shaking motorhome

PioneerRV · 10-30-2006, 02:59 PM

I have noise around 65mph that sound like a tire hopping. I feel no noticeable shake in steering wheel. The motorhome has a rhythmic shake to it that you can see and feel in motorhome. You can hear a shaking sounding noise also. I had a freightliner shop rebalance the tires and adjust the air bag levelers. I dont see any unusual wear on tires at 7200 miles. I will be contacting freightliner and start the process of correction. Balancing shop stated that the motorhome would eventually shake itself apart if not corrected. Has anyone experienced this problem with 34 ft. motorhome on xc chassis. Any suggestions.2006 Meridian 34 ft. with michelin xrv tires.

PioneerRV · 10-30-2006, 02:59 PM

I have noise around 65mph that sound like a tire hopping. I feel no noticeable shake in steering wheel. The motorhome has a rhythmic shake to it that you can see and feel in motorhome. You can hear a shaking sounding noise also. I had a freightliner shop rebalance the tires and adjust the air bag levelers. I dont see any unusual wear on tires at 7200 miles. I will be contacting freightliner and start the process of correction. Balancing shop stated that the motorhome would eventually shake itself apart if not corrected. Has anyone experienced this problem with 34 ft. motorhome on xc chassis. Any suggestions.2006 Meridian 34 ft. with michelin xrv tires.

smlranger · 10-30-2006, 04:13 PM

It's a long shot, but have you checked the drive line and universal joints to make sure the U-joints and spline are adequately greased? There have been some reports of drive line issues due to improper lubing of the U joints. The drive shaft on our rigs is pretty short and the two U joints handle lot's of stress.

PioneerRV · 10-30-2006, 04:43 PM

sml ranger,
well the man that adjusted the air bag levelers checked the u joint for alignment. When i had it lubed i asked if they lubed and the said yes. I have not physically checked. yes i read of some of the dry lube reports.
thanks

Joe-K · 10-31-2006, 04:13 AM

I'm not sure if a out of round tire would show up in conventional balancing or not. It might be possible to have had your tires balanced, but one of the tires have a weak spot or separated belt that is causing the vibration.

Might be worth a visit to a tire shop for them to check for trueness and roundness of the tires and wheels.

peter griffin · 10-31-2006, 04:25 AM

I had a vibration and loud noise coming from the side panels...they are put on with double side tape and all mine have failed. took me a while to fin d the noise...good luck

Flyer · 10-31-2006, 05:14 AM

Pioneer
I had a 32' 2003 Journey that had the same problem. It shaked so much that the bottoms of the milk containers in the refer would break. Tires, rims, shocks, entire rear drive axle were replaced. Drive angles were checked. Drive shaft was balanced. Problem never went away. The dealer, with Frieghtliners help, bought me out and put me into another new 2003 Journey. Happy ending, but the path was frustrating and long.
Roy

NeilV · 10-31-2006, 06:05 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by PioneerRV:
I have noise around 65mph that sound like a tire hopping. I feel no noticeable shake in steering wheel. The motorhome has a rhythmic shake to it that you can see and feel in motorhome. You can hear a shaking sounding noise also. I had a freightliner shop rebalance the tires and adjust the air bag levelers. I dont see any unusual wear on tires at 7200 miles. I will be contacting freightliner and start the process of correction. Balancing shop stated that the motorhome would eventually shake itself apart if not corrected. Has anyone experienced this problem with 34 ft. motorhome on xc chassis. Any suggestions.2006 Meridian 34 ft. with michelin xrv tires. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

My brother went through that on one of his trucks until he replaced his rear brake drums. They were slightly out of round when cool but would egg out at highway speeds and momentarily grab at the narrow part of the egg which would torque and raise the motor on its mounts and then drop it back down again with every revolution of the wheels. He had me follow him to get a visual on the errant wheel that was lobbing or out of round. I didn't see any wheels bouncing or out of round but the exhaust was shaking like a rattlesnakes tail.

We also had to replace the motormounts as they has started to separate. There was not enough brake contact to really heat them up either but it sure did shake things up.

Gary CA · 10-31-2006, 06:37 AM

Pioneeer: The exact symptom of a noise, a sound like a tire hopping happens to my coach. This will occur if I am driving into a sidewind. The right front mud flap will flap and hit the underside on the coach about where the passenger sits. The first time we were in the desert, strong cross wind. I stopped to check it out. I could see the contact point of the flap on the underside of the coach. After that no worry, strong side wind I will hear the noise and wife will feel the flap. I need to take the time to strenghten the flap.

SargeW · 10-31-2006, 09:00 AM

You may have the shocks checked as well. A weak or leaky seal in a shock will allow the wheel to rebound farther than it should causing the sound. Usually it is worn shocks that will do this, but a new one with a bad seal will allow the same condition. It may not leak to the outside either, it could be allowing fluid to pass too freely past the internal valve inside the shock.

GG1 · 10-31-2006, 01:28 PM

You have an 06 coach, tell Winniebago you feel it is unsafe. Bring it to the dealer tell them to keep the coach until its is safe to operate on the street or give you another one.