Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: Next Week's Eugene Rally (Read 1746 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Next Week's Eugene Rally

Yahoo Message Number: 6149
Are there any plans for folks of this forum to meet at next week's Eugene's Rally?? Any way to know/Identify forum members?? Maybe wearing a Pink Carnation behind our Left Ears???? Just kidding... Knowing the forum is not an official Country Coach Indentity, maybe it is one of the not discussed features of the function... Will be our First RV Rally of any sorts after 25 years of RVing.... Washed the Rig in the Rain yesterday after returning from Cow Pie infested fields of Centeral Oregon..... My Neighbors thougt I was nuts, but the wife very much approved of my Lunacy....
Lee in Portland, #11219 Intrigue, 36ft with two Siamese Watch Cats inside..

Ride Height is Critical

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 6150
In response to all of the recent messages about CC handling, I thought you guys might benefit from our experiences. We bought a 36' Intrigue galley slide in April of 1999 (coach number 10865). The coach wandered so badly that I thought it was dangerous to drive.
My first lesson was that the dealer service folks, even the very good ones (like ours), have heard the "wandering" complaint so often that they don't really take it seriously. And the experienced service techs have driven so many awful coaches so many times that they almost anticipate what the coach is going to do and can easily drive coaches that would be dangerous for anyone else to drive. That makes it very hard for them to confirm your complaint.

The dealer, after conferring with CC, had no suggestions for improving the handling of the coach. I tried some alternate air pressures and made sure that it was aligned properly, but otherwise we just put up with it for over a year. I actually had the dealer remove some of the steering "lash" so that I could keep it on the road without continuously "sawing" at the wheel.
I had finally had enough so I just started carefully reading all of the suspension sections of the CC manual. After studying the ride height section I converted their specs into a distance from the road to the bottom of the frame rail. I then took two sliding curtain rods and adjusted them to the front and rear ride heights (it's about 2" higher in the rear).
After carefully checking the ride heights on a couple of trips it was clear that the rear ride height was 3/4 to 1" too low. The dealer agreed to reset the ride height and the difference was immediate and dramatic. I even got him to restore the default steering lash because the coach just wasn't wandering any more.

I have heard some folks on this board mention "ride height and air pressures" as though they are marginal issues relative to coach handling.
Tire pressures, maybe (except in extreme cases), but ride height is fundamental and critical.

By the way, during the process of getting the ride height right it got temporarily set too high in the rear. Again, it was only about 3/4" too high, but it produced a very strong rhythmic howl and vibration in the drive train.

I hope this information is useful.

Jim Ott

'99 Intrigue (10865)

Re: Next Week's Eugene Rally

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 6151
Lee,

Maybe you could try and set a place and time for the board members to try and hook up with each other. Start a new post and try to set a day. Wish we were going... Please keep us all posted on the anything you learn..
Tom

02 Allure 30780

Re: Ride Height is Critical

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 6154
"Again, it was only about 3/4" too high, but it produced a very strong rhythmic howl and vibration in the drive train. "
-------

I also had the howl and called I think Jim Cooley at CC while on the road.
He immediately

said it was the ride height needing adjustment. He was right and after adjusting it at the Class Reunion

in Eugene Oregon my coach stopped howling at the drive shaft and also drove true and didn't pull constantly to the right .
Sincerely

George W Becker

gwb36@... 1999 Country Coach Intrigue #10700

Re: Ride Height is Critical

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 6159
Just as an FYI for some "lurkers" here who might not know, but coaches 2001 and after for the Intrigues and Allures at least (Magnas and Affinitys were earlier I think) have the independent front suspensions (IFS) that have changed the handling of these coaches quite a bit from what we understand from pre-2001 coaches.
Therefore, issues like this may not be "across the board" issues, even though the models sound similar to those who are not aware of this.

We had some wandering that was an issue, but after a suggestion was made by someone here to make sure our tires were inflated exactly according to the coach weights, we tried it and never dreamed that that little change would make such a dramatic difference in handling, but it did. The coach drives like a dream now...
Jan McNeill

2001 Intrigue 11320

Re: Next Week's Eugene Rally

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 6167
What if I get some Poka Dotted Ribbons and Place them in a Box at the Information table and Folks who want to be identified as Forum members can tape a ribbon to there name tag. Maybe a log sheet as to what spaces we are in and the best time for us to meet each other??? I can get ribbon on the way home from WORK today ! ! ! Thanks for the consideration, Lee In Rainy Portland, Oregun... #11219 Intrigue

Quote from: truk4u2003

Lee,

Maybe you could try and set a place and time for the board members > to try and hook up with each other. Start a new post and try to set

a

Quote
day. Wish we were going... Please keep us all posted on the

anything

Quote
you learn..
Tom

02 Allure 30780

Quote from: lcasebeer@c...
> Are there any plans for folks of this forum to meet at next

week's

Re: Next Week's Eugene Rally

Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 6169
Hi,

Great idea to get together at the rally. If we can't obtain a meeting space we could always gather at one of our coaches. As for a time, Sunday will be a night on our own for dinner maybe we could set something up for after the factory tour.

See you at the Rally!

Dede & Dale Loop
2001 Intrigue #11240
36 ft Single slide, PT

2001 Toyota Highlander TOAD
Aussie: Annie

Re: Ride Height is Critical

Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 6173
CC started the IFS mid production on the 2000 models. My 2000 Allure #30511 has a build date of Jan 2000 and has the IFS on it as well.

Jim

2000 Allure #30511

Quote from: janmcneill

Re: Ride Height is Critical

Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 6174
If your coach is low in the rear it's probably going to wander, IFS or not.

Re: Ride Height is Critical

Reply #10 –
Yahoo Message Number: 6175
Jim & The Group,

I have a 2000 Allure, non-slide model, #30444 with Neway IFS.

Build Date Sept. 1999.
Dave

2000 Allure 36'
#30444 w/IFS

Jim Hughes wrote:
 

Re: Ride Height is Critical

Reply #11 –
Yahoo Message Number: 6182
I had a 2000 Intrigue which I purchased in July of 99, and it had ifs.

Walt Rothermel
03Allure30811