Georgie Boy

[kathichat]

We are new to rving having just bought a Class A Georgie Boy Cruisemaster last August.  Its a 1997 , 34 ft. 2 aircond, 2 furn, onan, low miles , gas, etc.  We notice a soft place in the floor and was told the previous owners had a tire blow out.  The dealer repaired the floor completely, and the inside is really nice.  But, we have had a lot of trouble with the ride.  The seat on the passenger side vibrates so hard, I cannot sit in it.  The rest of the rv vibrates too.  We have air bags and they are both at 70 pound.  I have noticed the tires are 15's instead of the usual 19.5 on other rvs.  We got an extended warranty, but the folks that sold it to us are not very helpful at all.  We were told by another dealer, its the way the Georgie Boy rides and they do not carry that brand for just such reason.  He showed us a Southwind.  Most of the new models do not have air bags.  At risk of sounding stupid, could anyone tell us is it just the nature of the beast?  We gave $45,000 for this 1997.  And we are definitely not happy.
Kathy & Bob

 

[Tom]

Kathy & Bob,

It doesn't sound like someone is giving you the straight story. I've never owned a Georgie Boy, but I would not expect it to vibrate the way you describe. As for the air bags, a lot of new coaches have ait bags and it's a function of the chassis design. Our Monaco, for example, has 8 air bags and rides quite smoothly.

I'll let one or more of our technical wizzes jump in with some words of wisdom.

Meanwhile, have you contacted the insurance company who underwrites the warranty? Most extended warranty programs are essentially an insurance policy.

 

[Ron]

Kathy & Bob,

Have you had the tires balanced?  Unbalanced tires can make things vibrate.  Tom has mentioned contacting the warranty folks.  How long have you had the coach?  Has it done this since you bought it?

Hopefully it is something simple like tire balance. 

As for the other dealer it sounds to me like he is getting ready to try to sell you a Southwind. ;D

 

[Tom]

Have you had the tires balanced?

Another "why didn't I think of that" moment Ron  :-[  Could be a simple fix for their problem. Let's hope so.

 

[Ron]

Another "why didn't I think of that" moment Ron? :-[? Could be a simple fix for their problem. Let's hope so.

Tire balance was freash in my mind since I just had the tires balanced on the GC. ;D ;D

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Your 1997 Georgie Boy is built on a Chevrolet P32 chassis, which uses air bags as part of its independent front suspension. 70 psi might be a bit firm for the air bag pressure, but the acceptable range is anywhere from 50-90 psi.  Actual pressure will depend on front axle load and the desired ride quality - more pressure equals a firmer ride.  Workhorse Corporation, which took over production of this chassis from Chevrolet in 1998, recommends an initial setting of 50-60 psi for the 4880 lb front axle and 80-90 psi for the 5500 & 6000 lb axles. 

But extra pressure in the air bag does not cause vibration (but an under-inflated bag or unequal pressure in the two bags might do so). A severe vibration is most likely either incorrect tire balance or incorrect front end alignment and getting those into proper spec is the very first step you should take.  A tire that is delaminating (tread separation) can also cause this severe vibration at highway speeds. The tire plies may appear just fine at rest or at very low speeds, but begin to separate and squirm around as speed increases. Tread separation may be detectable when the tire is dynamically balanced (sprun at high RPMs on a machine).  If none of these things fix the problem, have the entire front suspension examined by an expert - something is probably bent.

The wheels on a 1997 P32 chassis are indeed small by today's standard, but were common at the time it was built. I thought all the P32's had 16 inch wheels up until the time the 19.5 inch version was introduced (I think 2001) but I could well be wrong about that. The competitive Ford F53 chassis had 16 inch wheels in 1997.

The Chevrolet P32 chassis was barely adequate for  the larger & heavier motorhomes being built in the late 90's and had fallen into disfavor with many customers.  When Workhorse bought the RV chassis business from Chevrolet, they embarked on an upgrade and redesign program for the P32 while they also developed the new Wxx series Rv chassis. Post 2001 P32's are a pretty decent chassis but the W20 & W22 was still notably superior and has pretty much displaced the P series from the market.

 

[Bob Flight]

If the vibration increases with speed it is a tire balance issue.  If it is smooth until you travel over a bump, it may be a shock problem.  Tire wear patterns can also give a clue of the problem.  Does the steering wheel shake as well?  Sometimes a steering dampener needs to be placed between the frame and the tie rods to steady the wheels.  This all assumes the problem is in the front end.  Sometimes the problem can be in the driveshaft or rear wheels as well, thou less likely.

Work the problems thru from most common causes to least common.

History-  We had a 1977 RV on a Dodge frame that had the shakes, it turned out that the lug nuts did not center the wheel.  A clever shop had special alignment nuts made that solved the problem.  If we had a flat the problem would have come back.  We also had to add a steering stabilizer to that unit to stop the wheels from shacking after hitting bumps.  Those were common problems with that era.

We now own a 1989 Georgie Boy Encounter and have kept it due to its sound construction.  It is built on a John Deere HD chassis with Ford parts.  We just replaced all of the shocks and that greatly improved the ride to the point that I was really surprised.  I have done a lot of work on cars and RVs over the years and the shock/ride improvement was  impressive.  Until I had switched to Bilstein, I was doubting how good they really were.

I'd suggest you take the RV to a truck tire shop that can check the tires, check the balance, and check the alignment.  Take the technician for a ride to show him the problems.  Everything is repairable.

 

[kiowa bill]

Kathy and Bob, I ow a 1996 Pursuit built by Georgia Boy. It also has 19.5 tires. We have driven over 50,000 miles without any problem you describe. Along with having the tires balanced have your drive shaft checked for balance. we owned a motor that vibrated as you described and the drive shaft was ourt of balance. This may not be your problem. Hope you find the problem and have it resolved.

Ross