Handling Issues, 2008 BFT C/O on 2007 E350 chassis

[dsfriday]

Love our 2008 coach but the chassis leaves a lot to be desired. To eliminate some of the side to side motion, I installed a Roadmaster rear sway bar. My wife thinks it was an improvement but I would like even more control of the side to side especially when entering a driveway off of the pavement. Currently. to keep the side to side within acceptable limits, we have to slow, almost to a stop, and make sure the rear duals make contact with the driveway at the same time, otherwise, if one dual makes contact before the other the rocken starts and if the entry speed isn't at a crawl, the cupboard things rattle and bang. Blue Ox makes a product called TigerTrak. Anybody have this on their coach. Would it help the problem described above?
Second problem is the movement to right when semi's pass. Looks like the Safety-T Plus will help, but in another post I asked about the Bilsten steering damper. Its cheaper but thinking, from what I understand, the Bilsten doesn't have the self-centering feature. Don't know if I understand what the self-centering would feel like in the semi situation. Assuming the Safety-T Plus adds a self-centering feel to the steering wheel so that in the semi situation the movement to right would be resisted and then as you moved the wheel back to the left you would feel this netural area which would tend to keep you from over correcting to the left. Probably a good deal, need to experience first hand.

[Robert D. Grant]

How much are your air bags inflated to?

What other kind of motorhome did you have before the Born Free?

Hard to imagine why the 2008 would handle so poorly, but maybe the rest of us are not so sensitive.

I just turn in slightly oward the semi's as they pass me from force of habit after driving our 98 for 9 years now and don't consider it a problem.

[dsfriday]

I'll admit, my inexperience is a big part of the problem. This is my first RV. I'm use to the way my E320 Mercedes handles, it stays glued to the road and of course I'm trying to get our 2008 BFT to handle the same way. Realize the physics of a big cube setting on what is essentially a heavy duty van will never duplicate the handling I'm use to, however feel, at least for safety sake, need to improve on what I have. As for the air bags, I'm using 50 psi.

[John S.]

I had a 2006 BFT and now a 24 footer 07 and I also own a 42 foot Foretravel. I am sorry but you will be pushed by the bow wave of a semi and even more by a bus passing you on the highway. IT is not a big issue. Look at the truck when another truck starts to pass them. They move over a bit in their lane. That helps reduce the effect some. Also you are not heavy enough to sit still when it happens. I had a 34 and 36 foot DP coach and they would move a bit for the passing trucks but now I do not move at all.
Of course I am the weight of 4 of your units and have an extra axle and am much longer too. It is part of the experience and by slowing down a bit you will find it is less pronounced too. I usually will drive the Foretravel at 70 if that is the speed limit but find 55 to 60 a comfortable speed for the Bornfree. I have driven it faster and have not had an issue but if I want a cmfy easy drive I set the cruise at 55-60 depending on the speed limit and let is be. The traffic will just go around me. Everything is a compromise. I can drive a thousand miles in a day in the foretravel and 400 in the bornfree but I can fit anywhere with the BF and love the ability to go where I would fear to take a large coach.

I love FOretravel because it is like a BMW while the others on 4 airbags are like a lincoln. I like my bornfree because it is a compromise and is better than a lincoln but it will never match your M320 for ride and handling but then again you can not shower sleep and cook in the M320. You will get more comfy with it as you get miles under your belt. I am well over 200K in various motorhomes and have many more miles in various trucks and cars.

[Roger H]

The Born Free is one of the best handling mohos I've had the opportunity to drive. I think your expectations are perhaps a little higher than what they should be. A jeep is not a limo and doesn't handle like one. The Born Frees don't handle like a Class A diesel pusher. Your Born Free won't handle like your Mercedes. Just recognize what the limitations of your coach are, and drive it accordingly. Years ago when I was in the Navy, we drove Dodge vans on patrol duty. I was scared to death I was going to roll it until one of the guys took me out to the end of the runway and did skid pan skids with it. I figured out very shortly that I could do 180s and while the van had heavy body roll, it was never in danger of tipping.

Have a little faith in the competence of the design of your chassis.

Enjoy your coach!

