Down a truly rough road in my class C?

[wandering_bark]

Need advice please. I've been offered a FHU on a remote ranchette where I go horseback riding, but the easements, which are very rutted and rolling, sort of up-and-down lumps in the road, are enough to jar the kidneys out of an elephant(to put it graphically). I took my Ford Taurus, heavy duty car, up there and after that trip have the feeling that with my 27 ft. Class C it would jar and twist and perhaps not be the brightest move I ever made. It's got airbags, good tires, and is well-balance...now. But I'm apprehensive about going down that long horror of a road. Has anyone had this experience, and how did you deal with it, and give me an idea of what to check and look for before I decide to give up the site, which is really beautiful. I have no qualms about saying "NO" to it, just need some other C RV folks' thoughts on it. Thank you!
Donnis

[RobertRyan]

Grit Dog wrote:
Pinichols, no that’s not what causes washboards. It’s simply repeated traction/loss of traction that is exaggerated more as the bumps get worse.

Washboarding or corrugation of roads comprises a series of ripples, which occur with the passage of wheels rolling over unpaved roads at speeds sufficient to cause bouncing of the wheel on the initially unrippled surface and take on the appearance of a laundry washboard.

Wikipedia article on wash boarding
Wikipedia Article on Washboarding

[klutchdust]

My experience crossing a "dip" in the road resulted in the rear of my coach getting hung up as the wheels sunk in a soft spot. Using the hydraulic levelers and wood/rocks we lifted the coach filled in the dip and were once again on level ground. The overhang in the back can be deceiving.
I travel down washboard roads and allow sufficient time so as not to have everything fly out of the cabinets. patience grasshopper.

[Chum_lee]

One important factor which I learned as a pilot. Time changes everything, mostly due to weather. Don't assume the road will be in the same condition on your way out as it was on your way in. The weight of your vehicle may also change, . . . . . significantly, which affects how it handles in the muck.

Chum lee

That said, we made the trip to Chaco Canyon off I-40 @ Thoreau. (Hwy 371) When we got to the dirt portion, (Hwy 57) it had just been graded the day before. The dirt road was smoother and in better condition than many paved roads in New Mexico. It rained for two days while at the canyon. The way out was passable but treacherous. Several hours with the power washer later, no worse for wear. Talk about caked on mud, . . . no, . . . . . lets not!

[Grit_dog]

pnichols wrote:

DrewE wrote:

pnichols wrote:

BTW, I have a theory regarding how a washboard road surface comes about: Maaaaaaybe from folks down through the years before the washboard existed driving too fast on the road surface. Perhaps related to the torque on drive axles being applied via a series of pulses from an internal combustion engine's up and down piston motion? I'll bet that roads didn't get "washboarded" in the good old horse-and-buggy days.

The engine vibration has nothing to do with washboarding; it's at a wildly different frequency (at least a few octaves higher). According to the very quick "research" I've done, the main contributors seem to be the speed of traffic--below maybe 5 mph or so it doesn't occur at all--the amount of traffic, and the susceptibility of the road material to be moved about by wheels going over it, which in turn depends on its makeup and the general climatic conditions: whether it's muddy, dusty, etc.

It was likely a far less prevalent problem in horse-and-buggy days due to the slower speed of travel. That does not mean the roads were not rough, of course; horse shoes and skinny iron-bound wheels can tear up dirt pretty well under the right (wrong?) conditions.

I wasn't referring to engine vibration.

The (heavy) engine flywheel notwithstanding, what I had in mind was the diameter of the drive tires - versus vehicle speed - versus crankshaft RPM - versus piston up/down motion causing their power pushes to make the crankshaft torque come in a bunch of "rapid spurts" ... all this interacting together to cause the drive tires to kindof "hop" down the road and hence eventually carve out a series of lateral ripples in a flat and soft road surface that originally was smooth. As time goes on, the lateral ripples only get worse as drive tires continue to hop more violently and dig out the ripples deeper and deeper.

I've scene how vehicles rip down those desert roads trying to "smooth out" the washboarding -> washboarding that maybe was itself originally started by vehicles ripping too fast down those roads when they were smooth, long ago. There's always an excuse to drive fast everywhere and always an eventual price to be paid, IMHO. :S

Pinichols, no that’s not what causes washboards. It’s simply repeated traction/loss of traction that is exaggerated more as the bumps get worse.

