Looking for Aspect/Cambria 28B Owners

[OFDPOS]

Have some questions would like to ask and run by anyone owning one. Preferably 2009 -2011 model years.

[JBP]

Ask your question. Many are very similar. I have had a 27K and a 30C.

[2wiresdave]

Had a 2011 Cambria 28B for 3 years - ask away.

[OFDPOS]

It seems the 28B is all by itself ? Odd things like the cable connection is tucked way in the back of the compartment where the shoreline cord is stored. Or next to NO storage.

But my main question is how did it handle driving down the road ?
Drunken sailor ? Straight as an arrow ?
Did you do any upgrades to the handling/suspension IE : shocks , bigger Anti Sway Bars, Steering stabilizer ?

Any abnormal noises/vibrations at certain speeds ?

I'm fighting one and am curious if others have had or have any noise/vibrations before I say what I've done and what hasn't fixed it..

Thanks

[2wiresdave]

We really liked ours and found storage more than adequate for 4 month long trips with a Honda CRV for a toad.

Upgrades included Koni shocks, rear track bar, and a steer safe up front. Tires at 80psi all the way around at the recommendation of the well regarded shop who did the handling upgrades. Coach handled pretty well in all sorts of conditions. Only noise we had was a squeaky door that also would come slightly unlatched on really rough roads - not "open" but just just not tight...other than that it was great. Only real wish list was bigger waste tanks .....

[OFDPOS]

Thanks for your reply 2wiresdave !

No toad for us (yet anyways)
Have replaced the shocks with the Koni's , wished I'd stayed with Bilstein's like I replaced on my last two MHs.
Upgraded the front undersized Anti Sway Bar, upgraded the rear Anti Sway Bar, installed the front Safe-T-Pus steering stabilizer.

Helped , but still get pushed over big time when passed by a semi and even a large SUV pushes us over !
Just this past weekend on the freeway had a smaller 25ft E-450 MH passing us and it was like the other MH had a plow on the front pushing us over !

At 80 psi in the tires it was definitely more squirally , once I weighed it I adjusted the pressures down to 65 front and 75 rear. Seams to be the best ride.

Yep the coach door squeaks ! I've treated the rubber seal , I've sprayed silicone spray on the small rubber stoppers and to NO avail going down the road get that squeak noise !
Have even put the seal spray on the slide out seals and on a rough road the front just behind the driver gets a little squeak.

Yep wish the FW tank bigger or at least the grey tank was bigger , boon docking 2 nights of quick showersthe tank is full !

My main problem is a noise/vibration I get when I speed up to 53 mph it comes in then disappears at 68 mph. Its worse 60-63 mph right at CC speed...
Its from the rear , you can feel a vibration seat of your pants.

I have gotten it up to 75 , put it in neutral shut the eng off and as it coasts down right on cue it starts the hum/vibration at 68 mph worse at 63-60 mph then disappears at 53 mph.
Shop checked it out and said once they put the air bags at 80 psi it stopped, so their recommendation was to leave the airbags at 80 psi. I countered with lets say I DON'T have the airbags now whats the fix ? (which that never did band aide the problem)
They shotgunned it and said the rear leaf springs had sagged and causing the drive-line to be at a bad angle.
They replaced the rear leaf springs , noise is still there !
Then they said the whole drive-line angles were off , so they shimmed the rear of the trans, shimmed the center carrier bearing support, noise still there.
I'm bringing back in next week for them to shim the rear diff so all angles will be inline with Ford specs (supposedly)

I feel its the rear drive-line itself , but hey they are the professionals right
The tires are Brand new , it did it with the other tires I replaced the new tires for.

Brought the MH back to tire shop and had them Road Force Balance them , didn't change a thing !

We'll see what the shop has to say after they shim the rear diff.

To be continued :

[Dave11]

I have a 2009 Aspect 28B (chassis 2008) that I believe has stock suspension including shocks. This is the second unit I have owned on the E450 chassis the first was a 2003. I would say the 2009 drives a bit better but I thought they were both good.

I don’t get the vibration you describe but since you get it with new and old tires and after balancing I would look next at the driveshaft/u joints. In the 2003 I had a low pitched sort of rumble that peaked at 45 mph and disappeared by 55. The only thing I tried was changing the rear differential oil which had no effect but it was so minor I did not pursue it.

Most of the time driving is a one hand, fairly relaxed experience but I do get some of the wind effects you describe. I remember watching a video of a E450 from Etrailer, the camera was mounted under the unit showing the rear suspension. There was visible side to side movement of the suspension which would have been limited by a track bar. Seemed like it could have helped with passsing trucks or windy days when there is a long rear overhang.

I do have the rear airbags and they make no difference that I can feel with passing vehicles or wind. I have settled in on using only 20 psi since using more just make the rear suspension harsher on rougher roads. Have not weighed this unit but I don’t think it will be close to the 14,500 giver until then I use 75 psi front and 80 rear.

[OFDPOS]

Well the MH is at the Ford place waiting for the drive -line balance check to be done.
Hopefully it will be done by Friday and I can go back down to test drive it .

The shimming of the rear diff had no effect whatsoever on the noise/vibration.

Hoping they find either the drive-line needed re-balanced or bad, so we can move forward on this.

Have read several articles that the supplier to Ford on drive-lines that several batches the yoke was not centered when welded to the tube.
This was supposedly back in the 90's early 2000's , but if it could happen back then it could still happen later years..

While passing a semi I will get pushed over just abit as I line up with the semi cab,
BUT when passed by a semi I get the push over with the tail end wag / sway back and forth causing me to counter steer a few times to get straightened out.
Its not a good feeling to say the least.

Once I get the noise / vibration fixed, I'm going to have the rear trac bar installed and an alignment done up at Henderson's Line Up

[Annette]

Where is the water pump? I need to replace mine.

[2wiresdave]

Under the bed. There is an access door on the right hand side in the floor if you are facing the bed. Prepare to contort yourself to get at at it. Or you can unscrew the bed board to get at it from the top.

[Froglady]

Looking at purchasing this exact model. Where you able to figure out the vibration problem?

[JDHarrin]

Just bought the same exact model and drove it 420 miles to get it home. Did 65-75 all the waay and didn't really notice any excessive noise or vibration, although their is one small squeak coming from above the cabin where the cabinets meet beside the TV. It has 32,300 miles so I don't know how that compares to your RV...