How hard do you find it get coach from shoulder to road at speed?

[Mike Shumack]

I probably did not word the title very well...

Just came back from a short trip which involved Interstate highway driving.

On this trip, and the same as previous trips, while driving on the Interstate at 65mph +/-, "once in awhile' my coach will drift a little and drop the front tire onto the shoulder (I'm talking about just the front right tire hitting the shoulder - not the whole coach).

When this happens I find it a little "difficult" to get back onto the road smoothly.
The shoulder is about an inch lower than the road surface, so the tire does not want to come back onto road easily. I find it easier (and safer I think) to let that tire ride on the shoulder then gradually get back up on the road. While this is going on the coach is getting that thump, thump, thump from the grooves cut into the shoulder to wake up drivers.

Maybe this normal for coach driving. This is my first coach so I don't have anything to compare handling to.
These coaches are wide and there is not a lot of pavement between tire edges to stay in one's lane (maybe 1 foot on each side).
And I find my front end does drift/wander some. Perhaps after I get coach weighed and adjust tag axle air bag pressure this wandering will go away.

So question is - does your coach wander any? And if you hit the shoulder do you find it takes a little steering effort to get back up on the road?

[William Jordan]

First , my coach does not “wander” it does require attention certainly. Perhaps you might need to have it looked at. Standard lanes are 12’ wide. If you get off road , and the shoulder IS off road,  if there is a height difference , you should be very careful re entering the road take time and remove speed and yes it is harder to get over that inch difference. The forces in that inch difference are pretty powerful
In my work days I drove semi’s and triple trailers ( now THEY wander!) for years. if your not used to driving a large vehicle it can be hard to “find center” and stay centered in your lane at first . it takes time and experience to feel comfortable and most people subconsciously drift to the right at first as the natural tendency is to feel too close to the center line when in fact your not. Focusing to close ahead can create corrections and wander induced by those subtle corrections. Your wander may certainly be suspension related but those are just some other possibilities.

[Mike Shumack]

The weighing station (Smart Weigh) in my area is closed until end of September. Once I get it weighed and setup correctly with pressures - I'll see if that takes care of the wandering. If not, I will go to alignment shop.

I don't think the wandering is bad, but I did hit the shoulder about 3 times in a 5 hour drive. It was not due to fatigue, but possibly some inattentiveness. 
This has never been a problem in my car so I think it is just due to the size and handling characteristics of it being a big coach.

Thanks for your response.

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Mike,
Here's a tip I picked up when my wife took the driving class at the recent Redmond OR rally. Mark a spot 16' in front of the coach and in line with the left edge of the coach. Sit in your normal driving position and then use a sticky dot on the inside of the windshield to mark the spot. You now have a guide that will tell you where you are in relation to the center strip. Works good for me (don't have much depth perception so need all the help I can get).
Steve

[Mike Shumack]

Thanks for the tip Steve.
Maybe I'm hugging the right edge of the lane too closely. I tend to drive in the right lane as much as possible.

[Lee Welbanks]

Mike, When you are driving you car do you have trouble staying in the center of the lane? My 06 Patriot Thunder is front end heavy with the fuel tank full so my front tires are at 120 psig and the rears are 100 psig. The coach steers good and is somewhat affected by changes in the road surface, but if on a flat smooth road and you let go of the wheel it runs straight.
Back in the day I owned and drove truck all over the country and was always taught to "aim high in steering" meaning look down the road way out in front of your vehicle and your hands will just follow. If you start looking close up or down the sides of the vehicle in the mirrors you will be all over the road. Look down the road and just drive your hands will follow and don't over think it.
When I first started driving trucks I had trouble with lane positioning between a cabover and a conventional (long nose) because of the position in the truck that your seat is. Cabovers you are closer to the left side.
Three years ago we had a right front tire blow out up in Utah and the coach was not hard to control at all, the tire shaking was the worst part. You have to be ready for uneven pavement like a new paved road where one lane is the the other is not yet. You want to stay away from the right shoulder, cause if you drop a wheel off the pavement it could get ugly fast.

