90 Seabreeze suspension

[djoatmanjr]

I purchased a 1990 Seabreeze about a year ago and I'm rebuilding the entire interior to enlarge the shower and reinforce all the cabinet attachments and secure the base cabs to the floor as the years of road vibration and lack of owner knowledge has taken its toll from neglect. I have industry knowledge myself to do all this and have built from scratch several RV's thru the years. I have owned 4 Toyota 1-ton chassis trucks I used in my repair business in Arizona and never experienced the rear end jolt I'm getting with the Seabreeze. RV rides fine, no sway, no control problems, no steering issues, just a jolt from every crack, bump, or irregularity in the pavement--at every speed as if there were no shocks at all. motorhome has factory springs, airlifts (holding air just fine) and shocks look newer. currently have unloaded interior so rear tires (like new and only a couple of years old) are at 45 lbs and airbags at 40 lbs--still a jolt every crack. Do you think this is spring, shock or both --or neither, sure need some input, anyone else with similar issues?

[zero]

I purchased a 1990 Seabreeze about a year ago and I'm rebuilding the entire interior to enlarge the shower and reinforce all the cabinet attachments and secure the base cabs to the floor as the years of road vibration and lack of owner knowledge has taken its toll from neglect. I have industry knowledge myself to do all this and have built from scratch several RV's thru the years. I have owned 4 Toyota 1-ton chassis trucks I used in my repair business in Arizona and never experienced the rear end jolt I'm getting with the Seabreeze. RV rides fine, no sway, no control problems, no steering issues, just a jolt from every crack, bump, or irregularity in the pavement--at every speed as if there were no shocks at all. motorhome has factory springs, airlifts ( holding air just fine ) and shocks look newer. currently have unloaded interior so rear tires ( like new and only a couple of years old ) are at 45 lbs and airbags at 40 lbs--still a jolt every crack. Do you think this is spring, shock or both --or neither, sure need some input, anyone else with similar issues ?

I'm not sure what you mean by a "jolt." I doubt shocks have anything to do with it. They are there to limit bouncing and to slow down the return motion on springs after being depressed. The only way a shock can cause what I think you're describing is if it was frozen. If every pebble you run over transmits into a shockwave that makes its way to you in the driver's seat- the "give" in the suspension is not working well with light loads. Air bags will certainly do that something awful when they've got air and little load on them. The OEM springs were progressive-rate. If someone added leafs that are not progressive rate- it can also cause what you are describing. To a much less degree, very hard spring-end bushings can help transmit vibration.

I have Firestone air-springs in my 3/4 ton Dodge truck. Diesel, 4WD, extended cab, 8 foot bed. When I've got an 1800 lb. slide-on camper on the back and 40 lbs. of air in the air-bags, it rides pretty good. When I take the camper off - the truck rides awful unless I lower the air-bags to 10 PSI. With 40 PSI I think I could run over a flea and feel it. In fact, we were on a back dirt road in the Adirondacks with the truck just after we took the camper off. We hit some washboarding in the road and the truck was barely drivable and could barely be kept on the road until I let the air out of the air-bags. How's your RV feel when the air pressure is lowered in the air-springs? How many leaves are in your spring-packs and what thickness are they?

One other remote possibility is maybe your rear stabilizer bar is frozen in its mounts (doubtful but remotely possible)?.

[Derek up North]

Bushings in either the spring eyes or shock mounts?

[Totem]

Same situation with me; overloaded my rig needs higher pressure in airbags to avoid the earthquake syndrome from road cracks. I find if I have wife kids dogs etc i air up more and all is well like 80 lbs per bag.

I also find if I am alone and driving a heavily air pressured airbag setup is more sport feeling and bumpy than if i lay it out to 65 lbs.

too little air in either setup and what you are hearing/feeling is the bump stops smacking your axle. You most likely have flattened or archless leaf springs.

[Maineah]

It sounds like my old Nova Star but there was not a shot of it bottoming out it had 9 leaf spring packs. It think it's fairly common due to the long wheel base and the over hang. Derek has a good point you might check you spring hangers.

[WME]

Check the bushings in the rear springs. There 3 sets in each spring front, upper shackle and lower shackle