Dangerous high winds???

[booster]

Originally Posted by Roadtrek Adventuous RS1

Dear MsNomer,

Since you were so kind to include pictures of your rig... here are some pictures of ours to share...

Our 2012 RS Adventurous is almost 10,000 pounds fully loaded, here's a picture....
And, I had new KONI FSD shocks, Roadmaster Anti Sway bar and a Trac Bar developed by Super Steer in Grants Pass Oregon......all of these extra options made a tremendous handling difference.... However, I would still figure out how to avoid these situations by changing course or waiting...

Our vehicle is almost 10 feet tall so it's more of a high profile vehicle..than some of the Chevy Express models I've seen.....

Is your 2014 Promaster on the high roof?? Looks like it is from your pictures...

I know that you are smart enough to avoid the tornadoes and it's unfortunate that you had to "outrun" them as you previously stated.....I hope and pray that I never find myself in this kind of predicament.... sounds like you had no choice....

By the way... I've been to Western Oklahoma .. have traveled across the USA several times, and have taken Highway 40 ( old Route 66). , 70, and 50 across the USA....even been on 80 a few times....... including 76...

One of our favorite stops is "The Big Texan" in Amarillo....NO..we didn't try the steak dinner.. but, last fall we were stopped for dinner and someone sitting a table away went for the challenge....he ate everything in one hour... just barely...... quite a show.....

In case you don't know about the "Big Texan" here's the link to the information below.....

https://www.bigtexan.com/72oz-steak-rules/

The Adventurous is not really a huge van in height or weight at those numbers. Roadtrek lists it at 9' 7" with roof air, so much closer to 9' high except for a small area where the AC is. A Chevy with a 2" lift back to stock height is going to be about 8' 7" or so, so not all the much diference even to the claimed stealth Chevy version. The Chevy Roadtreks, except for the 170 have a weight of 9600#, so also close to 10K pounds, and most are close to that. A Chevy 210 is only 10" shorter than the Adventurous and the same if you have the continental tire kit. IMO, the size differences are not nearly enough to make the kinds of difference being mentioned. As I have mentioned, IMO, dualies are harder to keep in a straight line in the wind because they have so much understeer built in because of the rear wheels. The wind is going to push any vehicle offline, so it gets down to how well do the front and rear move over together, and does the vehicle respond to steering input will, and how easy is it to get back online. We see similar all the time while we are out, especially with trailers. The well setup ones will be blasting along, wind or not, with barely a wiggle, and the poorly setup ones are bouncing line to line. Same is true for the motorhomes, no matter what size they are. They can be good or bad, or in between. This thread has pointed out that many have a justified fear of high winds, but others barely notice windy conditions unless they get truly extreme. My bet would be it is 75% better handling vans and 25% braver drivers generating the difference.

[JebTN]

Back in the mid to late 70s we had our first real camper and our first B (we did a bunch of truck campers after that and just came back to the B fold this Summer). It was a 65 Ford extended van with a pop top. Was the middle of the night and wind and rain was getting bad, so finally decided to pull in to a rest stop on I-90 in Ohio. Not sure we go much sleep for the first few hours as we rocked back and forth and were being pelted with rain. We ended up saying all night and waiting for daylight. We drove down the road about 10 miles and there were two tractor trailer rigs on their sides.You could see a path of destruction and it was obvious a tornado had passed through. This was back in the CB days and I made a call to find out what happened and when. A local person came on and gave the approximate time. It was about the 10 minutes after we decided to pull off 10 miles back.

Only time we have stopped for weather but would not hesitate to bail again.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by booster

The Adventurous is not really a huge van in height or weight at those numbers. Roadtrek lists it at 9' 7" with roof air, so much closer to 9' high except for a small area where the AC is. A Chevy with a 2" lift back to stock height is going to be about 8' 7" or so, so not all the much diference even to the claimed stealth Chevy version. The Chevy Roadtreks, except for the 170 have a weight of 9600#, so also close to 10K pounds, and most are close to that. A Chevy 210 is only 10" shorter than the Adventurous and the same if you have the continental tire kit. IMO, the size differences are not nearly enough to make the kinds of difference being mentioned. As I have mentioned, IMO, dualies are harder to keep in a straight line in the wind because they have so much understeer built in because of the rear wheels. The wind is going to push any vehicle offline, so it gets down to how well do the front and rear move over together, and does the vehicle respond to steering input will, and how easy is it to get back online. We see similar all the time while we are out, especially with trailers. The well setup ones will be blasting along, wind or not, with barely a wiggle, and the poorly setup ones are bouncing line to line. Same is true for the motorhomes, no matter what size they are. They can be good or bad, or in between. This thread has pointed out that many have a justified fear of high winds, but others barely notice windy conditions unless they get truly extreme. My bet would be it is 75% better handling vans and 25% braver drivers generating the difference.

Yes, here's some detailed specs for you.

2012 RS-Adventurous Specifications
Sleeps 2 to 4 with optional front seats
Length 22 ft 9 in
Ext Width 6 ft 8 in
Ext Height 9 ft 7 in
Int Height 6 ft 3 in
Hitch Weight 750 lbs
Gross Weight 11030 lbs
Cargo Weight 2,700 lbs
Fresh Water Capacity 30 gals
Grey Water Capacity 21 gals
Black Water Capacity 10 gals
Tire Size LT215/85R16E
Furnace BTU 16000 btu
Fuel Type Diesel
Wheelbase - 170 inches
Engine Mercedes 3.0L CRD V6
Chassis Sprinter 3500
GCWR 15,250

https://www.roadtrek.com/models/rs-adventurous/

[booster]

Yep, that is where I got my information, what is the point?

[Mfturner]

My wife was driving in northeastern CO and entering a storm front was hit by a sudden wind gust that the news said was in the 80's, it blew her and the line of semi's from the right into the left lane, fortunately no one was in the left lane in that line of traffic, everyone had already slowed down with the impending storm. At a different time I tried to sleep through fifty mph gusts shaking the van, I was glad to not be driving.

[MsNomer]

My 136" HR PM is 17'9" long and 8'4" tall plus solar and fan. It weighs 6,900' fully loaded--about 2,000 less than max. Front wheel drive also helps.

[Phoebe3]

The Ford Transit that I have (may not be true of all of them) has a built in wind sensor that applies brakes individually to wheels as needed. I have found it remarkably stable compared to previous high-sided vehicles we have owned.