Alignment / Steering

Griswald One · 08-07-2015, 02:34 PM

Good Day All,

I was at my dealer again today, issues for another thread, and they asked me how my recent alignment felt. I had the rig in last week to have the alignment adjusted as it was pulling heavily to the left from day one.

I am not 100% satisfied with the alignment done by the shop but it was significantly improved. The dealership quickly offered to take it back and do there own test drive to sort the issues out.

I mentioned to them at the time that I felt the steering was a little loose. But in all honesty have no experience driving this size vehicle so have no way to compare to what it should feel like. I have assumed all along that a vehicle of this nature would handle more loosely then any car or pickup truck that I have previously driven. In reality I am comfortable with the play in the wheel and recognize that a truck of this size needs to be "Driven" and requires constant driver attention and input. My concern is that my Bride will not feel comfortable with the play in the steering and I will have to continue the tradition of being the vehicles only driver even on the long hauls.

They mentioned that some owners add a steering stabilizer to tighten things up.

So my question is do any of you have experience in adding after market steering stabilizers and do they make much of a difference on newer JRide equipped Greyhawks?

Thanks in advance.

CarlB · 08-09-2015, 07:12 AM

So as to the alignment, it needs to have the additional parts added for more camber or caster adjustment. Jayco approved this for me and it handles much better now. I say this as I have completed an 11000 mile journey from FL to Alaska, logging in excess of 200 hours of time behind the wheel. It is much better than before.

Harvard · 08-09-2015, 10:03 AM

Here is a link to my experience adding +caster circa 2010

E350/E450 Handling Problems are caused by too little + CASTER

Griswald One · 08-09-2015, 11:42 AM

Thanks guys.. Here is where my ignorance comes in... Toe is an appendage on the end of your foot and caster is a small wheel often found on the bottom of your office chair. I have no idea what either means in relation to alignment

That being said. I did take enough out of your posts to see that my issues in relation to loose steering may be related to not enough office chair wheels... I will follow up with my dealer, hopefully they will have done their own test drive when I speak to them next week.

xtruckerbob · 08-09-2015, 01:40 PM

We used to have a motor home and it felt loose. It seem to have to much weight on the back lifting the front making it have the loose feel. The dealer finally put air bag on the front and rear of our motor home which help 100%. They did the same for my parents.

Oklahoma Dan · 08-09-2015, 01:58 PM

Any looseness or play in the steering wheel so that you have to pay constant attention to adjust your position within your travel lane is definitely a problem. I hope they can quickly get this corrected to your satisfaction.

CarlB · 08-09-2015, 02:35 PM

Alignment terms

^^that should help out. Jayco, unless they have changed their procedures, do not modify the alignment from how they are delivered from Ford as a van cutaway chassis, As far as I know. With the added weight of the house portion of the coach, the camber is thrown off and the factory suspension cannot compensate for it. Therefore a part that Ford has is used to restore it to what it should be, and allow for normal adjustments.

TX_Arvee · 08-11-2015, 11:25 AM

I took mine to a commercial truck tire place and they did a proper alignment. It has held true for 8000 miles. They never drove it to test it. They just knew what they were doing. I paid $180 for the alignment and an oil change. Best money I have spent on it. Mine is J-Ride equipped and drives nicely now. The wife could drive it with some coaching, it is just intimidating at first. There are definitely some "don't dos" when driving a large profile vehicle. (tailgating, sharp turns at speed, braking and turning hard, etc..)

Griswald One · 08-11-2015, 11:33 AM

In my Dealers defence... They did not do the alignment themselves, they are not equipped. They took it to a local alignment shop, reportedly the only one in the area with a rack big enough to accomodate the RV. It does worry me going forward that none of the local Ford dealerships are equipped to handle my rig.

At this point the work is being done under warranty so I am somewhat in their hands as to who they are going to use. I think part of the challenge stems from the relatively low number of MH's on the road in Southern Ontario. In the past camping in this area was pretty TT heavy although I see the demographics changing which will hopefully mean imporoved service options in the future.

bgermane · 08-11-2015, 01:07 PM

I had mine aligned. They set the caster +5 and change on both sides - forget the exact numbers. After reading Harvard's thread, it makes me wonder how because I never installed the Ingalls sleeves. Improvement was negligible. Still wanders, and blows all over the place. Rarely do I have only one hand on the wheel. My wife refuses to get behind the wheel.

