FORD E350/E450 alignment, Wandering, Caster, Play in steering wheel

[Josam]

Great information RVrover but 5 degrees plus caster is rarely possible try not to miss lead. There are many other things that the owners need to look at. The house builder is more the problem rather than Ford.

[Duckogram]

Josam what model do you have and what did you do to address the subject of the post?

[Josam]

Josam frame and alignment in Orlando

[Josam]

I don’t own one but align them weekly

[Duckogram]

Well based on that I am surprised that you are not aware that +5* of caster is easily achieved on the subject units. Take a look at the printouts posted in this thread and see for yourself that there is no one being misled here.

[billwww3]

Originally Posted by Duckogram

Well based on that I am surprised that you are not aware that +5* of caster is easily achieved on the subject units. Take a look at the printouts posted in this thread and see for yourself that there is no one being misled here.

Ducky, spot on. My 2019 E-450 with 4500 miles total, factory "fresh"/untouched, alignment last week; had + 4.9/5.1 L/R caster. The shop that did it keeps the Ford bushings in stock. Mine had excessive toe out.
bw

[RvGuy03]

Curious to know what type of shop you are taking your RV to for an alignment? Our local Ford dealer won't do it and the RV dealer we use for service (same place the previous owners purchased it from) don't preform alignments. Definitely want to get his done before I start investing a ton of money into suspension upgrades.

[Duckogram]

Originally Posted by RvGuy03

Curious to know what type of shop you are taking your RV to for an alignment? Our local Ford dealer won't do it and the RV dealer we use for service (same place the previous owners purchased it from) don't preform alignments. Definitely want to get his done before I start investing a ton of money into suspension upgrades.

Any good truck spring and alignment shop in the MKE area should be capable. You will need to talk to the head guy and give him the specs you are looking for.
They are all in this sticky along with the Moog bushing part number.

[JWallet]

Originally Posted by RvGuy03

Curious to know what type of shop you are taking your RV to for an alignment? Our local Ford dealer won't do it and the RV dealer we use for service (same place the previous owners purchased it from) don't preform alignments. Definitely want to get his done before I start investing a ton of money into suspension upgrades.

I took my Sunseeker to an independent family owned for over 60 years shop that does cars, SUV’s, up to and including 18 wheeler tractors. They take pride in there work and wouldn’t accept payment until I took it for a road test after corrections were made. 70+ miles one way but well worth the drive.

[Toy4Rick]

2021 Ford E450, 24' Sunseeker LE, just over 5k miles, new to us back in May

Mine doesn't seem to handle very well, float, all over the road...

Alignment shop near us, terrible reviews, known for price gouging, yelling at customers, giving people the hand to stop talking, walks away.... ahhhh nope
Truck shop near by stopped doing alignments, they recommended the above shop
CW near us doesn't do alignments, recommended the shop above
Other places around me don't do RVs...

Leaves me with Ford, right up the street, they will do my RV...

I live 30 miles north of downtown San Diego, any advice on someone in the San Diego area that knows what they are doing?

[FlippinUid]

RvRover & Harvard, thank you so much for this post, and to the Admin for making this a sticky post.



Just got back from getting an alignment, and the difference is HUGE. No wandering/play in the steering. When I realized, nobody close could do the alignment, and it was a 2 hour drive, I decided to do shocks and the sway bar upgrades at the same time. Damn thing drives better than my Honda Ridgeline now.



I took it to a truck shop that usually works on Internationals, and I don't think they do too many RV's. Comparing the Front Toe, Caster Camber measurements and degrees do not really match what was posted in the original, but they did say only my toe was out, and the did install the adjusting bushings, and while my caster cam end up as +4 5/8 degrees and 4 7/8.



As the wife followed me down and then back, she could tell the difference with the shocks, and um, my speed too. Corners better.



A good amount of money to do it all, but she is so much easier to drive. If anyone is doubting any of these changes, at least do the alignment, it will be well worth the money for the safety, tire issues down the road, and less stress driving.

