190 popular squirely steering

[glenncoenen]

Hi - my name is glenn and my wife and i are new to rv-ing and have a 190 popular roadtrek on a chevy chassis. it is a 1995 in very good condition. It has been gone over so it has a good front end, new shocks and michelin tires. it drives very squirely at high speeds or when semis pass (white knuckle)! i have read about front end stabilizers , wheel spacers and steering box stabilizer. Does anyone know what will help out my white knuckle steering?
thanx, glenn

[rowiebowie]

Welcome to the forum glenn!

I don't own your model (I assume it's a Dodge), but there has been much previous discussion on your topic and about the suggested fixes you list.

I always chime in to check if the recirculating-ball steering box has an adjustment for removing on-center slack. No one ever seems to respond to my suggestion so perhaps this is not a thing on 90's vehicles. But Dodges with non-power steering in the 70's did. A slotted center bolt on top of the steering box was held by a nut. We could losen the nut, turn the slotted bolt clockwise a turn or two, and re-tighten the nut to hold the adjustment. We sometimes had to repeat, or perhaps back off a half turn if the steering felt tight.

[themexicandoctor]

I agree.

There is a lot of recent discussions including high quality Michelin tires negatively affecting steering, when other factors were mitigated plus that some older model tires were being phased out.

PM Booster.

But before that, search Michelin in the threads.

Get a background of ALL the different dynamics involved because there were some very interesting results, experienced by very knowledgeable, technically savvy owners that ran counter to what was expected.

[markopolo]

After checking for loose/worn parts then a front-end alignment would be a good next step.

[booster]

The steering box should have an adjustment on it. Just be careful not to go to tight. Change it in small increments and feel the steering with front wheels off the ground to make sure it doesn't get too tight, especially in the middle.


A lot of models of Dodges have a steering box reinforcing assembly that can be put on them to support the lower bearing to prevent movement of the output shaft, and to also reinforce the frame mount.


If you the gear is is in poor condition and needs to be fixed, don't get an off the shelf parts store "rebuilt". Most are very poor and may not even have the correct parts in them for the application. Have it sent in to a high quality rebuilder like Redhead.


One of the Dodge owners can probably post the TSB on the Dodges, which may apply to your year. It lists some things that will help and also gives revised alignment specs, which are very important.


Many people in the past had gone to the stiff sidewall Micheling XPX Rib tires as they found they helped settle the Dodges down.


Experiment with tire pressures, most Dodges we hear about seem to be using 65psi front/80rear.


Quite a bit of information on the forum about it all.

[Doneworking]

I believe our new member OP stated that his Roadtrek is on a Chevrolet chassis .

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by Doneworking

I believe our new member OP stated that his Roadtrek is on a Chevrolet chassis .

You are correct! My mistake. I just saw 1995 and steering problems and assumed Dodge. Didn't know Roadtrek even used the Chevy chassis that early.

[booster]

Originally Posted by Doneworking

I believe our new member OP stated that his Roadtrek is on a Chevrolet chassis .

You are correct, they did say that, but AFAIK all the 190s were on Dodges in 1995. If it is a Chevy, it would have to be a 210, I think.

[themexicandoctor]

Originally Posted by booster

You are correct, they did say that, but AFAIK all the 190s were on Dodges in 1995. If it is a Chevy, it would have to be a 210, I think.

What is AFAIK?

[booster]

Originally Posted by themexicandoctor

What is AFAIK?

As far as I know.

[themexicandoctor]

Thank you Booster.

I am only 58 but cannot* keep up with all the shorthand of the generations before me.

Find it hard to imagine that you as one of the Giants amongst us would use such a non-scientific term but then again, we are talkimg about Class B's.

Would that Chevy be a 200?

*choose not to

[booster]

Originally Posted by themexicandoctor

Thank you Booster.

I am only 58 but cannot* keep up with all the shorthand of the generations before me.

Find it hard to imagine that you as one of the Giants amongst us would use such a non-scientific term but then again, we are talkimg about Class B's.

Would that Chevy be a 200?

