Quote:
Originally Posted by sparkyfourhire
In another post about bed lift systems, the question of balance and safe handling came into question. I question how many RVs are actually balanced in any meaningful way by the factory. I have seen a number of RVs out there have the gas tank, bathroom, black tank, and refrigerator, with maybe a fresh tank and/or batteries all on the driver side. How can that be a balanced build?
As far as vertical center-of-gravity (COG), how do you maintain COG of an RV without knowing what will be stored in the upper cabinets. Probably just some clothing, dishes, and a little food, but that weight can vary considerably from one user to the next. Synthetic clothing for a weekend trip will weigh a lot less than extra bedding, jeans, jackets, and cotton clothing for full-time use. Glass drink-ware and ceramic dishes weigh more than plastic. Prefer canned food over boxed or bagged? If you add AC or rigid solar panels (flexible ones are pretty light) to a unit that doesn't have any, does that have an appreciative impact on COG stability?
I recognize that lifting the bed will change the COG of the vehicle, but in the grand scheme of things, does changing the vertical location of a bed, even a heavy foam mattress with structural frame, from the center height of the van to the ceiling of the van, maybe 30" or so, going to make enough of a difference to send the vehicle hurtling off the road and exploding in a Michael Bay style fireball that takes out all of New England with it? Ok, maybe that was a little much?
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Personally, I think everybody should know their corner weights for their RV so they can do a decent job of addressing any handling deficiencies that they find after driving in various conditions and make sure they aren't overloading and single tire.
Handling is very subjective so some might find a van to hand "fine" or "great" but others would find that van less than stellar.
Handling all comes down to the parts of the suspension and tires mostly, but at highway speed aerodynamics can play role.
On our 07 Chevy Roadtrek 190 we have 2-300# more weight on the left rear, which is common with these models. I have different spring spacing to the axle to compensate this for height, with the goal of having the front wheels at the same height so the independent suspension matches side to side in bumps, dips and turns. Others find the the same models OK without more effort.
I won't get into how to address various deficiencies, but they do exist and most can be at least improved with some changes to things.
If your van handles fine in your opinion (be subjective and don't be influenced by the problem of "my van is perfect syndrome" we see so often) don't mess with it and just maintain it well. If you find a need to improve something, post it and most likely somebody will have addressed it in the past.
As far as vertical center of gravity goes, lower is always better. I can't really say if side to side or front to back differences matter a lot or not as we haven't had an issue like that, but my guess is that front to back high stuff will make be some kind of issue as it would alter suspension compression.
A heavy bed way in the rear, if traveled with it 6-7+' off the ground certainly could be an issue that possibly could be addressed with a big rear swaybar, which is a good idea in general for class b's anyway, IMO.
RV Balance And Weight Distribution
Linear Mode
