Track settings are for the track, street settings are for the street. of toe-in and 1⁄16 in. The SAI is determined at the point in which these two lines intersect. RV Tech Savvy: Can I Tow My Pickup with My Motorhome. If the thrust angle is off zero, this can contribute to vehicle dog-tracking (crooked body relative to direction of travel), increased tire wear and unequal left/right turning. The correct general term is a “Motorhome P Chassis”. Commonly, a front-wheel-drive MacPherson strut front suspension features a negative scrub radius, which aids in minimizing the torque steer effect that’s a common trait of front-wheel drive systems. It should drive like an SUV now. "Warning! Workhorse and Chevrolet Chassis Motorhome Forum: 2: 03-09-2010 01:42 PM: Wheel alignment. It can be done though. Manufactured in 23 and 26 ft (7.0 and 7.9 m) lengths, the design was noted for its front-wheel drive and its low profile, fully integrated body. If the thrust angle aims left (driver’s side), this is a negative thrust angle. This allows you to adjust the front wheel angles relative to the rear wheel angles, regardless of the geometric centerline. How often should this type of motorhome have an alignment? Install wheel liners if equipped. A toe in of about 1/16 to 3/16 should be good. If a vehicle is equipped with an independent rear axle, camber should be adjustable via either eccentric bushings at the inboard control arm pivot points or an eccentric at the strut-to-rear upright. If you like MotorHome, pay just $19.97 for 11 more issues (12 in all). Your Class A motorhome is NOT built on a “P30 Chassis”. Factory camber specs are usually biased toward overall tire tread life for so-called normal driving. The first two can easily be checked at home. Search for new and used Class A Motorhomes for sale. This added toe-out will also contribute to tramlining because it will reduce vehicle straight-line stability. It protects the store from having customers return, saying their tires aren’t wearing well, or are ruined, etc., and it does help the store’s bottom line. Camber thrust is generated by a leaning tire. The goal is to create an acceptable compromise between tread wear and cornering grip. Wheel Alignment Safe steering control with minimum tire wear, can be achieved on the GMC coach when certain values are set for the planes angles and radii of the front suspension and steering members. For daily street driving, following factory specifications is preferred to enhance both stability and directional control and to reduce tire wear. So whaddaya do if you want a “performance” alignment? Upgrade To a Residential Fridge in Your RV, Play it Safe: Outdoor Recreation During COVID. Summer’s almost here, it’s time to load the family into the motorhome and head out on the open road! 228.0 228.0 GVWR (lbs.) A toe-in condition (also referred to as a positive toe angle) is present when the two wheels on the same axle are closer together at the front and wider apart at the rear. If the wheel leans out at the top, this is positive camber. tiffin-specs. Caster angle settings for street-driven vehicles should provide a good compromise to achieve an acceptable steering effort, confident high-speed stability and turning/cornering performance. Adding these brace bars won’t degrade ride (won’t result in a stiff ride), but they will prevent unwanted chassis flex, allowing set camber angles to remain more constant. — Ken Freund. Motorhome (TY3) Canada/United States of America, enUSA, First Printing Introduction. The performance- minded driver will benefit from a setting that’s negative. This design feature reduces the tendency of tire scrub during turns and reduces the turning radius of the outboard wheel, reducing the car’s tendency to turn-in too quickly, while providing reduced recovery effort when the vehicle direction changes. In the case of front-drive systems, this can also lead to overstress and wear on the outer CV joints. This approach allows you to refer to and consider the rear, while a total four-wheel alignment allows adjusting of both front wheel angles as well as rear toe. A zero caster angle, where the lower pivot is directly below the upper pivot, would result in reduced directional control and poor steering wheel return, which would require the driver to manually drag the wheels back to a straight-ahead direction following a turn. If alignment parameters (Caster and/or Camber) needs tweaking still adjust bushings accordingly. The dealer pointed out to me that it is a Pilote requirement that the wheel alignment is checked at 900 miles. If your specs are called out in degrees, take the measured difference between front and rear, multiply by 2, and that will be the approximate degrees. If an upper/lower control arm system is featured, the two anchoring locations (where the upper arm attaches to the frame) can be adjusted (again, with shims or eccentrics). There's an art to engineering a motorhome, as elegantly demonstrated in the custom-built PowerGlide chassis. Ideally, the front steer wheels need to be parallel while cruising to avoid tread scrub. All front suspensions, regardless of design, feature toe angle adjustment, at a location on the steering tie rods/tie rod ends. Black Book. For more information about Ford Credit and access to the Account Manager, go to Drive test. John Arch l Via email. Caster is a stability angle, measured in degrees. Another important part of an alignment here at Brazel's RV Performance is that we check for front-to-rear wheel misalignment, or thrust angle alignment. This will allow you to better tune the wheel angles in a loaded condition as the car will normally be driven. Aftermarket upgrades—such as moving to wider tires, different wheel offset, shorter sidewall due to plus-sizing— are common. Depending on suspension design, upper and lower control arms may be adjustable for camber and caster via spacer shims between the upper arm and frame, or by rotating an eccentric shaft or washers on either arm. I recently replaced all six tires with new Goodyear tires. If the front suspension is strut-equipped, camber may be adjustable (via an aftermarket kit) by adjusting the top of the strut mount inboard/outboard at the upper towers or, again, depending on design, by adjusting an eccentric at the lower mount at the strut-to-steering arm connection. Choose the desired trim / style from the dropdown list to see the corresponding specs. Incorrect wheel alignment conditions affect tire wear and can cause drifting and/or pulling during cruise, acceleration and braking, plus poor directional control. As a rear-drive vehicle moves forward, the front wheels may tend to try to crawl away from each other, while a front-wheel-drive vehicle’s front wheels may try to crawl inboard. For example, when the steering wheel is turned to the left, the left front wheel will exhibit greater toe-out as compared to the number of degrees that the right front wheel toes in. You may have been in my predicament of seeing tire wear, pulling on the steering wheel, and loss of steering control. If the steering wheel is not centered, this may indicate a possible thrust angle deviation. For high-performance driving, a negative camber angle is preferred, to compensate for the lateral forces experienced in cornering. An excessively negative scrub radius tends to increase steering effort, while excessive positive scrub radius (where the load of the tread is moved moves further outboard) can not only affect handling and ease of steering, but can overstress wheel bearings as well. Camber 1.0 degree Plus or Minus .75 degrees Scrub radius is affected when aftermarket wheels featuring a different offset from stock are installed, which moves the tire’s tread center from the original location. Front Wheel Alignment, With a Tape Measure.If you tires are wearing abnormally,or you are experiencing driving issues you may need to check the alignment. The inside wheel must turn in a tighter radius than the outside wheel to allow a smoother turn and reduce tire scrubbing. Privacy policy | ... Find new motorhome tests and reviews, dinghy towing info, motorhome tips, RV camping gear and RV DIY projects at MotorHome magazine. 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