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wandering

Yahoo Message Number: 90466
I have a 2006 CC. Affinity. Smooth road no bumps steers good. Any bumps or road imperfections I have to stay right on it to keep straight.
Three alignments, Road King shocks, Michelin tires and new ends on the Pitman arm.

STILL NOT ANY BETTER.

I had talked to Mr. Hendrson of Grants Pass Oregonat the FMCA gathering and he said bring it in and he could help.

Any reviews would be appreciated.

John Drebick Affinity 6550.

Re: wandering

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 90473
Why don't you give Country Coach a try? Eric did a great job on our coach. We test drove an 06 Affinity while we were there, and it drove good. No real problem over bumps.

Per 95 Affinity 5259

Re: wandering

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 90515
Hi John

I went to hendersons for wondering issues the week before fmca and had them road test and alignment and I left with the same problems and nothing fixed. I am still looking for a solution. I am currently working with the manufacture to find a solution. Keep us posted on what you find for a cause and solution.I think hendersons is over rated.

Rod

Re: wandering

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 90517
I have watched the posts on steering wander with great intrigue. My 2006 Allure had a very bad wander after I bought it. You had to constantly move and adjust the steering wheel to keep the coach in the lane when going down the interstate at 60 mph. It would move from side to side. Passing a semi truck/trailer was truly a white knuckle experience because there was a real danger of side-swiping them! Driving for many hours was very fatiguing and probably not real safe!
I put brand new Michelin XZA2's on it and it acted essentially the same, virtually no improvement. At least this ruled out the tires.
I knew that ride height plays a very important part in the movement and geometry of an IFS suspension. Mike Carnes from this forum was great in talking me through adjusting mine. It was off quite a bit from the CC and Holland/Neway specs. I spent the better part of a day adjusting and measuring and readjusting the ride height to get it as close as possible to the specs. It is not difficult to do, but tedious. It is something that I'm not sure you could trust any alignment shop to do without charging quite a bit for.
I then took it in to have new front Koni shocks put on it and have it aligned. They set the Koni adjustable shocks to 1 setting below the firmest and set the alignment. My toe in was set wrong, but everything else was very close. They did comment that any of the large vehicles with IFS were very hard to keep in spec. He mentioned that most of the OTR semi-trucks have a solid front axle and therefore are much easier to keep aligned, particularly when there is wear due to high mileage.
After the alignment I noticed quite a difference, a definite improvement. You could easily keep the coach within the lane. Now to be fair, I probably expected it to be even better. My daily vehicle is a Chevy 4WD Avalanche and if I compare the Allure to that, well they aren't the same! The Avalanche can be driven with a single finger on the wheel and virtually no adjusting is needed. Just what most of us are used to in a modern car or truck. With the Allure I still have a degree of adjustments (albeit very small...)
I am wondering if the wandering issue is one of expectations. Some of us expect it to be as tight and stable as a modern car or truck, but not so sure that is feasible.
I think I am going to tray and take a quick video of my Allure and then my truck, focusing on the steering wheel movement needed to go straight on an interstate. I'll upload it and post to the forum. This might help in understanding and getting all of us on the same page...or in the same lane! :-) (pun intended!)
I would love to hear from others that feel their coaches do not have any wandering. Is it as stable as a new truck or car? How much movement is needed in a 1/2 mile to stay in the lane...any?

Dan

2006 Allure 430 with tag
#31344

The road conditions really didn't matter much

Re: wandering

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 90520
Don,

My coach, with 89K miles, stays in the lane with no effort. The only time I note any degree of not wanting to go straight is if there is moderate to substantial crosswind. But even then it does not take much effort to keep it straight. No wandering.

Steering is so effortless (one finger?......yes. Although I don't typically drive that way) that I have remarked to the DW that I nearly feel I could make a quick trip to the head and back and no one would notice. Passing trucks have zero effect on the wheel. FWIW.

Dave Trotter

01 Intrigue 11215

Re: wandering

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 90522
I have an 06 intrigue 12047 42ft My ride heights and Aliment were done by Precision Frame in Elk River MN. two years after it was new My ride heights, shocks and toe-in were not correct from the factory My steering wheel does require adjustment of about 1/2 of an inch At times depending on road conditions interstate driving is not much different than my Caddy or Yukon Most times I prefer to drive the coach because the visibility is much better Bob
 

Re: wandering

Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 90526
Dan

Not an expert but I have had three coaches only the last having the tag. This is the first coach that my wife would drive. I would say I have no wandering other than what is caused by road crown and wind. In 7 years it has been checked for alignment and ride height but no adjustments have been required. My Michelins did make a noticeable improvement from the original Goodyears.

Dan 2006 Allure 31348 C-9