*choose not to

I tend to be very precise on tech terms, especially units of measure, but I also get tired of typing, so the shorthand does come in handy to help that out. I have no issue with the shorthand for tech units, either, as long as they are the correct ones for the purpose, AH for amp hours for instance. Very common in all tech writing and industries.

[Doneworking]

I owned a 1996 Roadtrek 190P on a Dodge chassis for many years. I bought it new and still have the original brochure that was used in 1996.

Glenn's RT is a 1995. My original brochure for my RT clearly shows both 170 and 190 Roadtreks on a Chevy chassis. Roadtrek brochures were very complete back then and had extremely detailed specs in their brochures.

The 190 Chevy was 3 inches longer, one inch wider and 1 inch taller than the Dodge 190 per the specs. It also had a larger fresh tank (36 vs 31 gallons), a slightly smaller gray tank (21 vs 23 gallons) and the same size black tank (12 gallons). The GVW was 90 pounds heavier on the Chevy.

The 210 Roadtrek was available only on the Chevy chassis.

I suspect that the 95 and 96 Roadtreks were mostly the same since RT didn't seem to change stuff too often back then.

Our 1996 RT on the Dodge had a 318 in it and was easy to drive and provided us good service and a lot of years of happy travels.

[themexicandoctor]

Excellent answer.

Where did the 200 label come from then, was that then scrapped & became the 190?

[mkguitar]

The chev steering box has an adjustment as mentioned above, OP ( "Original Poster")
switch over to chevy forums or youtube and you'll see quickly how to check this

all said a high heavy van can/will bobble around at speed

I am stable at 65 and not as much at 75- its is a marked difference


mike

[booster]

Originally Posted by mkguitar

200/210 are widebody models mike

Apparently not in 1995.


https://www.roadtrek.com/wp-content/...model_year.pdf

[mkguitar]

oops!
deleted that

Thanks, Mike

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by mkguitar

The chev steering box has an adjustment as mentioned above, OP ( "Original Poster")
switch over to chevy forums or youtube and you'll see quickly how to check this

all said a high heavy van can/will bobble around at speed

I am stable at 65 and not as much at 75- its is a marked difference


mike

What is scary about my 2012 Chevy Express (Airstream Avenue) is how easy it is to get up to speeds well above 75 and not really feel any different than 60 mph. I don't recommend it, but has happened on a few occassions going down hill (with an uphill soon approaching) so I didn't want to use my brakes only to hit the gas again.

And once on an 80mph interstate to get ahead of someone who was driving distracted at about 70mph. I try to stay 5-10 below posted speed limits, but in this case faster traffic made me feel safer at 70, but to get around quickly I sped up to 80 to go pass the offending driver. It was like nothing and felt as stable as ever.

[booster]

Originally Posted by rowiebowie

What is scary about my 2012 Chevy Express (Airstream Avenue) is how easy it is to get up to speeds well above 75 and not really feel any different than 60 mph. I don't recommend it, but has happened on a few occassions going down hill (with an uphill soon approaching) so I didn't want to use my brakes only to hit the gas again.

And once on an 80mph interstate to get ahead of someone who was driving distracted at about 70mph. I try to stay 5-10 below posted speed limits, but in this case faster traffic made me feel safer at 70, but to get around quickly I sped up to 80 to go pass the offending driver. It was like nothing and felt as stable as ever.

It is easy to with a well setup Chevy, I think. We averaged 72+mph over an 840 mile day in a mad emergency dash for home, and that included stops for gas and one stop to decide if we wanted to go further that day, at about mile 750. 75+ on cruise for many hours straight, windy or not.

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by booster

It is easy to with a well setup Chevy, I think. We averaged 72+mph over an 840 mile day in a mad emergency dash for home, and that included stops for gas and one stop to decide if we wanted to go further that day, at about mile 750. 75+ on cruise for many hours straight, windy or not.

I agree, but it would probably take me over 300+ feet to stop my rig at those speeds.

I once caught a 45-50mph tail wind while fleeing a dust storm accross Arizona and New Mexico into North Texas. Over 400 miles at 70+ mph with 23.3 mpg indicated on my dash computer (see pic). Man was it a quiet drive and I didn't have to stop for gas once that day.