97 E350 rv 4x4 conversion steering
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97 E350 rv 4x4 conversion steering
Hello everyone, I am semi happy to say that I am the owner of a 21 foot Chinook RV that was converted to 4x4. I am only semi happy because there is one major issue that I cannot figure out. Due to the way the vehicle steers it is not safe to drive. The best way to describe it would be that the vehicle wanders and I am constantly correcting it behind the wheel. Bumps and wind cause me wander out of my lane. This even occurs around 25mph but is much worse as speed increases. It is not death wobble (I have experienced that in my jeep once) and there is not much play in the steering wheel. I was wondering if this problem could be caused from the new rear leaf springs on the RV. The springs came from a donor RV that was much heavier. Now my rear sits about 5 inches higher than the front. I was wondering if this difference in height has caused the front axle to rolled forward and contributed to the steering problem. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks,Chris
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Thanks for the reply. The parts came off of an 08 e450 quigley rv that had a fire in the camper. The donor rv probably weighed around 15-20K pounds and mine is about 11k pounds. I was hoping to use the tranny and tcase but they were not compatible with my engine. The only usable parts were the front and rear axles and suspension. I had a shop take a look and they said the caster was off by 3 degrees but they said there was no way to adjust it without removing and reinstalling the control arm brackets. Another shop said the brackets are in correct. Neither shop said what would be a sure fix.
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As you can see the rear sits significantly higher. I measured the rear wheel well space to be 14 inches and the front is 10.5 the front also has tires that are about an inch taller than the rear. I know that you are not supposed to run different size tires but the rear dually tires are brand new on 16 inch wheels and the front are on 17 inch wheels. I was not able to find matching sizes for the front and I didn't want to buy a whole set of 6. I intend on only using the 4 wheel drive when on soft beach sand.
Tuned
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Dropping 5" in the back if your wheel base is 138" will correct the caster by 2 degrees ( if my trigonometry is not too rusted).
My caster was a little bit off (less than 1 deg.) and it was very upsetting to drive. Get a dual cam alignment bushings, find the proper tables and play with them. Here is a good link with the tables and instructions for the regular TTB suspension Project Little Green Turd - Page 42 - The Ranger Station Forums
That is nice rig you got there. Definitely worth the effort to fix this issue.
My caster was a little bit off (less than 1 deg.) and it was very upsetting to drive. Get a dual cam alignment bushings, find the proper tables and play with them. Here is a good link with the tables and instructions for the regular TTB suspension Project Little Green Turd - Page 42 - The Ranger Station Forums
That is nice rig you got there. Definitely worth the effort to fix this issue.
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Tuned
Joined: Mar 2010
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From: Fayetteville, TN
We've got a Quigley 4x4 van at work that we've been trying to get the scary steering worked out for the 4 years I've been there, with no luck.
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Nice rig, shouldn't be too hard to get it sorted out, sounds like a familiar problem with conversions, I'd give Chris a call... (no, this one) 4x4 Van Conversion kits This one is right up his alley. Good Luck.
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