2015 29MV questions

[Wyn]

Over the past 30 years I have towed a variety of travel trailers up to 30', this Jayco 29MV Class C is my first motorhome. I have owned this motorhome for 5 weeks and have traveled about 3000 miles. I am asking for advice from you with more experience with motorhomes than me.

My biggest concern is how this vehicle handles on the road. The day after I took delivery in February, I drove to Florida from NY and I experienced a lot of sway on the interstates and also when being passed by semi's. I had to keep a firm grip on the wheel, continuously correcting the steering, to keep the vehicle in my lane as it was swaying severely. I called my dealer about this and he said I should upgrade the front and rear sway bars and install Tigertrax by Blue Ox at a cost of aprox $2200. This is in addition to the JRide suspension with Bilstein shocks and Hellwig helper springs, steering stabilizer and sway bars installed by Jayco as part of the JRide suspension. While in FL I spoke to other Class C owners and they said I should have the front end aligned, I had that work performed ($350) and the ride did improve significantly. On the drive home, I still had some sway in crosswinds and when passed by semi's, but not as bad as before the alignment, but was bad enough to make for some tense moments. My question is, will any of the modifications the dealer recommends help minimize the sway, or would I be spending a lot of money for nothing.

Another issue has to do with the house battery, I am getting a lot of white powdery sulfation on the battery tray, the terminals are tight and clean. What would be causing this, and how can I fix it?

Sorry for the long post, but wanted to give you as much info as possible. Thanks for your help.

[Mnxtrik8r]

We are taking possession of our 29mv the second week of April, so these questions have peaked my interest. One question comes to mind is the tire pressure. That will have an affect on it. I'm pretty sure that when the alignment was done, that's the first step in the process. When they did the alignment, did the bring it to spec or did they make a modified setting to correct the handling condition? How do the front tires look? Any abnormal wear?My understanding is the J-ride addresses these issues. There are a lot of others stating the ride is awesome. There have been a few post made regarding the adjustment on the rear helper spring. That may be something to look at. As far as the battery corrosion goes, I have seen a few terminals that have leaked where the terminals emerge from the plastic case. This can be caused by over tightening the terminals or in the case of a conventional top post battery, the cable end get pounded on the terminal. Sorry to ramble on, just trying to throw out some suggestions that come to mind.

[WDW]

We had our MH sent out for an alignment prior to delivery. I would suggest getting your dealer to reimburse you. I'd bet Jayco will reimburse the dealer because in our case they did not balk at the request. I know that a Winnebago will pay for this based on past experience. I've never herd of the tiger suggestion --$2200 WOW!

Have you checked your tire pressure too?

[Wyn]

The shop that did the alignment adjusted the air pressure and aligned (including addition of shims) to have the front end alignment based on the loaded weight, not to Ford specs. The tires do not show any abnormal wear, and I do not get any vibration through the steering wheel, nor does the vehicle pull one way or the other. One of the folks I talked to at the RV park also has a new 29MV, his also had a lot of sway and the alignment helped him also, but he still had more sway than he liked.

As for the battery, it is a top post connection, the top of the battery is clean, the terminals are tight and there are no signs of leakage from the battery itself. I cannot figure out why the battery rack is showing the sulfation.

[Wyn]

I will talk to my dealer about reimbursement WDW, thanks for the suggestion.

[GrayHawk51]

Over here on the west cost we get some pretty strong winds when driving up/down the coast. When I took it out on the first ride up the coast I hit winds and simi's passed us but minimal sway, Handled fine and no complaints. I went 500 miles up and down coast and the only winds that caught me off guard were those "cross" winds when you pass in opening in the canyons.

Just saying........

[hoppers4]

The great ride and handling was one of the reasons I bought this MH. I owned another class C Jayco and a Winnebago class A. As far as sway and ride, this beats both of those hands down. I get a bit of pull/push when a semi passes me but nothing to write home about. The alignment was a good idea. I'm wondering if you need another opinion from another dealer. Or perhaps have somebody else drive it that's familiar with what to expect and get an opinion from them.

[Greyhawk01]

Just for my own couriosity when you look up the specs on the MH and MV their wheel base is 10 inches shorter than the other models of the same length. Why is this? From everything I know the longer the wheel base the straighter it will track.

[Wyn]

I agree with you Greyhawk01, it is logical that the longer wheelbase would be more stable as the rear overhang most likely would be shorter. My 29MV is going to the dealer tomorrow for a few warranty repairs (the most major being the entire camera system and power mirrors stopped working) and to have the suspension looked at. The dealer thinks adjusting the Hellwig helper springs may help reduce sway. The dealer wants to try adjustments before we start replacing sway bars and adding TigerTrak. It seems they want to correct the problem at the least cost to me. I hope this works.

[Scratch47]

We consider the our 29MV the most comfortable-driving rig we've owned. Is your payload pretty well balanced? Hope you get it figured out soon.

[Wyn]

It is good to hear that my 29MV has the potential to handle well, I am hopeful that the adjustment to the Hellwig helper spring will make a difference. We tend to travel light, so I do not think an unbalanced load is causing the handling issues. In fact, even driving it home from the dealer when we picked it up, the coach wandered a lot requiring constant steering correction.

[GrayHawk51]

Wow, no kidd'n ? My 29MV rides smooth, The big test will be going up the Cajon Pass with strong winds projected this week here in Southern California to Navada. As it is, I have to keep reminding myself to take it easy, it's not just a van... It's a Van with a box on Top! lol.

[Wyn]

My dealer adjusted the Hellwig helper springs to about 2" spacing. The next day we went on a 3 day trip and drove about 450 miles. The RV handles so much better with the Hellwig's adjusted properly. On the drive home we were on the Garden State Parkway in a very heavy rain storm with high winds, the RV hardly swayed at all and I was able to drive the speed limit with no problems. I highly recommend you have your Hellwig helper springs adjusted to 2", it made a world of difference in how my rig handles.

[mjgrant333]

How much did you pay for your mv