Three Axle Alignment - The Alignment Whisperer

[jdkskyking]

Greetings, I’m posting my experiences with the two RV’s I’ve owned since I decided to purchase in 2017, a Winnebago Journey and a Newell. I experienced handling problems with both and spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to figure it out. Below is my story and I hope it can help others that are or could experience what I did.



A Proper Axle Alignment is critical to being a Happy Camper… But what does that mean??

My story applies to every Motor Coach that has wheels. Here’s a few of the details.

Well, I’ll not bore you with all the gory details but I will tell you this. My wife and I had gone through hell the last three years trying to understand why our luxury coach would not handle well and that is an understatement. It got to the point that I limited our drives to four or five hours at the most. I would be mentally and physically exhausted after a drive because the bus would not drive well. It would dart from one side of the lane to the other. I didn’t dare take my eyes off the road or I’d be on the side of the road or crowding the centerline. Totally pathetic. If there were rumble strips that’s all I hear… and the boss yelling at me…

We’ve experienced a mental and financial rollercoaster until I read in a forum about a guy that I now call…

“The Alignment Whisperer”

His name is Bill Rajewsk and his alignment shop is in Columbia Missouri near Interstate 70 in the center of the state.
His business is [B]Perry Legend Collision Center.
3101 Lemon Industrial Blvd.
573-442-7883

How well does your Diesel Pusher roll down the road? Do you even know? Does it track properly??

I hope you’re happy with the way your rig handles, I certainly wasn’t. I had to follow my gut and ignore the endless advice that I was driving a box.

Do you use the excuse “I’m driving a box… what can I expect”… must be the wind…

Those were the explanations and excuses I was told and started believing when I tried to describe my experiences driving our rig to others. I was even told that my “expectations needed to be managed”… That was the wrong thing to say to me, a career pilot that has been trained to identify a problem, gather facts, execute a plan that must end in a positive result.

Here’s a little history that caused me to stay after my mission to solve the Newell handling quandary.
My RV life started in 2017 when I bought a 2008 Winnebago Journey 39Z. Miles were in the mid 90k range, it was the first RV I’d ever driven. *I’m sure I started out like most, small local adventures until we felt like we could broaden our horizons on the wonderful highway system of the good ol’e USofA. I had no idea what I was in for. It was on a west bound trip through Oklahoma on a windy day when I got my first taste of what a bad suspension felt like. Driving on an overpass with a gust of wind felt like I had no control of my machine.
My wife made a comment one day that has stuck with me to this day… “You look like a NASCAR Driver with a bad setup”… *

Thousands of dollars later, new parts, and numerous opinions I finally found out that drive axle bushings were making my life difficult when I drove the Winnebago. Constantly making steering corrections because the rear end was moving around. Like a hook and ladder fire truck without a rear driver.
$5k in a bushing change and tweaking a TRW gearbox made the Winne drive like new (plus a lot more). I became just short of an expert on that Frieghtliner chassis when I decided to go big or go home…
I mention this only because I knew something wasn’t right and stayed after it until the problem was solved. Trust your gut.

In 2019, my wife and I stepped up to a 2005 Newell Coach with about 55,000 miles on it. I wanted a different kind of build with a more stable platform. Our choices were limited to a Prevost, Wanderlodge, or Newell. We live 90 minutes from Miami Oklahoma so we went in that direction.
We loved our new coach and started to get used to ownership of a much different machine. Little did I know what was ahead of us.

My first clue of an alignment problem was a report from a friend following me that my bus was dog tracking… okay, I’ll add that to the list of things the factory service center was going to address. I didn’t spend a lot of time dwelling on why my coach was dog tracking because I was confident those that hand built it would fix it.

The next five years were a learning experience for us that I hope no one else has to experience. Our issues were unique in some ways because of the design but as far as axles, we all share the same thing.
I educated myself about my suspension, I will say the factory was right there with us trying to solve why my coach would not drive like it was designed but nobody could put their finger on it. I finally decided to complete refurbish the entire undercarriage but there was still something off. Believe me when I say that I’m leaving out the messy details but we live and learn.

I hope someone else with “handling” problems can benefit from my experiences that eventually lead me to my new friend Bill Rajewski!

For the last three years I’ve learned and researched, ask questions, contacted industry experts, overstepped boundaries with many but always came up empty until one day I came across a forum thread that described perfectly my experience driving my coach. That owner ended up on Bill’s doorstep and left a Happy Camper when his rig finally rolled down the road straight as an arrow, all because Bill and his team know how to align axles and make them work together not fight each other.

I contacted Bill and asked if he had ever worked on a Newell Coach with a ZF RAS suspension. He had not but told me it didn’t matter. If it had axles he could make it roll straight down the road.
I was apprehensive because the ZF Rear Axle Steering system is not like anything else in the motor coach world. Yes there are tag steering systems but not like what you find on a Newell. Bill didn’t care. He reminded me often that he’ll take the hydraulics out of the picture and set up the mechanics then hook the hydraulics back up…

Bill spent hours with me on the phone listening to my story, a story I even get lost in. He always reassured me that he will make it drive right. The last three years of my RV life have been consumed in trying to understand the ZF system and accumulating documentation. I thought for sure Bill needed to fully understand how the ZF suspension behaved so he could tame it. I assembled a binder of documentation and manuals, sent it to Bill so he could study it and he did but he kept saying it’s the mechanics that need to correct, the hydraulics are along for the ride.

My window of opportunity finally opened and I booked an appointment with Bill. I set aside three days for he and his technician Paul to undo what ever was done or had gone wrong with my coach.

Step one, Bill takes the rig for a test drive and evaluates the situation.

Step two, Bill and Paul discuss an action plan.

Step three, Paul goes to work inspecting the overall condition and then using HUNTER Alignment equipment, he starts to determine the alignment of the steer axle, tag axle, and drive axle.

Bill and Paul know exactly how to set up the suspension so the rig rolls properly down the road. Bill reminded me that not only would I actually enjoy driving my coach, I’ll also see an improvement in fuel efficiency.

The last step was the test drive after basically one and a quarter day of tweaking the axles. Bill drove first to verify that all was well. Then he turned the wheel over to me.
All I could do was drive the coach in complete disbelief. It had never driven that way before. If the highway is halfway decent, the coach will only require minimal steering input.
I was shocked how well it handled!! Our nightmare was finally over.

So what was the problem? Bill explained that my TAG Axle was trying to turn the rear of the bus to the right and the Drive Axle was trying to turn to the left. The Steer Axle needed major adjustment as well. There is more than meets the eye with an alignment.

If your rig’s suspension and steering doesn’t have the proper geometry it simply won’t function properly.

Bill also noted that due to limitations in the ability to make adjustments to the steer axle, he wasn’t able to add the caster he wanted. I’m just lucky he and Paul were able to make recognize the problem and get us on the straight and narrow.

My rig basically weights 55,500 pounds when my wife and I travel. We pull a Jeep Gladiator. I left Bill’s shop in Columbia and headed south down through the Lake of the Ozarks to Springfield Missouri. It’s a winding hilly drive and the bus drives like never before. I was able to stay with traffic as it handled the curves with ease.

This is just a snap shot of what my wife and I went through since we became interested in owning a RV. Maybe I was just unfortunate and kept getting rigs that were messed up.

What I can say now with complete certainty… it is so refreshing to have found a team that is more concerned with quality not quantity. Is knowledgeable and methodical. Is willing to go out on a limb with you, but most importantly is trustworthy in this day and age… hear me now, believe me later…

If you want something done right, do it yourself or go to an EXPERT…

Thank God for Bill “The Alignment Whisperer”…


Be safe, JK