Steering Stabilizers, Opinions? Experience? - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Hina · RV-Dreams Family Member

Steering Stabilizers, Opinions? Experience?

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

keeping it at 55 will save you a bunch of money just in fuel and probably save your life if you happen to have a front blow out...and as far as holding traffic up , thats what passing lanes are for!!......first thing I would check is tire pressure and if you are over weight on any wheel.. and how much heavy weight is packed in the upper cabinets...Front steering stabilizers are nice they help alot with cross winds which if your out west is an everyday occurrence ....also check swaybars and make sure you freshwater and holding tanks are almost empty for travel....(liquid is 8.5 lbs per gallon)

Hina · RV-Dreams Family Member

I empty the black and grey tanks, but keep the fresh full. (Gonna be that way, I am a bit of a prepper! And if you are boondocking in Nevada... water? I have less than a 30 gal. fresh tank, so I'm also carrying extra in the back. But this problem with sway has been before I added extra water in the back.) I am in the process of unloading some stuff, I have a yard sale and flea market or two in my future. (And a trip to Goodwill). I'm trying to keep it all as minimal as possible. Any extra weight, might just add up to having a chubby hubby! Maybe if I could get the extra water in the passenger seat...

I'll be bringing it in for an oil change, I'll have them check the tires too; the tires are new, and the tire shop filled them all at 85 psi, but I believe the manual says 80 for the front, and 90 for the back. Not sure if that will make a huge difference.

Hina · RV-Dreams Family Member

BTW, many of the roads I have been on here in Nevada are just one lane each way, no passing lanes, no place to pull over, just soft sandy shoulders and sheer drop offs. So having 4-5 cars and big trucks on my tail can be a little un-nerving.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have a Saf-T-Plus installed, which helps and is really nice for front blowout safety - http://www.safe-t-plus.com/. It might be overkill, ours was in the range of $900 installed since it requires test drive(s) and adjusting to install it right. Camping World can install them wrong, they don't take the time.

But your problem might be something else so you probably need it evaluated to find out. Shocks, sway bars or even some brake work might be needed instead. Brake issues with Workhorse W series chassis, thought I suspect you have a P series chassis, could crack rotors and act like a suspension issue. The W series brake issues are on recall, so fixing them is free.

Hina · RV-Dreams Family Member

Looks like I have a P31432 series? I searched for any recalls, but found this PDF about alignment; http://www.offroadtoybox.com/RV/P-Chassis-AlignmentProcess.pdf It says they often get misaligned, because the documentation isn't clear? I did have an alignment with the steering component fix, also with the new tires? Maybe that's it?

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

you have a P30 Chassis.......

Hina · RV-Dreams Family Member

This PDF says just "P30" is something of a misnomer; that the chassis was used for both delivery type trucks, and RVs, and that there are some differences between balancing the two.... most mechanics will balance P30 as if it were a delivery truck, and that might cause some issues.

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

I think your looking to far into it........P-30 chassis are known to wander or float about the road.....its a delivery truck under there.........you are on the west coast the roads because of the heat have grooves in the lanes.....your coach is wider than the groove pattern so your tires(mostly the rear Dually s) are falling in and out of these paths and you correct them with the steering.

try this the next time you are driving and there is minimal traffic....

place your driver side steering tire on the yellow lines and notice.. the coach will settle down it will stop floating it will also do this if the passenger tires are on the white line.

on the interstates you will always find drifting occurring in the extreme right lanes due to more pressure and wear on the roadway from heavy trucks using those lanes constantly .....the faster you go the more drifting will occur.

or your right and they aligned your front end wrong and you will have to bring it back and have it redone....

PS...... if you bring it back please dont show them the DIY Pdf manual from the internet........not all you find on the internet is true and Im sure they have a Chilton Reference available to their shop if they are a Reputable dealer.

hope this helps

Hina · RV-Dreams Family Member

You are right Mike, if it hits a little bump or groove in the road, off it goes, and at higher speeds, it can be really freaky. The roads here are pretty good, but some are really narrow, kinda bumpy or cracked, and I'm sorry, I just can't go the 70 MPH speed limit, just can't bring myself to do it. So what can be done? Nothing?

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

Drive the minimum speed limit....LOL.........just because it says 70 doesnt mean you have to , your on permanent vacation remember.....no hurry

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

A steering stabilizer will help. You will notice an improvement in stability with bumps and reduced wandering.

Hina · RV-Dreams Family Member

I'll be looking into a steering stabilizer. I already had some steering work done, the RV had been in storage for years, and the lubricant dried out and sandpapered the arms and bell housings; the shop I took it to said they replaced the bell housings with better quality, after market units, because the factory parts were cr@p, so that was an improvement (maybe not the absolute best bell housings for this issue, but a definite improvement). Sigh.... more $$$$!! But I gotta live with this for a while, and safety first!