Roger

[Robert D. Grant]

Totally agree with the above posters. Your expectations are unrealistic. IMO you (and many others) are wasting your money with these types of modifications. We also drive slower than most (average 60) and agree that this helps. Certainly you can not expect to pull out onto a different level road at anything but a very slow speed until both rear wheels are levelled. Enjoy your Born Free for what it is, a well designed coach, including the Ford chassis.

[whemme]

Also, make sure that your coach's front end alignment has been done properly. Born Free recommends and will pay for an alignment on a new coach right after delivery. The alignment that the Ford factory performs on the new uncompleted chassis will not be valid after the Born Free factory adds the weight of the completed motorhome body. At least that was the policy when I took delivery of a new 1999 Born Free 24' RB coach.

Not only does a proper alignment improve the handling characteristics of the Born Free coach it also is critical to preventing the tendency for the front tires to start 'cupping' on the Ford E350/E450 twin I-beam front suspension design.

[bill crommett]

Another voice and another opinion.

Our 2004 BFT handeled like a dream. I compared it to the old Oldsmobile 98, until in noticed some scrubbing on the front tires. So I took it in for a computer alignment, and they changed several of the parameters.
Now the tires are not wearing like they were but the coach doesn't handle quite as well as it did when it was out of alignment. Go figure ! But still it handles 203% better than the class C Jayco equipped with a steering dampener.

[Robert D. Grant]

Would like to echo Bill Hemme's comments regarding alignment. We bought our 98 from the original owner. It had been used one year and had never been aligned. After we had owned it a year or so, we noticed severe cupping of the front tires. We had it aligned fully loaded up like we normally travel in it and with my wife and I sitting in the passenger and driver seats respectively. We changed out the original tires somewhat prematurely due to the cupping at about 40,000 miles. Still on second set of tires which are wearing very smoothly at 93,000 miles.

[dsfriday]

Don't get me wrong, we love our coach, well satisfied with the quality in the BFT and knew at the start, the handling would be an issue for me but wasn't comfortable getting anything bigger. After reading all the inputs, looking forward to improvements via safety-t plus steering stablizer, better shocks, and possibly the Tigertrak and even the MoreRyde system. Gives me something to do. As always, thanks for your response.
As a side note, I tried the 55-60 MPH thing and after a couple hundred miles , my wife turn to me and said, " how can you stand to drive so slow". So I upped the speed to 60-65 MPH, the BFT handled it well, the wife seemed satisfied and I figured the increased speed only adds about $5 to a fill up.

[BornFree_n_Now]

We have a performance German vehicle, enjoy its handling characteristics, and when we purchased our BF undertook the mission of trying to improve its drivability as much as possible. While we certainly did not do everything which could be done, we are quite comfortable with the results of our efforts. Our approach:

• Proper air pressure for load (not just what it says inside your driver’s door).
• Proper tire selection for intended purpose (we choose Michelin ribs, but we live in the West, where rain is not a material issue).
• Ability to dynamically vary airbag pressure while on the road (onboard air compressor and tank so you raise or lower airbag pressure depending on road conditions).
• Heavy duty shocks (we choose Heavy Duty Bilstein, but other “flavorsâ€

[dsfriday]

Larry & Sharon, thinks for your input. Believe you understand where I'm comming from. Over time, plan to make the changes you described, starting with the Safety-T Plus, don't know about the on board compresser, but the other day, while checking the Bilstein website, see that they now have a computer controlled shock system, cost is probably over the top, but got me thinking.

[Rob]

Let me add my 2 cents to this issue. I currently own a 2003 24RB. My two previous motorhomes were a Fleetwood Tioga 24' and a 31' Seabreeze by the now defunct National RV. The Tioga was by all measures a poor handling vehicle. I upgraded shocks etc but still it was all over the road. The Seabreeze was better because it was longer but still really a handful to drive.

Yes the BF is not perfect but much closer than anything out there unless you compare it to a very highend diesel pusher. RV's are always a compromise. Given the quality of the vehicle and this great forum I am more than willing to purchase Bilstein shocks etc. to help with the ride.

The more you use it the less frustration you will feel with the Ford Chassis and the more enjoyment the Born Free quality and the freedom a smaller motorhome gives you.