Jopopsy · 08-11-2015, 01:36 PM

That's weird. I had mine aligned before I brought it home. I had the dealer fill the fresh water tank (since it sat square over the rear axle) and have at it.

On numerous times I have taken my rig (on the test drive before purchase and fully loaded en-route to camp) up to 65 w/ my hands off the wheel. So long as there is not a cross wind, she tracks true.

I really love my J-Ride equipped Greyhawk.

mike837go · 08-11-2015, 01:45 PM

Generally speaking, no vehicle should be 'unpleasant' to drive. With no cross winds, a truck should track straight.

The chassis should respond immediately to any steering inputs.

'Looseness' in the steering could be caused by too much weight aft. Remember what happens when you tow too much bumper-pull without a WDH?

bgermane · 08-11-2015, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jopopsy

That's weird. I had mine aligned before I brought it home. I had the dealer fill the fresh water tank (since it sat square over the rear axle) and have at it.

On numerous times I have taken my rig (on the test drive before purchase and fully loaded en-route to camp) up to 65 w/ my hands off the wheel. So long as there is not a cross wind, she tracks true.

I really love my J-Ride equipped Greyhawk.

Mine is J-Ride equipped as well. They just didn't call it that in 2012. Mine has driven terribly since day one. It stinks too, because normally, I love to drive. Not the Greyhawk. It really does take the enjoyment out of it. It's a workout.

Harvard · 08-11-2015, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bgermane

I had mine aligned. They set the caster +5 and change on both sides - forget the exact numbers. After reading Harvard's thread, it makes me wonder how because I never installed the Ingalls sleeves. Improvement was negligible. Still wanders, and blows all over the place. Rarely do I have only one hand on the wheel. My wife refuses to get behind the wheel.

I would be very suspicious that they just fudged the caster numbers on the alignment report.

Griswald One · 08-11-2015, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike837go

'Looseness' in the steering could be caused by too much weight aft. Remember what happens when you tow too much bumper-pull without a WDH?

On the old TT I would agree... But in the MH there is no extra weight in the ass end... Almost everything, not factory installed, except two duffle bags is forward of the rear axle. I don't travel with any fluids beyond a full tank of gas. And even most of the heavy equipment including the two main slides is situated between the axles.

This "looseness" is almost a failure of the steering to engage, I feel like I am over steering in order to make small adjustments, particularily at speed. Hopefully the next set of alignment adjustments make the difference.

Greyhawk01 · 08-11-2015, 06:05 PM

Griswald you need to find an honest alignment shop that will do a good job getting the caster and camber right. on a ford ttb front end is a lot of work that most mechanics dont want to do it. Their is a saying in the alignment busisness "set the toe and go" which unfortunately is what most mechanics do. Picture caster as the front forks on a bmx bicycle. When the handle bars are in the right position the steering is tight. Now spin the handlebars around so the forks are facing backwards and the steering is wobbley and loose. This is most likely what you are experincing. I hope you can understand what im trying to describe. Try giving jayco a call their customer service is great and they will most likely cover the cost.

Griswald One · 08-11-2015, 08:33 PM

That is a great description of my problem Greyhawk. I put a call into my dealer today, as they still have my rig... Did not hear back. I will be armed with the knowledge you all have shared when I speak with them next. So it is very appreciated. One way or another it will be going back on the rack and properly adjusted.

Griswald One · 08-13-2015, 11:55 AM

So I went out on a test drive with the dealer today and got the service manager in behind the wheel. He quickly acknowledged that the alignment was still off.

Thay are booking it in to a different shop next week and they will ensure they do therir own test drive before it is returned to me.

Thanks again for all the advise.

Jopopsy · 08-13-2015, 12:06 PM

They should have drove the thing the first time .....

Griswald One · 08-13-2015, 12:12 PM

I couldn't agree more... It is a personlity flaw that I am a little too trusting that others are going to do their job properly the first time... My dealer has abused that flaw one time to many, I don't intend to make the mistake again.

Reality is the rig should never have been delievered to me in the state it was in. I wondered about wether or not it should have past a safety inspection. Unfortuneatly Ontario regulations only require a visual inspection of the alignment to pass a safety

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