"How about telling us the rest of the story of your suspension? What kind of
tires? Air pressure? Do you have any road wander? How does wind affect your
ride? Any idea of the size of the dips and your speed?"
Henry; Tires are 875 x 16.5 D 10ply inflated to 75 lbs. It's not
particularly susceptable to cross winds (except big rigs going the other
way on 2 lane roads) and it doesn't wander except in the deepest ruts. The
pitching occurs at all speeds (20 to 70) and with very minor irregularities
in the road surface.
"I had my LR D tires inflated to 65psi cold. A classics member said to
lower the pressure and there would be a difference in stability. I lowered
it to 60 for the return trip and was indeed impressed with the improved
difference. The level of your coach makes a big difference too. If it's
too high in
the rear, it will be hard to keep on the road. It's much better to have it
too low if you can't have it level."
Billy; My intuition tells me that lowering the tire pressure would increase
the pitching not decrease it. Weren't you trying to reduce wander and
soften the ride? The rear height is not high. In fact, our "training
wheels" come into play quite often when entering or leaving driveways and
it's about 100# overweight in the front.
"Check rear suspension for pin/bushing wear. IIRC, with shock and air bag
removed, you shouldn't have more than 1/8 inch play at spindle."
Patrick; The rear suspension was checked by Osburn's just last April.
It's not so much a problem for the driver because she has the wheel to hold
onto, but with my diminished upper body strength I need to keep my elbows
planted on the armrests to maintain side to side balance. It would sure be
nice to be able to relax more while we're cruisin'.
"How is your coach loaded? Do you have any extra weight behind the rear
wheels? Any tool storage at the rear bumper? Do you pull a toad? What tire
pressure do you use?
My coach has new Caspro shocks, too, and everything is tip-top in the
suspension department. It handles like a dream. Goes down the road straight
as an arrow, and is very relaxing to drive, even better than some cars I
drive. People don't believe me when I tell them how easy it is to herd that
six ton missle down the highway. Oh well, let 'em be deprived .....
I use 80 psi in my tires; all steel, 16" Michelins on Alcoa wheels. Don't
pull a toad. Nothing on the back bumper, and try not to have any excess
baggage in the rear of the coach. And, not much in the rest. Haven't had it
weighed but I suspect it's well under allowable gross weight. Maybe that
helps.
I also use one other trick that a GMC guru once showed me. I keep the
distance from the pavement to the bottom of my rub strip, measured at the
center of the rear two wheels, at 39 1/4" to 39 1/2". Dunno if it's some
sort of a magic formula, or what, but it sure seems to help the ride. It's
easy to adjust the height using a stick to measure with, one I cut to a
length of 39 1/2".
Also, my right side Electro Level is not working, so I set the height to what
I want and travel in "hold".
Sure works for me."
Glenn; We're not "rear heavy" and don't pull a toad. The idea of measuring
the distance from the rub strip to the pavement would be a handy way to
check the ride height valves, but only if the measurement is taken when the
height at the frame is in spec.
Thanks guys.
But I'm still wonderin'.
Dave (& Dege), '76 Royale, Santa Barbara, CA ("digester")
