06-10-2020, 11:42 AM
So......... I finally got to test drive the coach today after replacing both the panhard bar and the tag axle bushings. I am a happy camper.
Some of you know my OCD nature about how the coach handles. Let me start with the coach was NOT driving badly. Most situations were easily one handed and relaxed but there was still a handling phenomenon that I did not understand. The behavior was best characterized by the amount of back and forth movement of the steering wheel to keep the coach centered in the lane. On a flat smooth road with little wind, the coach required a slow back and forth of about an inch to keep it centered. BUT, if the road were heavily crowned or there was a consistent side wind, I barely ever moved the steering wheel to center the coach. Obviously if the coach were preloaded to one side, whatever sloppiness that was causing the slow back and forth was taken out of the system. Also, I felt like I had more movement out of a passing semi than I should.
One more interesting observation was the amount of steering input required when the road changed from a positive to a negative camber. Before the replacement of parts in the rear suspension, that change was about 2 inches of steering wheel movement when transitioning from a right cambered road to a left cambered road.
I have been working on front end suspension improvement for five years, but sitting behind the wheel for thousands of miles thinking about what could cause what I felt, at least forced me to consider that the rear may be driving the front. I reasoned that if the back were moving back and forth relative to the center line of the coach then the coach would naturally change direction ever so slightly.
Today was dead calm, I 75 is a smooth and lightly cambered road, and the steering correction was dramatically reduced from what it was prior to the rear suspension work. It would have been nice to have a test drive after the tag axle bushing replacement and a second drive after the panhard bar replacement, but other issues prevented that. I don't know which one of the fixes or both are responsible for the improvement. Also, the change in steering wheel position when the road camber goes from right to left is now less than an inch.
Did I say I was a happy camper?
Some of you know my OCD nature about how the coach handles. Let me start with the coach was NOT driving badly. Most situations were easily one handed and relaxed but there was still a handling phenomenon that I did not understand. The behavior was best characterized by the amount of back and forth movement of the steering wheel to keep the coach centered in the lane. On a flat smooth road with little wind, the coach required a slow back and forth of about an inch to keep it centered. BUT, if the road were heavily crowned or there was a consistent side wind, I barely ever moved the steering wheel to center the coach. Obviously if the coach were preloaded to one side, whatever sloppiness that was causing the slow back and forth was taken out of the system. Also, I felt like I had more movement out of a passing semi than I should.
One more interesting observation was the amount of steering input required when the road changed from a positive to a negative camber. Before the replacement of parts in the rear suspension, that change was about 2 inches of steering wheel movement when transitioning from a right cambered road to a left cambered road.
I have been working on front end suspension improvement for five years, but sitting behind the wheel for thousands of miles thinking about what could cause what I felt, at least forced me to consider that the rear may be driving the front. I reasoned that if the back were moving back and forth relative to the center line of the coach then the coach would naturally change direction ever so slightly.
Today was dead calm, I 75 is a smooth and lightly cambered road, and the steering correction was dramatically reduced from what it was prior to the rear suspension work. It would have been nice to have a test drive after the tag axle bushing replacement and a second drive after the panhard bar replacement, but other issues prevented that. I don't know which one of the fixes or both are responsible for the improvement. Also, the change in steering wheel position when the road camber goes from right to left is now less than an inch.
Did I say I was a happy camper?
Richard and Rhonda Entrekin
99 Newell, 512
Maverick Hybrid Toad
Inverness, FL (when we're home
)