Scary Handling Problem

[DunnInn]

First the equipment:
2009 Winnebago 29T class C on 2008 Ford E450 with V10 Triton
2007 Jeep Liberty with 4 wheel drive
Blue Ox Tow Bar and Tow Plate
Brake Buddy

Now the problem:
When driving the Winnebago or Jeep separately, they do fine. When you hook them together, it becomes a white knuckle experience. When the toad is hooked up, driving at city speeds, the steering on the RV seems stiff and doesn’t try to return to center after a turn. With the toad hooked up, driving at highway speeds, when I try to correct for a wind gust or a truck passing, the RV seems sluggish in responding then overcorrects and must be corrected back. This leads to overcorrection to the left followed by overcorrection to the right and this continues for several cycles. Then it’s back to a constant wandering between the lines. The tow bar handles are both in the locked position and there is no slippage in the bar. The alignment on the Jeep checked out OK. Also had the shocks on the RV checked – they’re OK. No oversized tires on the vehicles. Sure would like to find an INEXPENSIVE solution to this problem. Any suggestions?

[j-d]

Thanks again for the update!

They need to work carefully and not just for appearance. Watertight integrity, of course, but there's also a structural aspect to the walls and how they tie in at the floor area.

Looking forward to good progress and good results!

[DunnInn]

Just got the estimate from the repair shop - $10,500. We're in line for the work - they say 2 weeks before they can start and then 2 weeks to do the work. Anxious to get it back!!

[j-d]

Thanks for the update, please keep them coming!

[DunnInn]

Met with the insurance adjuster Monday. He TALKS a good game. We'll have to see how it all turns out. With the help of someone of the forum, we found a place in Burleson that does good fiberglass work. We emailed him the pics and we're taking the rv over there on Tuesday. He's supposed to coordinate with the insurance guy. I was worried about them maybe totaling the thing. The insurance guy said they total them when the repair will be 75% or more of the value. He didn't think it would come to that. Let's hope not.

[DunnInn]

After looking at some reviews of RV service places, we're now considering taking it to Wade's in Oklahoma up by Tulsa - a 4 hour drive, but they have good reviews. Anybody had any experience there?

[DunnInn]

Does anybody have any recommendations or NONrecommendations for a place around Dallas that does bodywork on Class C's? We're thinking about taking it to McClains in Rockwall.

[desertrek]

I guess that's why I am so anal retentive about taking my RV or any of my vehicles in for repairs any more. Always seems like either something else gets damaged or the work that is done is subpar or incomplete.

On our new rig, we had a small punch list of mostly minor repairs needed under warranty and about half the items addressed either had to be done twice or I had to fix properly my self. I was just happy no other damage was done while they had it and happily completed the rest of the repairs properly that I knew could do myself when we got it back. Not what I expected from one of the largest nationwide dealers...

I hope that for all your efforts and waiting to get your rig back and fixed, your steering/towing issue is solved.

[dleslie125]

AO_hitech wrote:
When I have had an auto dealer wreck my car they had a body shop fix it no problem. I would guess that their insurance covered the bill.

Ah, you just took my mind back to 1965. We had our Corvair Corsa in for some fixes and someone banged in the driver's door. When I picked it up after work they didn't say a word. As I was getting in the car I felt something was strange. I walked a few feet from the car and looked at the side. Looked fine except for one thing - they didn't put the white pin stripe along the door (it ran from front to rear) because it needed more drying time. So they just forgot about it. I blew my stack and the manager wondered why I would get upset. When I told him that his staff didn't even mention the accident he gulped. Good thing they had a body shop.

[AO_hitech]

When I have had an auto dealer wreck my car they had a body shop fix it no problem. I would guess that their insurance covered the bill.

[j-d]

I think you haven't gotten a reply to your latest news because we're all at a loss for words. I think I found one:

Sickening!

Please let us know how events unforld.

[DunnInn]

Got the bigger bushing put on and the caster on the left is now set to 5.1, right to 5.8. Drove just the RV in windy conditions and it drove GREAT!! Would have liked to try the toad with it, BUT the alignment place drove the rear end of the RV into a fence when they were trying to pull it into the stall. Back bumper now is bent at a 90 degree angle. Back panel is broken. Back of both right and left sides are damaged. Backup camera doesn't work - don't know if that's from wires being damaged or what. They say their insurance will cover the repairs. We'll see.

[mikebo]

After following this thread, I took my motorhome back to the shop where I had it aligned almost two years ago and had them bump the caster from 3 degrees to 5.1 on the left and 5.4 degrees on the right.(that was the max he could get). It's too early to tell for sure but the steering without the toad seemed to have a lot less wander.

[DunnInn]

I know, but we want the left to be 5.3 and the right more than that.

[wolfe10]

You WANT more caster on right than left to compensate for the crown in the road.

[DunnInn]

They could only set the left caster to 4.7 because of the bushing? He didn't have any bigger ones. Right is set to 5.3. It helped a LOT!! He's going to loosen the steering gear box a little tomorrow and after a test drive, I'm going to tell him to get the bigger bushings so he can increase the left caster. THANK YOU HARVARD for your advice!! We may still get the larger sway bars to replace the OEM ones.