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Old 01-04-2017, 06:15 PM   #1
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Rivering

Well, I started heading south this morning to, hopefully, escape the cold. After travelling about 100 miles I noticed a vibration in the front end. Thinking it was the road surface, I continued south. After about 8 hours and 450 miles, we needed fuel. Pulled into a Petro and, after waiting for about 10 minutes, had to circle the island (due to some asshat blocking the pumps and deciding to go inside for some refreshments). This turned out to be a good thing because I pulled around and my wheels were turned to the left so when I went to fuel up on the left side, I could see the tread on the tire. The inside edge of the tire was worn down significantly more than the rest of the tread. I found a repair shop at a Petro a number of miles away and he said that the alignment was off just slightly but that this wear he said was normal for steer tires and that there was nothing that could be done to prevent it. I have an appointment at Freightliner tomorrow to see what they say.
So, after this lengthily post, my question is has anyone else experienced this problem and is there anything that can be done to prevent it?
FYI- I have Goodyear tires with about 20000 miles on these tires.

Thanks to mmnsc for the following link. Hopefully it will clear up what rivering is:

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f59/goody...g-75862-3.html
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Old 01-05-2017, 02:12 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by tmmar View Post
Well, I started heading south this morning to, hopefully, escape the cold. After travelling about 100 miles I noticed a vibration in the front end. Thinking it was the road surface, I continued south. After about 8 hours and 450 miles, we needed fuel. Pulled into a Petro and, after waiting for about 10 minutes, had to circle the island (due to some asshat blocking the pumps and deciding to go inside for some refreshments). This turned out to be a good thing because I pulled around and my wheels were turned to the left so when I went to fuel up on the left side, I could see the tread on the tire. The inside edge of the tire was worn down significantly more than the rest of the tread. I found a repair shop at a Petro a number of miles away and he said that the alignment was off just slightly but that this wear he said was normal for steer tires and that there was nothing that could be done to prevent it. I have an appointment at Freightliner tomorrow to see what they say.
So, after this lengthily post, my question is has anyone else experienced this problem and is there anything that can be done to prevent it?
FYI- I have Goodyear tires with about 20000 miles on these tires.

Thanks to mmnsc for the following link. Hopefully it will clear up what rivering is:

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f59/goody...g-75862-3.html
Tom,

We have not had this problem per se, but we did discover that our Chassis was REALLY out of alignment, and the airbag height adjustment was out of whack as well. This after taking delivery in Elkhart and driving for @ 800 miles thinking "this can't be right."

A stop at the Oasis in Ringgold GA confirmed we were waaay out - in fact the tech said if we had continued, our tires would have been damaged severely.

During your appointment I would have them check both the alignment and air bag height.

Be interesting to hear your follow-up post Tom - best of luck to you and Margaret - hope this works out well for you guys!
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Old 01-05-2017, 04:30 PM   #3
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Tom I talked to Paul this morning and he had the same issue with his 2014. He had his front end checked and it was good. The tires however were rivering badly. Goodyear replaced one for him and the second he put in the back. You might try contacting Goodyear.



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Old 01-05-2017, 05:18 PM   #4
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Quick note. During the shakedown of our 2016 Berk XL 40A we determined that the unit pulled way to the right. Alignment, while not generally covered by warranty, was approved by Freightliner for this unit since it was all but brand new. Good thing since the dealer quoted us > $500.00 to do it.
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Old 01-05-2017, 08:34 PM   #5
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Tom,

We have not had this problem per se, but we did discover that our Chassis was REALLY out of alignment, and the airbag height adjustment was out of whack as well. This after taking delivery in Elkhart and driving for @ 800 miles thinking "this can't be right."

A stop at the Oasis in Ringgold GA confirmed we were waaay out - in fact the tech said if we had continued, our tires would have been damaged severely.

During your appointment I would have them check both the alignment and air bag height.

Be interesting to hear your follow-up post Tom - best of luck to you and Margaret - hope this works out well for you guys!




Hey Bob, what kind of symptoms would you notice if air bag height was off?


