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Goldencrazy

madison wi

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Posted: 02/29/12 07:52pm

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Excellent advice. I wasted money on two coaches before I discovered the Kelderman that removed the springs that would not compress and integrated with air bags I can control. Wolfe, what did you do with the coach without shocks and springs too stiff?

wolfe10

Texas

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Posted: 02/29/12 08:02pm

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Goldencrazy wrote:

Wolfe, what did you do with the coach without shocks and springs too stiff?

OK, first, the owner was a true renaissance man-- in his early 80's he had be a machinist, hardware store owner, etc.

His front axle was WAY under GAWR. Said another way, the springs were so stiff that virtually 100% of road shock was transmitted into the coach. Basically bad design by the coach maker-- and no, no point in naming them-- they are NOT alone.

His choices were to relocate weight (better) or get the springs switched for ones with less capacity. Moving weight forward would be better, particularly from a handling standpoint.

His coach maker had located the generator approximately 9' behind the rear axle-- right on the rear bumper. The owner moved the generator from left rear to immediately behind the right front wheel (and did a splendid job-- that coach is now owned by another RV.net poster). He then re-weighed and added a little "ballast" in the form of plate steel to bring the right front to match the left and just under front axle GAWR.

Coach handling as well as ride improved materially. Physics is physics.

* This post was edited 02/29/12 08:33pm by wolfe10 *

Brett Wolfe
1997 Safari Sahara 3540
EX: 1993 Foretravel 36' U-240

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topflite51

In The Desert of Nevada

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Posted: 02/29/12 08:38pm

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Since someone resurrected this thread, I can say the addition of the front air bags significantly improved our ride.

David
Just rolling along enjoying life
w/F53 Southwind towing a 87 Samurai or 01 Grand Vitara looking to golf or fish
Simply Despicable

Any errors are a result of CRS.

Goldencrazy

madison wi

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Posted: 03/01/12 01:11pm

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Interesting stuff Wolfe. So even with my Kelderman I would probably be best served to put my heaviest "stuff" in the two storage compartments closest to the front. Generator in the rear and moving it would make no sense but basically get the weight out of the rear as much as possible.

wolfe10

Texas

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Posted: 03/01/12 02:44pm

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Goldencrazy wrote:

If you are well under your front axle GAWR, even with empty fuel tank (assume fuel is well behind rear axle) then YES, bring it closer to GAWR with your stuff moved forward.

If you are already there, leave it where it is.

Pirate

Appalachia

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Posted: 03/02/12 01:40pm

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clafro wrote:

I put a blue ox tt2400 rear trak arm (get the bolt on frame bracket instead of the frame clamp) and Firestone air bags on my new 2011 Southwind 32VS. I installed the bags and a pump that I can control with a wireless controller from the driver seat. The Trak arm greatly improved tail wag and the air bags are individually adjustable so I can compensate for uneven loading. They really can eliminate side to side rocking depending how firm you want the ride. I find myself using them to correct for road crown that has me constantly dipping to the right. I'll put an 10 extra pounds in the right and I find I'm not always fighting to bring the coach back on the road. I also put this same setup on a 2010 Vista 26P (which I traded for the 32VS when Winnebago was unable to fix some defects to my satisfaction) and found it was really necessary on that coach because the fresh water tank was located mostly on one side creating this ever changing side to side loading plus the coach had to cargo capacity at all. I have to say that even the new Ford chassis is******in my opinion to Freightliner. They have excessive wander and the coach manufactures don't allow enough capacity for cargo so the springs and axles end up loaded to the limits. In both case the coach felt very unstable in any avoidance maneuver until I added air bags.

Why did you mention the difference with mountings for the trac bar? Mine came with the clamp on mount. Just curious.

clafro

Bolton

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Posted: 03/02/12 02:20pm

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The Clamp was distorting and you had to remove the axle bumper. The bolt on bracket was more ridged and the bumper could stay. Blue OX sent the kit for free. See images.

Pirate

Appalachia

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Posted: 03/02/12 07:02pm

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clafro wrote:

The Clamp was distorting and you had to remove the axle bumper. The bolt on bracket was more ridged and the bumper could stay. Blue OX sent the kit for free. See images.

Your image did not post. Try again. Thanks.