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Over steering problem 2004 Inspire sienna

Yahoo Message Number: 97369
I recently purchased a 2004 Inspire Siena 36 foot with 37,000 miles. When I test drove the coach the highway was brand new and didn't notice much of a problem. On my trip home I used HWY 95 and had a lot of over steer and white knuckle driving. Does anyone recommend a steering damper mechanism, or stabilizer product to have installed? Thank you, Newbe Tom

Re: Over steering problem 2004 Inspire sienna

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 97370
Hi--Having experienced similar handling issues, I would first check the shocks, especially the fronts, the front sway bar link bushings and the front end alignment before I would throw expensive parts on it.

Don Krahling

'01 Intrigue #11238

Re: Over steering problem 2004 Inspire sienna

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 97371
You said on drive home was it loaded for travel? If not may want to load it up, weigh it and adjust tire pressure to recommended pressure.
If tires are a lot higher than actual load they will be running on centers and giving loser feel.

Re: Over steering problem 2004 Inspire sienna

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 97372
How much experience do you have driving big motorhome ? Any crosswinds? If you don't have a lot of experience driving I suggest that you drive more before spending money on the problem. Lots of people will take a lot of your money in the RV repair business. Before buying any part find an honest repair shop to diagnose your driving problems. Get recommendations from people on this forum based upon your location. Good luck,

Mike. 2002 Intrique 11422

Re: Over steering problem 2004 Inspire sienna

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 97373
Congrats on your new ride!

I'll second and third some of the other input. Go slow, and cover the basics first:

1) Ready to travel loaded, then four corner weight, tire PSI set to the Tire MFG Chart recommended PSI for your weight. (And just to be sure, are these OEM tires? Have they been replaced? Check the date codes on the tires to be sure. If old, replace them. And IMO, old is 7 years, or close to 7 years old.)

2) Front all wheel alignment, along with chassis inspection. (Bushings worn? Go with polyurethane bushings. Test shocks. If gone, recommend Koni SP3 Adjustable. I would suggest setting 3. Gear box loose play? Etc.) Call around, ask on this board for good alignment shops near you.

If these don't settle the ride down, then start checking into add on aids.

Best of luck, and enjoy the process, Smitty

04 Allure 31017

Note: Besides adding your model year, including your coach number can help too. As those with coaches closer to yours may know things:)!
04 Allure Sold to a nice new owner! Now enjoying a 07 Magna Rembrandt 45' ISX600 #6775
"We're ONDROAD for THEJRNY!" (Toad and Coach license plates, say Hi if you see us!)

Re: Over steering problem 2004 Inspire sienna

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 97374
When I bought our new to us 2005 CC Inspire I was unhappy with the amount of oversteer and correction going down the highway. I took it to a CAT scale that only did axle weights (not 4 corner which I still need to do) and found that the rear axle was much heavier than the service people had thought. They were used to putting 90# air in drive axle tires. I brought the pressure up to 105 on those tires and it was a different driving experience altogether.

Re: Over steering problem 2004 Inspire sienna

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 97375
Learn how to drive it. You are most likely over steering it. Relax and realize it does act like a car.

Mikee

Re: Over steering problem 2004 Inspire sienna

Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 97381
Tom,

You do not say what your previous experience is with driving motorhomes so hard to say looking at your post if you are used to driving large boxes down the road.

Whatever you do, do not add non factory stuff to your Country Coach before you sort out the condition of what came with it as standard. In general Country Coaches are one of the best handling motorhomes ever made. They come with custom made chassis that even as short as 36' are right-sized for length compared to the house size.

With only 37,000 miles it is hard to imagine that your suspension bushings, shocks, steering gearbox, or other suspension component is worn out. My front shocks, bushings, and steering equipment has 120,000 miles on them and work very well. So something likely happened to damage the coach or cause it to be in non-factory specifications. So the questions are; was it in an accident? If you don't know you might try and check. There is car fax for cars.

One thing to try right off that is easy is to inflate the tires to the pressure listed by Country Coach to the left of the drivers seat. I usually do not run as high a pressure as what Country Coach listed to the left of my drivers seat, but when I do my coach handles better and rides a bit rougher. Next you can test the shocks easily. Go over a drag bump slowly, but fast enough so your coach bounces. When I do this with mine my front does not bounce at all. It goes down once and then comes back to ride height and stays there. My back suspension has shocks that only have 10,000 miles on them and are set to high. They bounce once or twice.

Driving experience. When I bought my coach five years ago one of the main reasons for doing so was it was so steady on the road at freeway speed compared to the dozen other coaches I drove. But it took me a while to get used to the steering. I oversteered it for a while. After a couple months of taking it on trips I got used to the wig wag caused by oversteering it. Now I love driving my coach. But I love to drive it now that I am used to what happens on the road. I have driven a class A gasser I rented back in 2,000 for 3,000 miles. What a white knuckle trip that was. It took constant steering supervision just to keep it in the lane. So I know what bad handling feels like.

Last tip. When you are tense and afraid of driving the coach it makes it worse. Relax and put in small steering inputs. And slow down. My experience is most class A drivers drive between 58-62 on the freeway. (not all some drive like they are in a hurry.)

Bob & Barbara

2002 Country Coach Affinity 42'
Jeep Wrangler 2013
 

Re: Over steering problem 2004 Inspire sienna

Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 97383
We own a 36' 2005 Inspire since new and had the same problem. In fact this is a problem with the 36' coach in general though not everyone experiences it. I can only tell you what I found and how I fixed the problem. If you want a more involved discussion please PM me.

In short the front suspension is under loaded. If you have your original documents a factory weight sheet is in there. You should find the front end is several thousand, yes, several thousand pounds below rating. This means the air springs are, relatively speaking, underinflated and making the shocks do all the work. This usually also results in bottoming out on anything other than a small change in the road surface. That wasn't your complaint but the two usually go together.

The rear suspension OTOH is almost at max rating, I think mine had less than 300 lbs reserve, unloaded. So the front is light, the rear heavy, the rig wanders, simple as that.

The fix for the wandering has no cost. Simply load all the weight you can towards the front suspension. I went so far as to add two more 6V house batteries, so that's a cost but others have not needed to do this - I recommend it, it really helps dry camping. I no longer have the wandering problem. We owned a 40' 2000 Intrigue before the 2005 Inspire and it went straight as an arrow so I was amazed and concerned about the wandering Inspire when they had essentially the same exact suspensions! It made no sense until I researched various issues and found a similar weight/wandering problem discussed on an SOB list. CC spent a lot of money and time trying to fix it, 4 corner alignments, tire truing, you name it. Nothing worked, shifting weight myself did it.

For the other problem, slowly, and I mean slowly, in 1/8-1/4 inch increments, raise the front suspension by adjusting the ride height control valve. Mine took about 1/2" along with the weight redistribution and the shocks on the firmest setting. Haven't bottomed out in years, can't remember the last time. This small a change in ride height did not require realignment. I'll align when I see abnormal wear. If you are not comfortable adjusting the ride height control valve, DON'T! Any truck or RV shop can do it in a couple of minutes for minimal if any cost assuming they are honest and want you as a customer.

Some like to pay experts big bucks, I don't. I have provided this same advice to other owners of 36' rigs and it solved their issues on the wandering and bottoming. As noted the two problems are related to the front end being light versus its design ratings and the weight distribution on the front and rear suspensions as built by CC. You cannot change the way the coach was built so load it in a way that pretty much corrects the problem.

I hope this is helpful and good luck.

Bob Handren
51178