Went in to get an alignment and the service writer asked what chassis is it?
Foretravel I said, actually there is no real chassis it's a monocque construction .
No what chassis, what's it built on he continued, dodge, freightliner, spartan ford ?
Again I said Foretravel, it's standard heavy duty truck Meritor parts.
With that they rolled their eyes, went silent, did the alignment.
When I went to pay the service foreman informed me with years of knowledge that my RV was built on a Chevy Chassis!
Boy was I glad this guy was there to enlighten me!
Ignorance is bliss 🥴!
I wonder if you now have Chevy parts on your Foretravel.
I've been down this road several times. In the beginning I was dumb enough to try and educate them but no longer. ..... just depressing how they look at you like an idiot RV owner so,,,,, now I have a part # or don't bother.
My headlight switch is from a chevy, does that count?
The bee doesn't bother explaining to the fly why honey tastes better than shit
I think the ignition key might be GM...
My sainted grandmother used to say that you can't put it where it was never meant to be.
Or shut your arse and give your mouth a chance.
I would be headed to the door after that conversation!
The alignment specs for my coach are written under the instrument luster on the dash.
I would call Foretravel and see if they have a more current set of specs if I were going in for an alignment..
If they finished the alignment and then told me I have a Chevy, I would demand to see the specs they set it to before I ever moved the RV.
Luckily I had given them the specs (the ones from under the dash cover, glad I did!
Good news is that the toe measurement was way off causing the coach to wander making driving exhausting.
Looking forward to getting it back on Monday, having some work done on it next door to the alignment shop.
Here is hoping that the drive will be super improved after tie rod end replacements, steering box replacement, new tires, and now the alignment. The last place that did it ignored my specs!! So about $5 coach bucks and two years later let's hope the joy is back!
Its a fair question. It has some manufactured type of front axle and alignment data . Knowing that would help, and what the spec is called for.
Simply specing the alignment is the easiest . That way , if it drives like poo, its on you.
Simple to set the only real adjustment. front toe. Set the pressures at the upper end of your parameters.
Start at 1/4 in , measured at the tire. large toe plates , sticks etc with room for the tire bulge along the contact point is all thats needed. If it still wanders, recheck pressures and try another 10#. Still no love, add more toe in . Should be under 1/2 in max . Even that will wear the outer edge a bit .
There may also be too much pressure and too little tire contact patch . Drop the pressures to the other end of the range and retry .
You should also know before hand if the rims are straight and the tire has no side wall bulges.
If it still wobbles down the road, start looking for rusty spring mount bushings and the surrounding area . That may indicate a loose , moving bushing point and be impossible to drive straight . Of course, this implies that you have checked all of the moving front end parts .
Same on the rear axle . For the most part , you can sight down the rear tire to the nose to verify that the axle is mostly straight . It will not be perfect. But too much offset will be hard to get the front to drive well.
Dropping the ride height to the lowest , in range setting, will always help also.
My rear axle was out of alignment a significant amount. A good friend was following me and let me know. I had Keith Riesh align it for me. He told me there were a number of new coaches that made it out of the factory out of alignment. If you have persistent handling problems it is worth a look. My coach drove terrible when I bought it. I have done all the thing mentioned here. New steering gear and rear axle alignment was the last thing. I am happy with the way it drives now. It has been a journey.
Tom
When I got to Keith Rich last year he knew by looking at the coach it drove terrible. The ride height in the rear was 2.5" higher than specs. Drives like a dream now. Jim.