Excessive sway and tracking issues Alante 29F

[reconaz]

Ford changed to the 7.3L V8 on the F53 chassis for 2021 and some products for previous years fit and some don't. The 29F is a 18K chassis.

[JesseS]

Originally Posted by reconaz

Ford changed to the 7.3L V8 on the F53 chassis for 2021 and some products for previous years fit and some don't. The 29F is a 18K chassis.

OK, the Jayco website still shows it coming with a 6.8L V10.


https://www.jayco.com/products/class...21-alante/29f/

[Johnynorthland]

Originally Posted by reconaz

We just picked up our new 2021 Jayco Alante 29F in Orlando, Fl. And we are currently driving it back to our home in Arizona. We are getting blown to the side with any vehicle that passes us. Semi trucks are really bad but even a Cadillac will blow us to the side. This is our first class A, we have been told that they are supposed to drive well. Reading about all the new JRide suspension and all the upgraded driving things in the new 2021s we thought it would be better. As we have nothing to compare it to. Is this normal? It is absolutely exhausting, white knuckling the steering wheel for 6 hours a day. Any help is much appreciated.

Get an alignment and a track bar to start. And take it on a nice long trip then I would start doing the other suspension upgrades if necessary, swaybar, steering damper, shocks, air bags, etc...

I tell everyone that complains about suspension issues, the track bar is the best bang for the buck. I’ve done all the suspension upgrades you can think of, and the track bar had instant results.! I am a former suspension technician in my younger years. On my third rig every rig I purchase is going to have one!

[jimmoore13]

Weight is a huge issue.
I agree with the suspension upgrades, but "weight and balance" (borrowing from pilot lingo) are a really big deal in a vehicle that presents such a huge profile to the wind.

An analogy. If you ever drove a VW Bus in the wind, it was an extreme example of poor weight and balance. The rear engine (behind the rear axle) cantilevered its weight behind the fulcrum. A driver might counter-balance that misplaced lump of cast aluminum, but not really. Driving one of those in a crosswind was terrifying. The light front end got blown about while the heavy rear end "stuck."

Meanwhile, in a conventional American van design, with a front or front/mid engine (in the really old days) and little in the rear, AND with the rear axle far back in the chassis, a cross-wind would push the back of the vehicle sideways and effect what amounts to a self correction.

Now consider your Class A. Look at the position of the rear axle compared to the rear bumper. That's one helluva lot of leverage for cross winds AND for too much weight in the back. Understand that the bedroom is already cantilevered well behind the rear axle. Now pack in a bunch of weight, and you are asking for trouble.

But what about diesel pushers, you ask? Well, look at where the rear axle is in one of those....MUCH farther back with a much longer effective wheelbase.

You MUST keep any additional loads BETWEEN the axles...and the farther forward the better.

[Micikas]

We have a 2016 Alante 31 AL, We put about $9000.00 into the suspension and it drives like a dream. Check out Super Steer products. The Steering Dampener and a rear Trac Bar will help with the air push. Sway bars next and Sumo Springs. Your Bilstein shocks are performance shocks so they ride harder, Koni's will soften the ride. Good luck. Remember the difference between 60 mph and 65 mph is at least 15% in fuel economy and I have full time friends that say 300 miles or 3:30pm we stop on which ever comes first.
Keep the Shiny Side Up

[JFlightRisk]

Originally Posted by JesseS

I was under the impression that the 2021 Alante 29F had a Triton EFI V10?

The V10 has been replaced by the new 7.3 L V8. It's a larger displacement pushrod valve train. Fewer rotating internals means a quieter engine, it has more torque, and less down shifting on grades. I've heard rumors that the V10 won't pass some emissions standards for the 2021 model year, but that was hearsay in conversation.

[Mojates]

Originally Posted by reconaz

We are getting blown to the side with any vehicle that passes us. Semi trucks are really bad but even a Cadillac will blow us to the side. It is absolutely exhausting, white knuckling the steering wheel for 6 hours a day. Any help is much appreciated.

We have 16,000 miles on our 2020 34G on the F53 with V8. White knuckled all of them. The wind was a real problem, had to stay 3 days on an overnight stop in Phila until the wind settled down. The steering developed an intermittent "thump" that you could feel through the steering wheel. Took it to a Ford Dealer who had it for a week. He said the rear stabilizer bar was barely held on with one screw. He fixed that and said any further noise was caused by the "body."

Finding no change in the problem we took it to a local shop that specializes in front end and chassis work. I was going to have him do an alignment and install a Roadmaster steering stabilizer. The first thing he said was that the coach was way to heavy for an F53 chassis. Here's what else he found:

The King Pins were loose and had crushed the bearings. The steering bouncing up and down was causing the thump and feel in the steering wheel. He said "any idiot" would have seen that as soon as the coach was put on a lift. Ford idiots never noticed that even though they had it for a week. BTW, this was a Ford truck center.

The side bearings were rubber and severely worn. Much more so than would have been expected at 16,ooo miles.

The stabilizer bar in the read was held on by 1/2" bolts. He said at that weight they should have been at least 3/4. That's probably why the thing was falling off.

He did an alignment and installed the steering stabilizer. When road testing he found the coach still pulled to the right. The entire steering assembly was off. He had to install shims on the right side to straighten it up.

He also found the steering wheel was not properly aligned with the wheels. We had to turn the steering wheel about 5 degrees to the left for the truck wheel to be straight. That explains the problems backing up where we held the wheel straight but the coach went right. We didn't get that fixed as it would have been a big project, we just have to get used to the steering wheel position being off.

$3,600 later we got it back and took it to an empty parking lot. Let go of the steering wheel and drove forward. The coach went perfectly straight. We haven't taken it on the road yet, but just driving locally it feels like we have much more control.

My recommendation is to find a local shop that specialized in truck front end work, buy a stabilizer and bring the rig to him to have it aligned and stabilizer installed. That work isn't covered under warranty, but any other problems they find should be.