Steering Stabilizers For Motorhome

[t0005pb]

Well I have a 91 motorhome with a Spartan chassis, called steer-safe and and order their steering stabilizer. I sure hope it improves my drive. Will let you all know. Wish me luck. lol PS I just had a alignment done.

[johnfv2]

Guess this maybe an after the fact buTTTTTTTTTTT, I've a steer safe for 5 years and wouldn't chanEg my setup. It is perfecttttt.

[johnfv2]

Another bigggggggggggg thing I forgot to mention is beefing up your rear leaf springs to avoid most side sway and getting sucked in by semi's and the high winds.

I doubled up mine and now I don't know how hard the winds are blowing or if a semi is getting ready to pass me. I only notice a semi is coming by if I pick it up in my

mirror with my peripheral vision. Big thing is how your rear springs are working with your rig.

[LivingLikeEachDayIsMyLast]

Six years ago Camping World installed every single thing you can imagine on my 33' Southwind to stabilize the steering & handling at a very healthy price. Nothing really did the trick.

Four years ago a neighbor camper in a campground told me to install PST polyurethane bushings in my front & rear stabilizer bars. The wife & I installed them ourselves. The result was amazing.It's a pleasure to drive now. Everytime I hit the road, I am still amazed at how good it drives & handles.

Have a great camping day! Wayne & Deborah

P.S. This company carries polyurethane bushings for the P30 chassis. I'm sure other companies would carry them for other brands of motorhomes.

http://www.suspension.com/g_m_trk_2wd.htm

[GTEMAN]

We have a 40AH 2014 Phaeton which is on a Freightliner chassis and my husband and I both drive. We do feel the wind and the semi drafts and were wondering if anyone has any new input on which Steering Stabilizers are best now.... the post I read on the subject here are from 2010 & 2011.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  

We are waffling on which system to install between Blue OX True Center & Safe T Plus.  

Thanks, Candivan57

[wildebill308]

Welcome to the forum. How many miles have you driven this coach? Have you had an all wheel alignment done? Have you adjusted the tire pressure based on weight? You Probably don't need swaybar bushings,but the stiffer polyurethane ones may help. How much experience do you have driving big coaches? 

Bill

[rlbarkleyii]

On 5/4/2010 at 9:19 AM, MONTIE said:

" It was the service man at Camper World that told me that the Safety Steer would not handle a coach as large as ours."

Don't believe anything the Camping World people tell you without doing your homework.  They generally have few truly qualified service techs, and tend to take your money and push you out the door.

[mweiner]

Hmm, reading these posts above and reminds me of  my nextdoor neighbor about 3 years ago. He had an old 1983 Winnebago Itasca , 33 foot motor home in pretty good shape with only 33,000 miles for $12k.  

He got rid of it after a year and two trips... NOT a very good use if ask me.  I asked, why don't you use it more.   His answer was...it gets 5 MPG and it's so UNSTABLE on the road... very hard to control and he hated driving it... said it was too much work and driving it was "exhausting".  

So, it sat around for a very long time....I imagine that's why it had 33,000 miles from the previous owner..

Maybe you folks with the DP's don't have a similar experience with the swaying of the coaches you drive? But, when I read stories about doing "everything you can" and the ride still is unstable, I don't know.... kinda makes me wonder why the issue of steering stability is still a very big problem...  Why isn't this baked in from the manufacturer of the coach when you buy it?  This doesn't sound like something you would expect to be added on later as an option? 

Maybe it's just a size thing or not? I really don't know.

Hopefully in your cases with the rear Diesel pushers it's better...? 

Good luck..

[GTEMAN]

MWeiner,

Thanks for your post....I agree with you, anything we can do to make driving a large RV easier will be worth it...especially on long trips...we are beginning a 5400 mile trip this fall and no telling what kind of weather we will encounter...We are going with the Blue Ox True Center Steering Stabilizer...it is a bit more expensive, but I like that it is adjustable...crosswinds in Texas can be very strong....no telling what we will encounter in the NE this fall.... wish us luck and I will keep everyone posted on our installation.... we contacted the manufacturer, (Blue OX) for an installer that is experienced in installing TRUE CENTER steering stabilizers, and are using who they recommended in Fort Worth.   Since my husband and I both drive, I believe it is a must!

K. Vander Molen 

[mikecollie]

I  am thinking about a steering stabilizer for my 2000 Monaco Diplomat.Anyone had any experience with the Roadmaster  RSSA? Looks a lot like SafeTPlus but a little cheaper .

[elkhartjim]

Wildebill asked some very important questions and since you didn't respond to him I'll ask again.

1. Have you had the wheel alignment checked?

2. Have you weighed the coach, preferably each corner with it loaded for travel? Full water, full propane, full fuel, food, clothing and the 500 pounds of stuff we carry and never use.

3. Are you inflating the tires to the recommended pressure according to the weight they are supporting.

I have a 2008 Fleetwood Bounder DP and I'm not bothered by trucks, now 30-40mph cross wind is a different story. I would be curious to hear from steering stabilizer users if they help in severe cross winds.

[wildebill308]

I want to add/clarified that you should have the all wheel alignment done loaded like you were going on a trip or to the scale as Jim posted above.

Bill

[rfsod48]

Jim,

I have the safe t plus on my 2005 Bounder DP, in high wind 30-40 mph from the side the help is minimal. I consider this a time to drive slower 40-50mph or get off the road. 

