Ozzie D Odyssey
Senior Member
RV LIFE Pro
Not a happy camper…….we bought our 29V last spring and now have 10,000 miles on it. We drove to Florida and back from January through March and both my wife and I found that we were constantly fighting with the steering pulling to the right, so I planned on having the front end aligned again when we got back home.
When we returned home two weeks ago we had a letter from Ford waiting for us advising of a Customer Satisfaction Program to examine and secure the shift lever cable, it is CSP 24B68. I figured while I was getting that taken care of I would also have the front end aligned and the annual state inspection done. The local Ford dealer near my home won’t work on anything as large as a motorhome so I found another Ford dealer several towns away who would. I made an appointment to have the CSP done as well as the state inspection and front end alignment.
I brought the RV down last Thursday, the 13th at midday. I know that a front end alignment can take two or three hours so I came prepared to wait a while. A short time later I was advised that the alignment could not be done that day as one of the items I requested was to have the caster settings changed from the factory setting to at least a +6 degree angle to improve the steering. I was told that the necessary bushings to change the caster would need to be ordered and that the alignment could take up to six hours due to the need to test drive it to obtain the best adjustment.. They would have the bushings available the next day but I had a conflict.for Friday the 14th however I had a scheduling conflict. They said I could leave it overnight on their lot…but that wasn’t going to happen as it’s not the most crime free area. I made arrangements to bring it back down at 7:30am on Monday the 17th, which I did.
I have the Ford Pass app on my phone - if you don’t have it, get it. If you are not aware, the app has a location finder for the vehicle. It actually showed that RV had been moved into the building during the day on Monday the 17th. I did not hear anything by 3pm so I called and was advised that the technician had tried three different sets of bushings but they did not fit and that three more would be ordered to continue the alignment. However, they would not be available until Tuesday morning. I was very hesitant at leaving the RV there overnight in the outdoor lot as things happen and we do have personal property in the RV in addition to the value of the vehicle. I was advised that the RV would be parked inside overnight which I found acceptable. On Monday evening at 10:42pm I checked the Ford Pass app and found that the RV had not in fact been parked inside but was left outside in a far corner of their large lot. On Tuesday morning the 18th, I checked again at around 8am and it was in the same location. At 9:25am I received a text message advising that my vehicle was ready for pickup and that the only alignment the technician was able to do was to set the toe on the front end. I called before leaving my home and was advised that the technician test drove it and that the steering was right on after the toe was set. I went back and picked up the RV. The state inspection and the CSP were done and I thought the front end alignment was done as I was charged for it. When I spoke with the service writers about the change in the caster settings I learned that Ford does not have adjustable caster bushings available in their parts inventory, only aftermarket bushings have the adjustment ability and apparently Ford dealership can only use Ford parts. When I drove back home I noticed that it was still pulling to the right.
This afternoon - Wednesday the 19th - I received another text message with a link to a video showing my state inspection, I thought this was a nice feature. The technician explained everything while he went over the vehicle but at one point he made a comment about the alignment machine being down all week. All week? I was there yesterday. I sent a message back stating that I was confused about this and asked if an alignment was actually done on my vehicle. I received a text back that someone would check into it. They did, I received another text advising me that the technician confirmed that he was NOT able to complete the alignment. To the service department's credit they advised me that they had processed a refund to my credit card for the charge for the alignment.
Obviously I have a number of problems with all of this. So at this point I am searching for another Ford dealership that can handle a vehicle my size that will be honest with me. I’m also going to find an independent garage that handles alignments for larger vehicles and have them do the alignment.
But, I’m trying to find if anyone has had the caster changed on their rig and if so, what adjustable caster bushings did you use? I checked the Moog website but they only show the E350, not the E450. I’m not sure if they use the same adjustable bushing or not. If anyone has part numbers, brand names and how they’re working out I’d appreciate your input.
When we returned home two weeks ago we had a letter from Ford waiting for us advising of a Customer Satisfaction Program to examine and secure the shift lever cable, it is CSP 24B68. I figured while I was getting that taken care of I would also have the front end aligned and the annual state inspection done. The local Ford dealer near my home won’t work on anything as large as a motorhome so I found another Ford dealer several towns away who would. I made an appointment to have the CSP done as well as the state inspection and front end alignment.
I brought the RV down last Thursday, the 13th at midday. I know that a front end alignment can take two or three hours so I came prepared to wait a while. A short time later I was advised that the alignment could not be done that day as one of the items I requested was to have the caster settings changed from the factory setting to at least a +6 degree angle to improve the steering. I was told that the necessary bushings to change the caster would need to be ordered and that the alignment could take up to six hours due to the need to test drive it to obtain the best adjustment.. They would have the bushings available the next day but I had a conflict.for Friday the 14th however I had a scheduling conflict. They said I could leave it overnight on their lot…but that wasn’t going to happen as it’s not the most crime free area. I made arrangements to bring it back down at 7:30am on Monday the 17th, which I did.
I have the Ford Pass app on my phone - if you don’t have it, get it. If you are not aware, the app has a location finder for the vehicle. It actually showed that RV had been moved into the building during the day on Monday the 17th. I did not hear anything by 3pm so I called and was advised that the technician had tried three different sets of bushings but they did not fit and that three more would be ordered to continue the alignment. However, they would not be available until Tuesday morning. I was very hesitant at leaving the RV there overnight in the outdoor lot as things happen and we do have personal property in the RV in addition to the value of the vehicle. I was advised that the RV would be parked inside overnight which I found acceptable. On Monday evening at 10:42pm I checked the Ford Pass app and found that the RV had not in fact been parked inside but was left outside in a far corner of their large lot. On Tuesday morning the 18th, I checked again at around 8am and it was in the same location. At 9:25am I received a text message advising that my vehicle was ready for pickup and that the only alignment the technician was able to do was to set the toe on the front end. I called before leaving my home and was advised that the technician test drove it and that the steering was right on after the toe was set. I went back and picked up the RV. The state inspection and the CSP were done and I thought the front end alignment was done as I was charged for it. When I spoke with the service writers about the change in the caster settings I learned that Ford does not have adjustable caster bushings available in their parts inventory, only aftermarket bushings have the adjustment ability and apparently Ford dealership can only use Ford parts. When I drove back home I noticed that it was still pulling to the right.
This afternoon - Wednesday the 19th - I received another text message with a link to a video showing my state inspection, I thought this was a nice feature. The technician explained everything while he went over the vehicle but at one point he made a comment about the alignment machine being down all week. All week? I was there yesterday. I sent a message back stating that I was confused about this and asked if an alignment was actually done on my vehicle. I received a text back that someone would check into it. They did, I received another text advising me that the technician confirmed that he was NOT able to complete the alignment. To the service department's credit they advised me that they had processed a refund to my credit card for the charge for the alignment.
Obviously I have a number of problems with all of this. So at this point I am searching for another Ford dealership that can handle a vehicle my size that will be honest with me. I’m also going to find an independent garage that handles alignments for larger vehicles and have them do the alignment.
But, I’m trying to find if anyone has had the caster changed on their rig and if so, what adjustable caster bushings did you use? I checked the Moog website but they only show the E350, not the E450. I’m not sure if they use the same adjustable bushing or not. If anyone has part numbers, brand names and how they’re working out I’d appreciate your input.
