The impact of extra weight on GMC handling [message #327154] |
Fri, 15 December 2017 19:48 |
kerry pinkerton
Messages: 2565 Registered: July 2012 Location: Harvest, Al
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Most of yall have at least seen photos of the Princes custom coach. The black one with the custom EVERYTHING including a full size washer and dryer.
That coach was donated earlier this year to the RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN. We saw it when we toured the museum. Rumor has it that the coach just did not handle right and they gave up on it.
At first I thought that was BS because the air bag PSI could just be increased to carry basically any weight. And then I realized that our bogie arms are part of the steering system...not supposed to be but they are. We've all seen or experienced the effects of rut wander and noticed the wheels twist and move out of line when parking. When the leading arm bogie leaves the track it can steer the coach. The GMC engineers designed the bogie arm casting for the standard weight of the coach.
My thinking is that when excess load (weight) is placed on the suspension, the front leading bogie arm, which we already know can move around quite a bit, is more prone to move out of line because of the additional weight. This would explain why the Prince coach might have been a driving handful.
Just a theory. I'm not an engineer but I have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.
Thoughts?
Kerry Pinkerton - North Alabama
Had 5 over the years. Currently have a '06 Fleetwood Discovery 39L
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