too easy steering, no road feel

[mypursuit]

My 96 P30 has 16 inch wheels.  As mentioned it came original with 7.50 x 16 tires.
I replaced them with 215/85/16 tires.  I was going to go with 235/85/16 but found
the rear duals had a tendency to "kiss", which could cause wear problems.  With the
215's I lost some load capacity but after weighing the coach found I had plenty of weight
capacity leftover.  I run 65 pounds in the front and 70 in the rear and 50 in the airbags.
With the addition of Super Steer bellcranks and a good alignment the coach handles
very well .

 

[idahored]

When I first bought my 1995 Itasca Passge 23RC,, I had an alignment done because it seemed to wander allot. It didn't seem to help any To me the steering is way too easy, hardly any feel of the road, which I feel, contributes to the coach having a tendancy to wander quite a bit.  Maybe the alignment tech missed the settings ? Other ideas ?
Idahored
Mtn Home, Id

Lots of ideas to try. I finally dropped the air pressure for both the front and rear tires to 65#. I'm heading  to the Lewiston, Id area this weekend which is a 700 mile round trip, and I should have a good idea if setting them at that pressure helped somewhat. If not, then onto the next idea to try

 

[idahored]

Lots of ideas to try. I finally dropped the air pressure for both the front and rear tires to 65#. I'm heading  to the Lewiston, Id area this weekend which is a 700 mile round trip, and I should have a good idea if setting them at that pressure helped somewhat. If not, then onto the next idea to try

Dropping the air pressure to 65# on all tires helped considerably on our trip. It still has some wandering, but I feel it's tolerable. With the lower pressure, I can also feel the road more also which to me is good..

 

[idahored]

I had Safe-T-Plus installed, and it helped alot, especially in regards to getting pushed around by semis, and also helped with wandering. It has a tendency to pull slightly to the left, but the installer said he gives free adjustments, so hopefully that will be taken care of. All the various things I had done to it, helped. Alignment, tire pressure, front coils spring bladder pressure adjustment, new Bilstein shocks and steering stabilizer, and the Safe-T-Plus combined, makes the trips much more enjoyable.   All the ideas posted helped me make these decisions. Thanks !

 

[Harvard]

Re the alignment....what was the caster set at? Just curious. Thks.

 

[idahored]

Re the alignment....what was the caster set at? Just curious. Thks.

Not sure if I'm reading the shop invoice right, but it has left front=4.9 degrees and right front= 5.1 degrees.  Then they have "cross  caster" -0.2 degrees. Don't have a clue as to what these figures mean  :-\

 

[Harvard]

Not sure if I'm reading the shop invoice right, but it has left front=4.9 degrees and right front= 5.1 degrees.  Then they have "cross  caster" -0.2 degrees. Don't have a clue as to what these figures mean  :-\

Those caster figures mean that you received good value for your money in that the alignment guy did you justice by sending out on the highway with those numbers. Cross caster = LH - RH = 4.9 - 5.1 = -0.2 which is also right on the recommended range.

Thanks for sharing. 

 

[Jim Godward]

I hardly glanced at this thread but nowhere did I see the weights on the front wheels.  If too light the problem you mentioned will be what you are experiencing.  Check you wheel weights and get back to us.

 

[Memtb]

    Idahored,  We just bought our first motorhome (a 10 year old class c) just recently, and found the same thing. I described it as very "nervous"! Lots of research has indicated that more caster is needed. Headed to Billings, Mt. next week to get it done. Hopefully it will help. Next improvement in suspension will be Hellwig sway bars.