Safe T Plus SuperSteer Trim Unit

[Pat Long]

I am contemplating adding a Safe T Plus the the SuperSteer Trim Unit for my 2000 Beaver Marquis.   Met with the guys a Quartzite show and looked at the system and believe it is what I am looking for.  Any advice for the ones who own one.  Pros and Cons

[Gerald Farris]

Pat,
I also like the Safety Plus with the Super Steer Trim Unit, but I never got around to installing one on my Marquis. So I decided that I would add one to the Solitaire that I recently purchased and I bought one from Roy Mueller, the BAC member who invented the trim unit, at the BAC Quartzsite Rally. I will finish the installation today (not the average DIY project), so I can answer any questions that you might have about that, but it will be about 2 months before I can tell you about how it drives. However, every BAC member that I know who has one, loves it.

Gerald 

[Pat Long]

Gerald,     Where do you plan to tie into the air line system to activate the trim system?  Are all the fittings needed provided for that connection?  Are the instructions provided detailed enough for that installation?  I too am planing on doing my own installation and would appreciate it if you would let me know about your installation process.   Thank You for your time, Again.

Pat

[Gerald Farris]

Pat,
All of the fittings that were necessary for my installation were included with the Trim Unit kit. However, I found the instruction sheet that came with it to be about useless. There are two issues that will give the average DIY installer a problem. First you have to position the air can for the trim unit so that it clears at all times, especially the fuel tank when the coach is lowered (air bags deflated) to its lowest point (the 2000 Marquis is very low with deflated air bags), but still has ground clerance. Second, the bolts that hold the axle to the suspension cradle that are used to mount the trim unit bracket are very tight and the average DIY does not have the tools necessary for removal. I had to use the 1450 foot pound 3/4 inch impact gun that I use for tire removal to take them out. However, if you have a 3/4 inch breaker bar and a cheater pipe, possibly with a helper, that should work, but for me the impact gun was easier.

I used an air line that was located behind the electrical bay as an air source, but I think that all of the 2000 Marquis coaches have an air line in the electrical bay that will work, the air supply to the air horn relay.

If you have any further question when you start the installation just call me (713-254-4156).

Gerald

[Roy Warren Co-Admin]

Pat,
I have one and love it.  Roy Mueller installed my trim unit.  The Saf T  Plus was installed by Bend RV repair when the coach was new.  The Saf T Plus unit was installed for peace of mind as Vicki had been driving our old 1999 PT when it had a front left blow-out and we then had an E-ride.  Knew with our new coach we had to have something which would make Vicki comfortable thus the installation.  The trim unit made driving a real pleasure in cross winds and on crowned roads.
Roy Warren

[jeffprupis]

Just had the Safe T Plus installed my Josams in Orlando. No trim kit - figured I'd wait to see how the Safe T Plus works on it's own. Loving it. No buffeting, tracks dead on center, returns to center after turn. Had them do an alignment at the same time. Our Beve's running nice. Prob will pass on trim unit .

[Pat Long]

Thanks Gerald,   If you have any pics you can email them to me I would appreciate it.  I do all my own maintaince and have up to 1" impact and sockets up to 4 1/2".  Just would like to start looking at the finished product so I can start making mental plans.  And will no doubt talk to you for more advice.   Thank You

[Joel Ashley]

The Beaver handles highway and weather challenges so much better than our old Pace Arrow that I thought that was good enough.  But to protect against extremes like a blowout we added only the Safe-T-Plus and Henderson’s added some other tweaks that did noticeably improve the coach.  It’s so far along from the Pace that it’s hard to imagine it any better, so the trim kit seems overkill in our case.  That’s not to diminish its value to some owners or particular coach models, but consider adding only the Safe-T-Plus initially and the kit after a trial period.

Joel

[Gerald Farris]

The problem with installing the Safety Plus now and installing the trim unit later is the added parts and labor cost. If you install a Safety Plus without a trim unit, you have to purchase and install the mounting bracket that you will have to take off and through away to install the trim unit that goes in its place. So if you do not want to be able to re-center the Safety Plus to compensate for road crown or cross winds, just install a Safety Plus, but if you want that ability, install the trim unit also and avoid the waste of time and money.

Gerald

[George Morlan]

Our history included three coaches with the Howard unit, which was the gold standard for steering stabilizers but very expensive, both initially and to move from coach to coach.  When we lost the coach to a fire after Howard units were no longer available, we installed a Safe-T-Plus on the replacement.  Coach handled well, but after Roy developed his unit and we heard from people who had it, we had Roy add it to our coach. It made a significant improvement.  We moved the system to our 2007 Contessa when we bought it over ten years ago.  In my opinion it's well worth the money.