Ford E350 Cutaway suspension settings.

[Professor Bob]

I am about to set my suspension after having replaced the left front suspension following a frontal collision. I removed and replaced the left I beam, drag link and tie rod, upper and lower ball joints, shock, radius arm and bushings. Even though the radius arm mount sheared from the frame there appears to have been no other damage.
My local alignment shop will not touch a Class C because the RV box is too wide for his lasers to see the rear dually wheel mirrors. I have placed about 1,000 miles on the unit by just setting the tow-in. The RV drives exceptionally strait, except that the 12 o'clock on the steering wheel points at 11:00 o'clock on the dash.

I am beginning to also see some inside tire wear on the tires.
I purchased a caster/camber level and want to check those angles before inducing what I am to understand is the +5 degree Caster needed to off set road walk and wind changes.
Does anyone on these forums have the original factory alignments specks for this 1992 Ford e350 Cutaway Class C chassis with 71,000 miles. I need to check these parameters before I go changing any other adjustments.

Also, i am considering adding adjustable air cushion and would like to know our thoughts. I already have the

Monroe Gas Magnum RV Load Adjusting Shocks Rear Pair for Ford E-350 E-450 on order.​

I expect that I should install these units before I finalize the front steering changes. And also load all my hot air balloon equipment in the rear of the rv to provide proper load numbers as well.

Any help and suggestions are appreciated.


Thanks for your input. Professor Bob


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[PapaGene]

On a class C .. I would put air bags on rear axle instead of air shocks, we did this to my friends and it made a world of difference.

 

[Professor Bob]

On a class C .. I would put air bags on rear axle instead of air shocks, we did this to my friends and it made a world of difference.

Thanks for the input. The shocks are not air adjustable just spring coils. They will replace the original 1992 oem rear shocks.

 

[s.lange]

Professor Bob,
Do try to find the intended specifications for your 1992 chassis as a starting point either by re-asking on several forums or locating a manual to buy, library may have something in their reference section, or visit a shop that has the manuals and will allow you to get an image. Maybe Ford would share the data. This Pre-Owned ref is out on Ebay - if it is one you know would help, be the 1st to bid something and go from there. (For Buy it now @$178 you better really want it!)


The following doesn't help your 1992 search directly but my Ebay purchased Ford Workshop Manual ( vol 1 & 2 set plus a 3rd for the Electrical) for all 2006 E-Series has caster "range" of
L: 4.1* +/- 2.75*
R: 4.5* +/- 2.75*
This "range" of +1.35* to +7.25* is the root cause to the handling challenges most E-350/450 owners have incurred. Most shops adopt too much reliance on this broad Ford specification range and cop-out by indicating "Its within specs" and bill you $300 for maybe a slight toe change as Harvard has noted multiple times. The $300 I mention is the July'22 min quote from a shop that told me in June'22 that their min was $225. That's if they don't add any correcting bushings/sleeves (MOOG, Specialty Products, etc): June'22 the max was $475, July's revised max 'range' is $550-$625.

For that kind of $ outlay, and the wishy-washy responses for my requests to attain the relative "5.0/5.5"-ish degree values, I've given up on local shops. I'm educating myself, asking advice, and buying the (before computers) tools to see what baseline I have, add the Ingall's 59400 that I have waiting, measure results and go from there. It's not rocket science and I don't need a computer controlled laser guided alignment machine with a nonchalant character operating it to tell me "it's within specs" but it handles worse than when it entered their service bay. Goal is to safely drive the 1099 miles to Grants Pass, Oregon and hand the coach over to Henderson's Line-Up to assess it's strengths and weaknesses in all the handling areas.
Speaking of Henderson's Line-Up, they've been very helpful to me over the phone for a few years and are known for dialing in Class A, C & B motor-homes for decades and they've also been pumping in more +caster where warranted. Call them and inquire about your needs, especially since you are dealing with tire wear and these replacement parts following a collision. They may have some pointers that they would consider and you should as well.

Also, if you haven't already, read as many posts Harvard and others are involved with on this +Caster subject. Several respondents have added so much insight to the main line subject.

BTW, I realized recently that there is no engineered, nor calculated, nor published, etc, alignment settings for My Motor-home as produced and travel ready. I'm betting there isn't for yours either. My motor-home isnt a Ford product. All of us have a customized travel conveyance (full or lesser fuel tank, fresh water, propane, cargo boxes, occupants, cargo tray/rack on bumper, towing trailer, etc) and we have to use science and trial and error to find what works best within budgets: $, driver fatigue, and safety constraints.

Good luck and fair traveling to you and yours,
Steve