Wanderings

Tires, shocks, sway bars, air bags... What crosswind?
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Haoleman
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Wanderings

Post by Haoleman »

I finally found out that if your front end doesn't have some toe in on the tires, it will wander all over the place. Got my toe set and now I can once again sleep at the wheel 8) :D
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MoJo
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B190 Year: 1990
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Location: Pennsylvania

Post by MoJo »

Haoleman,

What exactly do you mean by that, and how do you go about doing that?

Sorry for a really dumb question here, but very new to all this.

Josh
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skater
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B190 Year: 1991
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Post by skater »

Take a look here for definitions of caster, camber, and toe-in. Toe in, briefly, is setting the tires so their leading edges point slightly toward each other (from the linked page). There's a diagram on the page that helps a lot.

Also mentioned on the page is how if the toe-in isn't set correctly directional stability becomes an issue. :)

This can be corrected/adjusted by a shop that can do alignments.
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

WBCCI #13270, Washington, DC Unit
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Haoleman
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Post by Haoleman »

Great explaination! As the 190 has twin I beam suspension, it becomes increasingly difficult to just adjust the alignment. There are special kingpin shims to correct camber and caster from stock or due to wear or damage. Cost to do it correctly is upwards of $600.00. This seems like a huge price but the difference is not having to fight your drive every second. I found that I was exhausted after 400 miles due to this. Fortunately just a toe in adjustment was necessary. Mine was set at "0" degrees. This doesn't work for this type of axle arrangement.

Terry
MRB
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B190 Year: 1992
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Re: Wanderings

Post by MRB »

Haoleman wrote:I finally found out that if your front end doesn't have some toe in on the tires, it will wander all over the place. Got my toe set and now I can once again sleep at the wheel 8) :D
I found this out the expensive $ way. Rebuilt the front end completely including the steering box, this helped a little. It still acts like the steering is loose or wandering. I will give your suggestion a try.
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Haoleman
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Wanderings

Post by Haoleman »

Have the toe in set at 1/8 to 1/4 inch toe in. It will wear your tires faster but not having to fight the steering all the time is worth the sacrafice of tire wear. I'd gladly deal with 20,000 miles of wear on the tires vs crankyness for the whole trip!!!

Looking for an AS trailer to tow with our Ford Superduty diesel 4wd.

Terry
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