[T18skyguy]

RobertRyan wrote:

Garyhaupt wrote:
You must sell RV's for a living.


Gary 

No par for the course here, going off road is done by 40% of RV'ers in Australia as against maybe 10% in the US/ Canada

I've always been very impressed with Australian products. The Australian items I've owned were top quality. I often look at Australian RV's on the web, and they look top notch as well. In America, there is usually a disclaimer in many owners manuals that states "Not designed for off road use" Particularly travel trailers are more prone to break the welds at the shackle frame interface when taken off road.

[RobertRyan]

Garyhaupt wrote:
You must sell RV's for a living.


Gary 

No par for the course here, going off road is done by 40% of RV'ers in Australia as against maybe 10% in the US/ Canada

[pnichols]

DrewE wrote:

pnichols wrote:

BTW, I have a theory regarding how a washboard road surface comes about: Maaaaaaybe from folks down through the years before the washboard existed driving too fast on the road surface. Perhaps related to the torque on drive axles being applied via a series of pulses from an internal combustion engine's up and down piston motion? I'll bet that roads didn't get "washboarded" in the good old horse-and-buggy days.

The engine vibration has nothing to do with washboarding; it's at a wildly different frequency (at least a few octaves higher). According to the very quick "research" I've done, the main contributors seem to be the speed of traffic--below maybe 5 mph or so it doesn't occur at all--the amount of traffic, and the susceptibility of the road material to be moved about by wheels going over it, which in turn depends on its makeup and the general climatic conditions: whether it's muddy, dusty, etc.

It was likely a far less prevalent problem in horse-and-buggy days due to the slower speed of travel. That does not mean the roads were not rough, of course; horse shoes and skinny iron-bound wheels can tear up dirt pretty well under the right (wrong?) conditions.

I wasn't referring to engine vibration.

The (heavy) engine flywheel notwithstanding, what I had in mind was the diameter of the drive tires - versus vehicle speed - versus crankshaft RPM - versus piston up/down motion causing their power pushes to make the crankshaft torque come in a bunch of "rapid spurts" ... all this interacting together to cause the drive tires to kindof "hop" down the road and hence eventually carve out a series of lateral ripples in a flat and soft road surface that originally was smooth. As time goes on, the lateral ripples only get worse as drive tires continue to hop more violently and dig out the ripples deeper and deeper.

I've scene how vehicles rip down those desert roads trying to "smooth out" the washboarding -> washboarding that maybe was itself originally started by vehicles ripping too fast down those roads when they were smooth, long ago. There's always an excuse to drive fast everywhere and always an eventual price to be paid, IMHO. :S

[RobertRyan]

Drew E wrote:
The engine vibration has nothing to do with washboarding; it's at a wildly different frequency (at least a few octaves higher). According to the very quick "research" I've done, the main contributors seem to be the speed of traffic--below maybe 5 mph or so it doesn't occur at all--the amount of traffic, and the susceptibility of the road material to be moved about by wheels going over it, which in turn depends on its makeup and the general climatic conditions: whether it's muddy, dusty, etc.

It was likely a far less prevalent problem in horse-and-buggy days due to the slower speed of travel. That does not mean the roads were not rough, of course; horse shoes and skinny iron-bound wheels can tear up dirt pretty well under the right (wrong?) conditions. 

Agree. Big problem here. best way to attack it is use speed and not drive too slowly. That can cause accidents on a washboard road. Harmonic vibrations tend to cancel out

[DrewE]

pnichols wrote:

BTW, I have a theory regarding how a washboard road surface comes about: Maaaaaaybe from folks down through the years before the washboard existed driving too fast on the road surface. Perhaps related to the torque on drive axles being applied via a series of pulses from an internal combustion engine's up and down piston motion? I'll bet that roads didn't get "washboarded" in the good old horse-and-buggy days.

The engine vibration has nothing to do with washboarding; it's at a wildly different frequency (at least a few octaves higher). According to the very quick "research" I've done, the main contributors seem to be the speed of traffic--below maybe 5 mph or so it doesn't occur at all--the amount of traffic, and the susceptibility of the road material to be moved about by wheels going over it, which in turn depends on its makeup and the general climatic conditions: whether it's muddy, dusty, etc.

