Lurker, maybe new owner

[BuckleUp]

Good day to y’all , I’ve been a lurker here for months (getting an education) and am almost finished negotiating a deal on a 2019 Greyhawk 30X. Ive learned a lot from all the posts and feel I’m educated enough to check the problem areas. They are going to give me as much time as I need to inspect. I’ve owned two travel trailers and have been so disappointed in the quality. Taking it for a highway test drive on Saturday and if my inspection and test drive goes well, we will sign on the dotted line. I’m sure problems will arise, but I hope to be prepared to handle them. Thanks in advance for your help and guidance

[oldmanAZ]

Welcome to the forum.

Please let us know how it goes.

[norty1]

Welcome to JOF! Looking forward to pics of your shopping trip!

[Harvard]

"Taking it for a highway test drive on Saturday and if my inspection and test drive goes well, we will sign on the dotted line."

Many new owners have driven 1000s of miles in their new Ford E350/E450 before they realize they have been short changed on front end caster. Just saying...buyer beware.

[BuckleUp]

Originally Posted by Harvard

"Taking it for a highway test drive on Saturday and if my inspection and test drive goes well, we will sign on the dotted line."

Many new owners have driven 1000s of miles in their new Ford E350/E450 before they realize they have been short changed on front end caster. Just saying...buyer beware.

Good point. If I do purchase I’m just going to bring it to Ford to ask them to check alignment . I have a great dealer here that will do me a solid

[namusmc65]

Having a great dealer to work with is key, including Ford for the engine and chassis. You have a leg up on everyone with that working for you. Good luck on the test drive and welcome to the JOF. Loads of useful information here.

[Jopopsy]

Make sure you can work with the cargo capacity of the unit, whatever it is. Greyhawks can get quite porky rolling off the line and you may not be able to pack it like you think. Check out the yellow sticker on the driver's side door jamb or perhaps the screen door and make sure you have a handle on it.

[Harvard]

Originally Posted by BuckleUp

Good point. If I do purchase I’m just going to bring it to Ford to ask them to check alignment . I have a great dealer here that will do me a solid

I doubt that a Ford dealer is going to do anything useful because of the very wide Ford caster specification (range of +1.5 to +7.0 degrees).

2kGeorgieBoy explained it best:

Wandering at highway speeds

Reply Post by 2kGeorgieBoy
Re: Wandering at highway speeds
Reply #36 on: March 14, 2018, 09:07:02 PM

START QUOTE:
Jeff..Although we have a 2000 Georgie Boy 31' Maverick "C" on a Ford E450 chassis, I can fully agree on the caster effects, at least for us. When we got the unit in Jan 2014, the dealer had us take into a truck shop for an alignment. It turned out OK....A trip to Moab shortly there after brought out the problems. I then started reading the threads and comments here about the caster settings....esp., from Harvard. I checked the data from the first alignment and found that it was set at about 3 1/2 degrees positive...about in the middle of Ford's recommended range. Shortly before a cross country trip to Maryland in fall of 2016, I returned to the shop where the first alignment was done. I talked to the service manager and he knew of the problems with the E450's and was happy to increase the caster as I asked. The alignment tech was also familiar with it and ended up with settings close to 5.5 degrees positive. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! The unit tracked straight down the road, passing semis no longer caused a white knuckle hold on the wheel, and overall it was just a lot more enjoyable. It did however increase steering effort a little but not anything to worry about. But, be sure that the shop you go to is willing to "think outside of the box". Our first alignment was "plain vanilla", right in the middle like it was always done. Second time out, they were very willing to increase settings beyond what normally would be done, and still stay with in Ford's guidelines (0-7 degrees, I believe). I realize that our E450 chassis is an entirely different animal than yours, but I was trying to add support to the caster increase thinking and how it helped us......if you go down that road.
END QUOTE:

[curver900]

Originally Posted by BuckleUp

Good point. If I do purchase I’m just going to bring it to Ford to ask them to check alignment . I have a great dealer here that will do me a solid

whatever you need to have done to it, do it before you sign on the bottom line... after you sign you are no longer as important as if you are about to sign... and the seller will have to pay to have it correctly fixed ... as it should be...

Drive it like you will be driving it... don't baby it... hope for wind so you can tell how it handles with that... two lane semi's if you can...