' .... It will move up and down without a problem but it keeps ''everything straight'' under the coach.  Be sure it has not come loose or broken the bolt on either end.  If it has, this will let the rear end dance around and the coach will ''swing and sway'' going down the road. 
Ten cents for this valuable information and half of that dime is Gary's
Why in the heck are you in South America when there is so much to see  up here in the good old USA?  (just a thought)...............cj

 

[comuntierra]

Thanks guys, tomorrow we're getting new tires installed, and we're going to take advantage and make a really complete inspection down below ... going to pay special attention to the springs, the 'sway bar' and the shocks. we haven't ever used stabilizer jacks, will definately consider looking for some the next time i have a visitor coming down from the states.