[David T. Richelderfer]

I was told by a truck driving relative that I should feel too close to the centerline but not be across it.  So, when I can see the centerline in my rearview mirror, I know the coach is not over/across it.  But it still feels like I am too far to the left.

[Stan Simpson]

Just today, driving horrible I-76 from Ogalala, NE to I-25 in Denver, I was going SW 95% of the time and in to a stiff 20+ mph wind from due South. I generally cruise at 63, so I was a turtle in that 75 mph speed limit environment. I got pushed around quite a bit when being passed by the big trucks, but I'm used to it, and never once hit the washboard on the side of the road. Many of the big trucks hit it on the other side going by me, but I use Lee's method, and am good to be passed, and don't wander toward them. Takes experience, you'll get it with time in the pilot's seat.

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Mike,
I have the same tendency. Looking in the mirrors helps but I don't like taking eyes off the road in front any more than needed. Dot solves that. I'll try Lee's approach on next trip. I have a  similar problem with the newer cars where you can't see the front. Guess it's a combination of one eye and that thing called age  .
Steve

[Lee Welbanks]

Wind is something to get used too, as heavy as this PT is it is not bothered to much by trucks blowing by at 80, side winds if it is steady not a problem just add the correct amount of english to the wheel. Now gusty winds are the worst and in steady wind watch out for overpasses when you come out the other side it can bounce you a bit. Also passing trucks in a steady side wind can get interesting. A few years ago was heading up 25 in southern Co and it was blowing about 50 out of the northwest, had to really pay attention that day, probably should have hold up somewhere.

[Mike Shumack]

I don't feel pushed around by passing big rigs. The coach seems stable in that regards.

The driving position is obviously much higher than I'm used to in my SUV. I have no trouble keeping my SUV centered (but there's a lot more road to work with too).

Recently  I went over a long tall bridge (over the Indian River causeway) where I was so high above the guardrail (and it's easy to look over the side) I felt a little nervous (like a rush of vertigo setting in).  That's when I revert to use the "look far ahead" technique. No sightseeing for me going over bridges.

[Lee Welbanks]

Yeah, high bridges can get you to pay attention and not looking at the sites, road construction when they narrow up the lanes to 10' and put a K rail down the side. Heading north out of Phoenix on 17 the lanes are 10' for a while and with the wall to wall traffic you are looking down at the tops of the cars going by.
I still look at almost every car that passes on the left not matter what lane it is in, old habit from back in the truck days. See some very interesting things going on in cars.

[Joel Ashley]

As others have mentioned here, I’m inclined to think you’re simply driving too far to the right to begin with.  If your coach seems otherwise handling stable, that would be my guess. 

By parking in a relatively empty and lined lot, you can get centered between long painted lines as per an outside helper, adjust your seat to normal, and note where on your dash and/or windshield wiper the left line crosses.  I have something on the dash-windshield interface that marks the spot, and I try not to drift too far one way or the other via its dictates.  Also, watching the highway lines in the side mirrors, centering myself, and noting then where on the dash the left line intersects is another thing I do to secure reassurance.

Doing that when I took delivery sans a test drive in 2006 at BCS, I kinda taught myself, having never driven anything bigger than a pickup or farm tractor.  It took a bit of doing to convince myself I had to stay so much further to the left than seemed proper.  A few hollers from a panicking spouse helped.  Also allow that a copilot that drives occasionally will usually site on a different spot on the dash/windshield due to seat position and height variables, so both of you should execute the “site in” routine.

If handling turns out to be part of the problem, as you’ve read here in other threads consider a Safe-T-Plus.

Joel

[Bill Sprague]

For alignment in the center, try glancing at your towed car in the rear view camera.  It will be very clear if your car is centered between the stripes.  If it is, the motorhome pulling it is too!