| [GMCnet] Ride height [message #306681] |
Wed, 07 September 2016 20:27  |
glwgmc
Messages: 1014
Registered: June 2004
Karma: 10
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Senior Member |
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Jim H. posted about our experience measuring ride heigh of coaches entering the Casa de Fruita rally, “…...There was only one coach measured upon arrival that was correct according
to factory specs. It was my own coach, a 78 Royale with a 403 and all stock suspension, no extra batteries or toads or carriers on the rear. Two people aboard without a lot of spare parts….”
Mine was, too, Jim (grin). See you this weekend.
For all of you who want to free lance ride height and think only the relative ride height is important, I would respectfully disagree. There is far more to chassis design than just absolute ride height, but it all starts there. Anti-dive geometry, bump steer and lots of other things are also affected if you monkey around with the factory designed absolute ride height. The wild card here is that our coaches were designed around bias ply tires where the tire goes egg shaped at speed and the contact patch moves back producing more caster at speed than at rest. The design and specs were never changed even when the factory started also offering radial ply tires. We all now run radial ply tires where the contact patch does not move at speed so we need to dial in as much caster as we can get (not a lot given the limited adjustment range available) just to get enough caster at speed to go down the road without wandering. If you fiddle around with the ride height you are also changing everything else and most likely will make your coach handle less well rather than better. Yes, while going down the road if you want more caster lower the rear a bit and most will find that helps at speed but hurts a lot at low speed and at rest as it may over stresses the steering components.
My suggestion is to follow proper procedure to block the rear at the correct factory ride height as the rear will effect the front. Then set the front to factory ride height after you drive the coach a few miles to settle the suspension properly. Recheck the front again with the rear set to the correct ride height and repeat until both are correct. Then and only then can you begin adjusting camber, caster and toe on both the front and the rear tires.
Jerry
Jerry Work
The Dovetail Joint
Fine furniture designed and hand crafted in the 1907 former Masonic Temple building in historic Kerby, OR
glwork@mac.com
http://jerrywork.com
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Jerry & Sharon Work
78 Royale
Kerby, OR
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| Re: [GMCnet] Ride height [message #306683 is a reply to message #306681] |
Wed, 07 September 2016 21:00  |
Dolph Santorine
Messages: 1236
Registered: April 2011
Location: Wheeling, WV
Karma: -41
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Senior Member |
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Jerry - FWIW, the ride height tool that is part of your front end alignment set is terrific.
I cut a hole on the bracket for the generator so I can check both sides for the back.
Dolph
DE N8JPC
Wheeling, West Virginia
1977 26’ ex-PalmBeach
1-Ton, Sullybilt Bags, Reaction Arms, 3.70 LSD, Manny Transmission, EV-6010
“The Aluminum and Fiberglass Mistress"
> On Sep 7, 2016, at 9:27 PM, Gerald Work wrote:
>
> Jim H. posted about our experience measuring ride heigh of coaches entering the Casa de Fruita rally, “…...There was only one coach measured upon arrival that was correct according
> to factory specs. It was my own coach, a 78 Royale with a 403 and all stock suspension, no extra batteries or toads or carriers on the rear. Two people aboard without a lot of spare parts….”
>
> Mine was, too, Jim (grin). See you this weekend.
>
> For all of you who want to free lance ride height and think only the relative ride height is important, I would respectfully disagree. There is far more to chassis design than just absolute ride height, but it all starts there. Anti-dive geometry, bump steer and lots of other things are also affected if you monkey around with the factory designed absolute ride height. The wild card here is that our coaches were designed around bias ply tires where the tire goes egg shaped at speed and the contact patch moves back producing more caster at speed than at rest. The design and specs were never changed even when the factory started also offering radial ply tires. We all now run radial ply tires where the contact patch does not move at speed so we need to dial in as much caster as we can get (not a lot given the limited adjustment range available) just to get enough caster at speed to go down the road without wandering. If you fiddle around with the ride height you are also changing everything else and most likely will make your coach handle less well rather than better. Yes, while going down the road if you want more caster lower the rear a bit and most will find that helps at speed but hurts a lot at low speed and at rest as it may over stresses the steering components.
>
> My suggestion is to follow proper procedure to block the rear at the correct factory ride height as the rear will effect the front. Then set the front to factory ride height after you drive the coach a few miles to settle the suspension properly. Recheck the front again with the rear set to the correct ride height and repeat until both are correct. Then and only then can you begin adjusting camber, caster and toe on both the front and the rear tires.
>
> Jerry
> Jerry Work
> The Dovetail Joint
> Fine furniture designed and hand crafted in the 1907 former Masonic Temple building in historic Kerby, OR
>
> glwork@mac.com
> http://jerrywork.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>
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