[BehindBars]

Originally Posted by Duckogram

Looks like he has the model (3010DS) in his signature block.

I see that is obvious now. I had looked at the member’s profile instead.

[FlippinUid]

Just corrected my signature. It was indeed missing, you weren't seeing things.

[JWallet]

Originally Posted by FlippinUid

RvRover & Harvard, thank you so much for this post, and to the Admin for making this a sticky post.



Just got back from getting an alignment, and the difference is HUGE. No wandering/play in the steering. When I realized, nobody close could do the alignment, and it was a 2 hour drive, I decided to do shocks and the sway bar upgrades at the same time. Damn thing drives better than my Honda Ridgeline now.



I took it to a truck shop that usually works on Internationals, and I don't think they do too many RV's. Comparing the Front Toe, Caster Camber measurements and degrees do not really match what was posted in the original, but they did say only my toe was out, and the did install the adjusting bushings, and while my caster cam end up as +4 5/8 degrees and 4 7/8.



As the wife followed me down and then back, she could tell the difference with the shocks, and um, my speed too. Corners better.



A good amount of money to do it all, but she is so much easier to drive. If anyone is doubting any of these changes, at least do the alignment, it will be well worth the money for the safety, tire issues down the road, and less stress driving.

Good for you! All it takes is going to professionals that know what they are doing! Don’t try to re invent the wheel and get cute and think your smarter than good old fashioned common sense!

[FlippinUid]

Originally Posted by JWallet

Good for you! All it takes is going to professionals that know what they are doing! Don’t try to re invent the wheel and get cute and think your smarter than good old fashioned common sense!

Indeed, we all have our specialties and the cream always rises to the top.

[Canadian Eh]

I went to two "truck shops" even though I had a connection through work they didn't want to touch it.

[Toy4Rick]

Originally Posted by Toy4Rick

2021 Ford E450, 24' Sunseeker LE, just over 5k miles, new to us back in May

Mine doesn't seem to handle very well, float, all over the road...

Alignment shop near us, terrible reviews, known for price gouging, yelling at customers, giving people the hand to stop talking, walks away.... ahhhh nope
Truck shop near by stopped doing alignments, they recommended the above shop
CW near us doesn't do alignments, recommended the shop above
Other places around me don't do RVs...

Leaves me with Ford, right up the street, they will do my RV...

I live 30 miles north of downtown San Diego, any advice on someone in the San Diego area that knows what they are doing?

Any luv for us San Diegans?

[Duckogram]

Originally Posted by Toy4Rick

Any luv for us San Diegans?

I thought you were going to take it to Ford? Besides, I was only in SD for a week in ‘18. Stayed at the city park in Mission Bay. No clue what is available in your home town.

[Toy4Rick]

Originally Posted by Duckogram

I thought you were going to take it to Ford? Besides, I was only in SD for a week in ‘18. Stayed at the city park in Mission Bay. No clue what is available in your home town.

Going to Ford is an option, not sure if the suggested settings are within Ford specs cuz I can't imagine they would align it out of what they consider factory specifications, let alone installing the necessary bushings to then put it out of spec

[billwww3]

Originally Posted by Toy4Rick

Going to Ford is an option, not sure if the suggested settings are within Ford specs cuz I can't imagine they would align it out of what they consider factory specifications, let alone installing the necessary bushings to then put it out of spec

Rick, you might be lucky and need no bushings to achieve the caster. The toe was off on my 2020 with 4500 miles on it. All 4500 miles of white knuckles i might add. Wandering down the road, veering at the slightest crosswind, big trucks causing a whole other level of driver attention!!

I had to find a shop to do RV safety inspections for NC license anyway and this place also did alignments so 2 for 1. They knew all about the caster issues and had bushings in stock... as i said earlier; not needed!

There has to be a shop in SD somewhere to handle this; too many Fords (Fedex, Ryder, U-Haul, UPS) out there that need it from somewhere.
good luck,
bw