It was likely a far less prevalent problem in horse-and-buggy days due to the slower speed of travel. That does not mean the roads were not rough, of course; horse shoes and skinny iron-bound wheels can tear up dirt pretty well under the right (wrong?) conditions.

[pnichols]

garyhaupt wrote:
Morning...two different critters. The 20..I thought it was 25, miles into Chaco is washboard. On and on and on...and one sand wash to cross. There is no fear of contacting the underside, at all. It is heavily used, etc. You know when you get to the park boundary..the road is paved.

I have been in 6? times...once from the south west..Crown Point Agency, in my VW Westy. You want to be in for a 3 or 4 days Phil. It is a very different place.

Gary

Thanks Gary for the Chaco info! We may give it a try eventually, as we like visiting Native American historical areas.

Washboard is no problem for us (even though we hate it) - as we've had to travel long distances on it in Death Valley and Oregon - usually at 5-10 MPH speeds in our Class C.

Having to travel in/on the stuff that Robert's photo shows above is where I draw the non-4X4 line for us ... however, you could probably deal with that kind of guck in your lifted 6WD Class C. 😉

BTW, I have a theory regarding how a washboard road surface comes about: Maaaaaaybe from folks down through the years before the washboard existed driving too fast on the road surface. Perhaps related to the torque on drive axles being applied via a series of pulses from an internal combustion engine's up and down piston motion? I'll bet that roads didn't get "washboarded" in the good old horse-and-buggy days.

[RobertRyan]

wandering bark wrote:
Need advice please. I've been offered a FHU on a remote ranchette where I go horseback riding, but the easements, which are very rutted and rolling, sort of up-and-down lumps in the road, are enough to jar the kidneys out of an elephant(to put it graphically). I took my Ford Taurus, heavy duty car, up there and after that trip have the feeling that with my 27 ft. Class C it would jar and twist and perhaps not be the brightest move I ever made. It's got airbags, good tires, and is well-balance...now. But I'm apprehensive about going down that long horror of a road. Has anyone had this experience, and how did you deal with it, and give me an idea of what to check and look for before I decide to give up the site, which is really beautiful. I have no qualms about saying "NO" to it, just need some other C RV folks' thoughts on it. Thank you!
Donnis

I think everyone agrees GO SLOW. You are not going to get anything like this, where they are going VERY SLOWLY

[bobndot]

Chaco, this link has some nice pics about at the 1/2 way mark .


https://www.truckcampermagazine.com/expeditions/united-states/northwest-new-mexico-the-bucket-list/

[garyhaupt]

pnichols wrote:

garyhaupt wrote:

PSW wrote:
Several years ago we took our Class C to Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. It was about 20 miles of some of the most rutted road I have ever driven. It took me about an hour and a half to get there and our rig was "shaken and stirred" but fine. The guy in front of me was pulling a nice travel trailer and he was oblivious to the road due to the fact his pickup could handle it just fine...but not the trailer. When we got to the campsites at the park, we camped close to the poor fellow and his wife.

I loaned him some of my tools for him to try to put his trailer back to gether. Cabinets had been knocked loose and stuff strewn over the floor.

The moral to the story is simple: drive slow and read the road. What was an hour and a half in and the same out as opposed to less time?? A rig that survived without any problems, that's what.

Heck of a drive, ain't it.

Gary Haupt

Gary IYHO ... is the drive into Chaco Canyon worse than getting down onto the valley floor loop in Monument Valley?

The whole valley floor road is signed as "Not Recommended for RVs", but we took it anyway and got by fine by taking it very careful in our Class C.

I'd like to try Chaco Canyon eventually when we're out that way.

Morning...two different critters. The 20..I thought it was 25, miles into Chaco is washboard. On and on and on...and one sand wash to cross. There is no fear of contacting the underside, at all. It is heavily used, etc. You know when you get to the park boundary..the road is paved.


I have been in 6? times...once from the south west..Crown Point Agency, in my VW Westy. You want to be in for a 3 or 4 days Phil. It is a very different place.


Gary

[Grit_dog]

johnwalkerpa1 wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
Aside from breakover angles, width and overhead hazards, I’ll wager that any road that you got through with a Ford Taurus and didnt bottom out hard or repeatedly will be fine for what is essentially a 1 ton dually truck.

I was thinking the same thing....a Ford Taurus is not exactly what I'd consider to be a premier off or rough road vehicle 🙂

But it is a "heavy duty" Ford Taurus. :W