gdoily
Texas
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Question on turning radius for larger rigs - when did the manufacturers of the 40 ft + rigs start to tighten up turning radius? What is the means - IFS? The newer Newells have a turning tag, but they are way out of range for me personally. Was there a general shift in industry at a certain time when they started making these units more manueverable?
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Rex & Shirley
Bastrop, Texas
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Our '00 Win. Itasca Horizon was on the then new Freightliner chassis with a very tight turn radius. Is a very odd feeling to need to look out the side window if you had the steering cranked all the way over.
IFS is Independent Front Suspension. What your car has. Most HD chassis use a forged straight axle like in HD trucks. Nice marketing but I can't see the real value.
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JasonD
Annapolis, MD
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Our '04 40 footer can turn around in a cul-de-sac no problem. Looking at it, you'd think it'll never make it, but it does with room to spare. Big class A's are more maneuverable than you think.
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John Canfield
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Our chassis has IFS and a wheel cut of 56 degrees. We can maneuver our coach into some extremely tight spots due to the turning radius.
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KOG
Winterville GA
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Leaf sprung front axles tend to limit turning radius because the springs have to be set far inboard from the wheels to allow a sharp wheel cut. Use of IFS, coil or air springs allows sharp wheel cut without the tire hitting a spring.
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Techie
Pahrump, NV, USA
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In addition to the degree & IFS if your tag is liftable you also shorten the turning radius considerably. We can get our 40' w/tag (06 CC Allure) around almost as easily as when we had a 33' gas rig.
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pmx2
Nebraska
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The answer to your question is yes there is a general shift to make large motorhomes more maneuverable and reduce the turning radius. Like John above, we have a Horizon with a 56 degree wheel cut and it can make a very tight turn for a 40 ft unit. Look for units with wheel cuts of 56 degrees or better and you will get good turning performance with or without a tag.
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2cyber71
Pennsylvania
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My 40ft Mh has a 55 degree wheel cut, nice.
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gdoily
Texas
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Thanks for the responses..
Did a little research, and found the following on the Newell Tech Talk board from one of their technicians:
Adjusted properly, the turning radius of a 45 foot Newell with the Dana IFS (1997 - 2004) is approximately 44 feet. With the new ZF suspension, including the active steering tag axle, the turning radius is approximately 37 feet.
This seems consistent with some of the other manufacturers specs - some of the very newest designs get down to around 37', and otherwise, with the IFS, most are around 44' (for a 45' bus).
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chastho
arkansas
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Joined: 07/27/2005
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Some 07's now have 60 deg wheel cut.
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