Roland

[mweiner]

How many of you have electronic stability control?

Do these stabilizers discussed here take the place of this?

I'm not sure it's possible to add on ESC after the fact or at the very least extremely expensive? 

But, it would be a very good idea if you could.

[elkhartjim]

ESC is for traction and yes I have it on my Jeep.

[jleamont]

I have a Safe T Plus on our coach, I didn't have a problem before I installed it, I wanted it incase of tire failure. Wind.....my coach laughs at it and anything trying to pass me including tractor trailers. I just have to be careful as they get sucked into me and then blown away from us, over onto the median, I worry they cannot get it back under control and will over compensate. Usually the tractor is a sign of the drivers ability to drive, company owned I really keep an eye on them, owner operator, not so much. I had a Uhaul pass us on the last trip, he was off into the grass in the center median attempting to regain control from my wind, I thought he was going to make the 6:00 news. All said and done when he did pass me he gestured to me that I was #1, some people are so thoughtful

You can modify a coach that handles poorly, been there done that with the last one. You should only do it after making sure the alignment is set properly, 4 corner weights have been established, tire pressures are set to match the weight's and there is no mechanical defect first.

[wildebill308]

7 hours ago, MWeiner said:

How many of you have electronic stability control?

Do these stabilizers discussed here take the place of this?

I'm not sure it's possible to add on ESC after the fact or at the very least extremely expensive? 

But, it would be a very good idea if you could.

ESC has nothing to do with steering in the wind from trucks or cross wind. 

Bill

[elkhartjim]

1 hour ago, jleamont said:

12 hours ago, Elkhartjim said:

Wildebill asked some very important questions and since you didn't respond to him I'll ask again.

1. Have you had the wheel alignment checked?

2. Have you weighed the coach, preferably each corner with it loaded for travel? Full water, full propane, full fuel, food, clothing and the 500 pounds of stuff we carry and never use.

3. Are you inflating the tires to the recommended pressure according to the weight they are supporting.

I have a 2008 Fleetwood Bounder DP and I'm not bothered by trucks, now 30-40mph cross wind is a different story. I would be curious to hear from steering stabilizer users if they help in severe cross winds.

You can modify a coach that handles poorly, been there done that with the last one. You should only do it after making sure the alignment is set properly, 4 corner weights have been established, tire pressures are set to match the weight's and there is no mechanical defect first.

We keep saying the same thing yet the recent OP has never responded.

[rsbilledwards]

Interesting reading when stories like Joe's pops up. I often wondered why the trucks seemed to weave after I pass. Owning a couple Safari coaches that track magnificently passing or being passed, I see some big rigs chasing their steering wheels....got it. I have the same, being pushed around, issues in the winds across Nebraska or Kansas and would like some help. Sometimes one would like to get off the road but out there it is always a blowing. 

 

Any comments on the on the Safe-T-Plus versus the Roadmaster RSSA.  The Blue Ox is probably the best in the wind and it is nearly 3 times the coast...in this case we probably get what we pay for.

[jleamont]

50 minutes ago, RSBILLEDWARDS said:

Interesting reading when stories like Joe's pops up. I often wondered why the trucks seemed to weave after I pass. Owning a couple Safari coaches that track magnificently passing or being passed, I see some big rigs chasing their steering wheels....got it. I have the same, being pushed around, issues in the winds across Nebraska or Kansas and would like some help. Sometimes one would like to get off the road but out there it is always a blowing. 

 

Any comments on the on the Safe-T-Plus versus the Roadmaster RSSA.  The Blue Ox is probably the best in the wind and it is nearly 3 times the coast...in this case we probably get what we pay for.

RSBill, as you know I usually spend a crazy amount of time researching a product before I will purchase it. Unless bought on the fly (rv show) like our last TPMS that went into the trash on Sunday, thus the reason for all of the exhausting research. 

I considered this Blue OX product, until I read where it had locked up on a few people resulting in them being unable to steer the coach, another person had the ram snap after binding up, jammed his steering and giving him the ride of his life. Beyond that there were a bunch of complaints of them leaking after two years. I've said it many times on here, we have enough to manage with maintenance and repairs. Keep it simple.......

[wildebill308]

I may be the odd man out here as I don't see any benefit to having one of these products. I don't have a problem with passing trucks blowing me around. I watched a video about how this one product puts steering input into the system "automatically" to compensate for strong cross winds. Realey? Now you have more steering correction to make if the wind is blocked/suddenly stops like going under a overpass then coming out the outher side.

Maybe it is because I have had more experience driving in high wind conditions. I do drive in west Texas and the South West more than outher places. There is a reason they have built thousands of wind generators out there. Ask those who went to Chandler this spring how the winds on I-10 where. I never felt that the coach was hard to drive or I needed help with a "steering stabilizer"

Bill

[elkhartjim]

Oh come on Bill, just admit it - you're so strong you could drive in a wind tunnel.

[jleamont]

His beer hand is very muscular, lots of exercise 

[rsbilledwards]

Fine, problem solved....There was a reason I posted the comment here..KISS  None bought pretty much how I was going anyway...I will spend it elsewhere. 

[jleamont]

1 hour ago, RSBILLEDWARDS said:

Fine, problem solved....There was a reason I posted the comment here..KISS  None bought pretty much how I was going anyway...I will spend it elsewhere. 

YUp, KISS is almost always the best route. Only someone in the automobile/truck/RV industry can really appreciate KISS!