craige Posted April 29, 2010 Share Posted April 29, 2010 I got my toy a few months ago and have been working on it since. It is a 92 sea breeze, 21'-7" with the V6. It needs new tires, which I am getting online from tirerack. They are 185/0R14 D Continental Vanco, $70each (x7) plus $70ish shipping. I understand that the camper is a topheavy vehicle but I am wondering if I also need stuts and /or shocks. If you push on the side of the camper, it rocks easy. I can feel my 100lb dog rock the camper when he gets up and circles to lay down on the front seat. Any suggestions on struts and/or struts. I should note that the camper is on the heavy side of the toys and has all of the features, Generator, awning, trailer hitch receiver(for bike rack). Thanks Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diesel_Aggie Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 I understand that the camper is a topheavy vehicle but I am wondering if I also need stuts and /or shocks. If you push on the side of the camper, it rocks easy. I can feel my 100lb dog rock the camper when he gets up and circles to lay down on the front seat. Any suggestions on struts and/or struts. I should note that the camper is on the heavy side of the toys and has all of the features, Generator, awning, trailer hitch receiver(for bike rack). Thanks Craig I don't think shocks will help with the problem you describe even if they are worn. The purpose of a shock absorber is to dampen (stop) the up and down movement of the vehicle once it is bouncing. They do very little with side to side motion. It's certainly possible your springs are weak from age and the heavy load and have lost some stiffness. A less stiff spring is more likely to deflect and cause rocking and more suspension movement in general. Degraded rubber bushings will also cause more movement in the suspension. Replacing these with new rubber or better yet much stiffer polyurethane will certainly eliminate some slop. Bushings are cheap but it's a lot of labor. I don't think with new shocks and springs you will eliminate the movement you refer to. I used to own a 33' 5th wheel weighing 9800 pounds empty and it would rock when a dog or someone moved around. Same thing with my Lance camper on back of a 1-ton dually which weighed in around 12,000 pounds fully loaded. Any Toyota motorhome or for that matter any vehicle of this age is certainly due for a suspension rebuild. Haven't rebuilt the Sunrader suspension yet but new struts, springs, polyurethane bushings and mounts all around did wonders on the 390,000 miles Civic and 360,000 mile Passat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craige Posted May 5, 2010 Author Share Posted May 5, 2010 Thanks for answering my post. I am trying to get an idea of how much rocking is normal and how much is too much. Suspension work is out of the budget this year anyways. I hope to meet some toy mh owners this year on my travels and see their rigs. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bufbooth Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Hello Craig, Did you end up buying the Continental Vanco 185/r14D tires? If so, how do you like them. I might be needed to purchase new tires and just ran across these Continentals. Last year I put on a set of Continental on my Chevy 1500 full size pickup and they are doing great so far, and super quite. 185R14 1874 lbs. 65 psi I got my toy a few months ago and have been working on it since. It is a 92 sea breeze, 21'-7" with the V6. It needs new tires, which I am getting online from tirerack. They are 185/0R14 D Continental Vanco, $70each (x7) plus $70ish shipping. I understand that the camper is a topheavy vehicle but I am wondering if I also need stuts and /or shocks. If you push on the side of the camper, it rocks easy. I can feel my 100lb dog rock the camper when he gets up and circles to lay down on the front seat. Any suggestions on struts and/or struts. I should note that the camper is on the heavy side of the toys and has all of the features, Generator, awning, trailer hitch receiver(for bike rack). Thanks Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craige Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 Got the tires and they are working out great. Mounting was free because they went into the back of the camper and left the door open on a very windy day. When I went to pick it up it had a hole in the fiberglass from the door handle. Not happy with firestone, they didn't have a reason to be in the camper part. Oh well. Tires are much better than the old ones. 10,000 miles on them and thay are holding up well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86rader Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 sounds to me like they weren't exactly free! hopefully you can patch it up. i have a good way, well, maybe it's not so good, to figure out if you need shocks. get on the hiway, find a nice long straight down hill stretch and run her up to about 75 or so. if you don't need to change your underwear immediately afterwards, you probably have decent shocks!!!!! i discovered this method of toyhouse shock testing on the drive home after purchasing it. my sunrader got a little squirrely above 65 or so prior to the new shocks. afterwards it's as stable as can be at any speed it is capable of. of course this really shouldn't be an issue as no sane person would drive a toyhouse in such a manner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craige Posted March 14, 2011 Author Share Posted March 14, 2011 I go all over the US to rock climb and whitewater kayak with my wife and friends. I was sleeping during my buddys shift at the wheel. When it was my turn the GPS had a high speed of 83 mph, He didn't crash but I imposed a RV max speed after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee & Joan Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 Do you have air bags on the rear axle ? I think they can firm up the ride a little if you pump them up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86rader Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 airbags will help carry the weight, but, they will do nothing to dampen th ebouncing. in fact, they might amplify it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobBeery Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 This thread reminds me that sometime since Christmas somebody posted about adding a rear swaybar. Pics were included. Would a rear swaybar help limit that side-to-side motion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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