New Greyhawk 29MV owner with questions about handling.

[TheSled]

We picked up our new Greyhawk 29MV about a month ago and have put about 175 miles on going back to have the toad set up, state inspections, etc., etc. I've noticed that the rig seems to wander down the road, never quite in a straight line. I feel as if I'm fighting a variable crosswind or the steering is loose. Is this wandering a trait of 32' Class C's or should I have the front end checked out?
FYI- I towed a 31' travel trailer for 5 years and am familiar with crosswinds but this seems excessive.

[pconroy]

There's a couple of thoughts here: one even the new ones apparently need an alignment. Rumor has it that it's documented in your papers and that Jayco will pay for it. I think it needs to be done with the motorhome loaded up.

I don't know much about it because ours tracks fine.

The second line of thought has to do with the Hellwig Helper springs. Many contend that Jayco (or Moryde) isn't adjusting them properly. I've seen two dozen threads where folks have said adjusting them has helped. I've seen one person respond that Jayco is saying they're fine.

Nonetheless these two things seemed to have helped others.

Oh - do the obvious too: make sure your tires are properly inflated, you're not overloaded, etc.

[TheSled]

Thanks for the reply PConroy. The dealer where we bought the rig seems to be good so I'll talk to them about an alignment.
We haven't been out overnight yet so the rig is lightly loaded with the stuff that stays permanantly.
AP may be an issue because it's now colder than when we bought the unit and I haven't checked it.
I don't know anything about adjusting helper springs although I'm pretty proficient mechanically.

[Jopopsy]

Hello and welcome.

The above poster(s) are correct. Jayco will align the coach for free one time. i'm not sure how soon you'll need to do it though. I had mine done at the dealer; I filled up the fresh water tank to add some weight and let the dealer have at it.

As to the Hellwigs refer to this lengthy thread: http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f5...ory-23499.html

Page 17 details a consolidated post by me of exactly what needs to be done in order to do the job.

Also run your front tires at 75 pounds and your rears at 80.

[oldmanAZ]

Congratulations on the new Greyhawk and welcome to the forum.

As the others have said, make arrangements to have it aligned and take it to a tire store to have the inflation checked.

As Jopopsy said, tell the tire store to inflate the front tires to 75psi and rears to 80psi. Some tire stores need to be told what pressure. And if you can, be there when they inflate them and ask the tech what pressure they are being inflated to. If you don't, they may inflate them to something less. Lower tire pressures will give a softer ride, but can lead to the wandering you don't want.

[Tgroves526]

Hello from colorado, I also drove home a29mv in July and had same wandering issues. Look Under the rear axle in the front and see if the blue sway bar is hooked up? Mine was off on one side causing all the rear sway and just impossible to steer straight. Took it back to dealer and told them to fix it! Done in one afternoon and now it tracks straight , good alignment.

Ted
Littleton,Colorado

[Harvard]

You need to have your caster increased to +5 degrees or more.

Ford ships the E Series with a fixed caster of about +3.0 degrees which is OK for city driving but you want +5 or more on the highway..

Too little caster will manifest itself as "wandering" and "loose steering" at highways speeds.

Be wary of alignment shops that will only "tweak your toe and you are good to go". A good alignment shop will install the necessary adjustable bushings and set the caster to the +5 range.

[drk98]

We have a new Redhawk and it drove "ok" without towing our Jeep and an alignment did help some. Once I added the Jeep to the picture the handling was terrible. I went all in and added heavier sway bars front and rear, steering stabilizer and a rear trac bar. Now the thing is rock solid going down the road with or without the Jeep behind us. If I had to guess I'd say the steering stabilizer and rear trac bar contributed most of the improvement but the much reduced body roll is nice too.

If the dealer doesn't handle the alignment make sure you take it to a reputable truck shop that has some experience with RVs. As others have mentioned... A good shop will also adjust the caster.