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Old 01-05-2017, 08:35 PM   #6
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Finally got finished at Freightliner. I was there 4.5 hours. I guess the guy doing the alignment had other jobs to work on as well. They told me that the front end was 26 degrees out of alignment and that there were no problems with the front end parts. I also mentioned the ride height adjustment and they said they would take care of it. 26 degrees sounds like a lot to me but not being a front end specialist I really can't comment about it being a lot or a little. They also told me that even though I had the alignment done that the tire would continue to wear at the same rib (the very inside one) and I would continue to feel the vibration. I don't know why this is but I can't really question them because I don't know enough about front end issues. I also don't know why they didn't pick this up at my 3 year/30000 mi service that I had done in September. If it was out 26 degrees I would almost think that it being out that much would almost be visible to the naked eye. Pearly, who quoted you $500 for the alignment? Freightliner charged me $150 tax included. I also had it done a couple of years ago at Gaffney and if I remember correctly, they charged me about $125 at the time. $500 really sounds like a lot.
Well, that's the story of my tire problem.
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Old 01-05-2017, 08:47 PM   #7
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Hey Bob, what kind of symptoms would you notice if air bag height was off?


Rich
My ride height adjustment was off when it was brand new. Pulled to the right just like a wheel being out of alignment.

I can also detect visually that the coach was not setting quite level.

Freightliner told me that the ride height adjustment should be checked before the alignment is done.
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Old 01-05-2017, 08:57 PM   #8
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As for ride height when mine was set incorrectly by FR trying to correct the weight issue I could hardly keep the damn thing on the road. In fact after 30 minutes I called ahead and had FL in Kzoo take a look. They readjusted it it was good again. It was really Squirrley.
Tom maybe putting the steer tires in the back would fix your issue. It most likely would not shimmy back their.



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Old 01-06-2017, 05:11 AM   #9
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Thanks to mmnsc for the following link. Hopefully it will clear up what rivering is:

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f59/goody...g-75862-3.html
Interesting reading..............thanks. It cleared it up for me since when I first noticed your post I was thinking.....
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Old 01-06-2017, 09:11 AM   #10
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Thanks for the reply, guys. The reason that I was asking is that when staying at a park last fall, they put me on a site that didn't look too unlevel, but when I went to level it, the front tires were brought off of the ground, with the right front tire the highest. Bringing it back down, a loud noise/crack sounded. I moved farther back to an area that seemed more level and again releveled with the same result. Too high and noise with unloading of leveling jacks. So I moved to another site. Anyway, when I was leaving the park, I made a hard right and heard a bang and it seemed to act like the broncho billy that happens when the air bags are not deployed...just not as severe. I stopped, deflated and reinflated the bags and all seemed ok. Got under the coach later and checked the steering. Everything seemed fine with nothing loose. This happened to me one other time after that. So, I was wondering since it seemed like a partial deployment whether height adjustment may be an issue here. I am planning on taking it to FL in the spring when I get her back out. Also, I looked back and did have an alignment done when I went to Gaffney. 3500 miles on coach then. Only thing out then was TOE. Rest was OK. Cost there was $180.


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Old 01-06-2017, 09:33 AM   #11
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Ride height is an easy adjustment if you don't mind getting on a creeper and possibly getting slightly dirty. Ride height is controlled bu an adjustable arm that mounts to the upper bag mount that acts on a levelling valve that supplies pressure to the bag. Ii's a simple matter of adjusting the linkage and checking the ride height / coach level with a bubble level on the bumper. 2 1/2" open end wrenches and 5 minutes. does it.
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Old 01-06-2017, 09:35 AM   #12
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Interesting reading..............thanks. It cleared it up for me since when I first noticed your post I was thinking.....
Kinda what I thought as well. Either that or a story about fording a stream and not making it.....
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Old 01-06-2017, 10:06 AM   #13
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Silly me. I thought rivering was camping down by the River! I've always liked rivering. Lol
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Old 01-06-2017, 12:33 PM   #14
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Ride height is an easy adjustment if you don't mind getting on a creeper and possibly getting slightly dirty. Ride height is controlled bu an adjustable arm that mounts to the upper bag mount that acts on a levelling valve that supplies pressure to the bag. Ii's a simple matter of adjusting the linkage and checking the ride height / coach level with a bubble level on the bumper. 2 1/2" open end wrenches and 5 minutes. does it.

It is simple but a few more steps than you listed. One is the height itself. This will very from one chassis to another. Mine is 10.5 inches. Also the height is measured from the middle of a bolt and I would need to review my files to get it exact so I won't list it here so I don't give false info. The point is yes it's simple but different Berkshires will have different specs. It's readily available info with a google search or a call to FL.



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Old 01-06-2017, 04:15 PM   #15
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On as much as I don't own one and I'm just 'reading along', I'm sure you are correct.
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