Truck ride

[Dave K-TC]

Planning on building a truck with garage. We drove a 45'(with garage)freightliner columbia, mercedes 450, dual drive and was not satisfied with the drive/ride. Since this was our first truck ride maybe you all can help.
1. Could not adjust the air seat to stop bouncing(may it difficult to keep constant pressure on the gas pedal and steering wheel straight).
2. Very sluggish off the line-possible needs bigger engine?
3. Steering seemed to be a lot of turns lock-to-lock?
4. Steering wheel did not return to neutral position when turning.
5. Overall ride was rough and jerky.
Any suggestions would be aprreciated as we expect to test drive another one soon. Thanks.

 

[Gary Atsma]

1. The seat might be riding too close to either the top or bottom of its travel. It should "float" w/ road bumps, etc., not bounce.

2. Might need lower (higher number) rear gears. Remember, a CLass 8 truck will not accelerate like a high-powered pickup truck, no matter which engine you have (a 450 Mercedes is NO slouch!)

3. Normal for large trucks. Again, don't compare to car or pickup steering. The slow ratio allows for better control.

4. How slow or fast were you turning? It should return during highway-speed turns, but not nearly as well during parking-speed maneuvers.

5. Hey, it's a truck! No more, no less. Rear air ride should take out the rough spots but you will still feel the bumps without discomfort. Do not expect a luxury car ride; you will not get it from a vehicle designed to haul a 40-ton gross (truck AND load) weight. Plus, with tandem axles the ride WILL be rougher than a single axle, as your axle capacity is 40,000# for the tandem rather than just 20-23,000# for a single axle.

Does this help much?

 

[Dave K-TC]

Gary, Excellent response! Will try adjusting the seat again. My previous RV experience has been with class A gas and deisels-not as heavy but smaller engines-will drive it further next time. Thanks! PS-We have heard that the Volvos ride better-will try one next.

 

[Warpath-TC]

#1. The air seat could have had the glider on and that will give ya a jerky feel if your not use to it. Also the Bostrom Talladega seats along with lower end air seats have pretty poor shock dampening. Change to a higher end seat or replaced the shock and you will be amazed at how well it handles the rough stuff.

#2, 3, 4 & 5 - just what Gary said.

Not sure your going to find much difference in ride with a Volvo versus any other Class 8. Things like axle rating, wheel base, vehicle weight, tire pressure, ect will make the difference.

 

[Gary Atsma]

Good call on the seat, Bill. You probably have much more personal knowledge on those things than I do.
BTW, and I know this is a little(??) off topic, but can you tell me which wheel polish you used to advertise on the home page of this site? I gotta polish the wheels on my pickup, went to check the ad, and "no mas"! I would appreciate you telling me! Thanks!
Gary
PS- Dave K; I also heard Volvos ride well; would be worth checking out! Can't hurt, right? Good luck!

 

[Warpath-TC]

Magic Mix --> https://www.rvupgradestore.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=244

 

[Gary Atsma]

Hey Bill!
Muchas Gracias! Gonna put in the order tomorrow (too late for today). How are things going on the truck motor?
Gary

 

[Camping Dutchman]

TRy zephyr pro-40 polish. Wipe on till black and wipe off 10 minutes later. AWESOME stuff. if you have a wheel the whit bar they sell is awesome

 

[DrFun]

Originally posted by Dave K:
5. Overall ride was rough and jerky.
Any suggestions would be aprreciated as we expect to test drive another one soon. Thanks.

I installed a 'air stabilizer' kit from Donvel (http://www.donvel.com/) on both the front and rear of my M2. (New air springs with stabilizers on the front, just added the stabilizers to the existing air springs on the rear.) It made a world of difference in the ride quality. Don was a dream to work with. Great product. Great people.

 

[Warpath-TC]

Alan -

Please explain a little more. (their site is a little lacking on info)

Did you just had the air stabilizer to the leaf springs as pictured on the site or did you add air ride to the front?

Bill

 

[DrFun]

Originally posted by Warpath:
Did you just had the air stabilizer to the leaf springs as pictured on the site or did you add air ride to the front?

Bill, Here's a more detailed description of how the kit is installed on my M2...

Rear: The air stabilizers were added to the existing air suspension. I haven't figured out how the stabilizers work. They appear to be a combination of a check valve and a special orifice. The Donvel stabilizer somehow controls how quickly the air spring rebounds.

Front: Two standard, Firestone airide springs are installed on each side; one in front and the other behind the axle. They are mounted between the unaltered, existing leaf springs and the frame. Each airide spring also has a Donvel stabilizer mounted between it and the air line.

Like I said, I don't know how the stabilizers work. I can say with certainty that they significantly improved the ride quality. Uneven concrete-slab roads, railroad crossings, etc. are now just bumps rather than shaking my fillings out of my teeth.

Hope this helps.

 

[Warpath-TC]

Just might have to check them out.

 

[vapoppa]

bill, i called them yesterday and they are going to send lit. i'm prpobably going to do this as it's my greatest problem with our coach.---- mase

 

[Gary Atsma]

Bill- On looking back, what is your opinion of the Brock's Ad-A-Ride? I'm thinking of using it on whatever I build, mainly to knock the sharp edges off the front axle ride quality, but maybe The Donvel setup deserves a look, as you've said above. Maybe a little more thoroughly thought-out, by the sound of things. Keep us posted!
Gary
PS- I'll say what others have said repeatedly- MAN, this is a great website!!!!

 

[Warpath-TC]

I can only compare the ride with & without the Broc's when I was bobtailing the truck. In this configuration it did have a positive effect, but not dramatic. Once the motorhome box was put on the ride was awesome, except for big potholes and big bridge expansion joints. But what would handle that kind of stuff.

The one thing I did not like is that the broc's added about 2" to the ride height when the bracket was mounted in the holes from the shackle that was removed. That rig also had a mushy feel around corners which was unsettling at times.

My new rig has a very solid feel, so I would not take a chance and loose that by adding the broc's.

 

[anthony desnick]

PS-We have heard that the Volvos ride better-will try one next.
I agree that the Volvos are a great ride. My first coach was on a FL chassis and it was fine but when i bought the first Volvo - mostly because I liked the way they looked - i was hooked. The interior is car like. The ride is smooth or at least seems smooth because of the quiet. If you are lucky enough to find a used Volvo with the Volvo engine you will enjoy (I'm told) great fuel efficiency too.

Tony

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