Safarifriends.org

Hello everyone! We are happy to be part of Safari Friends. We have been living fulltime in motorhomes for 16+ years but only in our Safari 1 year. This is smaller and older than our last MH but we really like our little SMC. Truthfully we joined the forum because of other owners have have a great wealth of valuable knowledge and experience with these coaches. With these older Safari coaches supporting one another is a wonderful thing. Thank you all who have kept this forum alive all these years. Please feel free to respond anytime. Thank you. Bye for now.

Welcome!

Thanks Jeff, getting a response when new like we are is important to us. From your signature it looks like your coach is pretty close to ours. If we where face to face I would hammer you with a million questions. This forum is good to get me in check. Right now my biggest concern is steering. I haven't started to search the forum on this yet but I know a lot of others here have had or have the same concerns and issues. Feel free to tell me anything you'd like to share about your coach, especially tricks and tips to road performance. That's all for now, maybe..

About steering- growling when turning and rough operating.
It looks like everything is original and has not been changed.
Sheppard M80 gearbox with hydro boost brake assist,
old shocks, no after market suspension add on, and
Magnum chassis with only rubber torsion system.
Anybody that wants respond to this about DIY or pro help is welcome.
Thanks, Rusty Robins

When we got our Ivory the steering was terribly sketchy. Not rough or growling like yours though. I had to address many things to get it driving like it should. All 4 sway bar links were loose. That let it tip back and forth and wander while going down the road. The steering box had excessive play. I had it rebuilt by Redhead steering gear in Washington. $500 well spent. The grease zerks in the front axle were plugged so even though the previous owner was trying to grease it regularly no grease was getting into the kingpins. The ride height had sagged by nearly 2 inches. After addressing all those issues it drives well and is much less tiring to lay down the miles.

You will definitely want to replace the shocks. There's been a lot of discussion about about shocks for the magnum chassis. A search here should find the correct part numbers.

You've checked the power steering fluid level? It's the plastic reservoir in the service bay - last compartment on the passenger side. Takes ATF.

Also, while this forum has a lot of good archived information it isn't very 'active'. If you are a Facebook user I suggest joining the "Safari Motorhome Owners Group". It's not so good for hunting up information but there are lots of knowledgeable people posting every day. It's a good place to ask specific questions.

Assume you have the Torsilastic suspension (aka Velvet Ride).

If so, you need to check and likely adjust RIDE HEIGHT.

Thanks Jeff and Brett,
Yes it's Velvet Ride. Redhead is only a few miles from here. I have already rebuilt the Vickers vane pump but I may need help to drop the M80. Sway bars are a good thing for me to check, and shocks, and height. I don't think this coach was ever owned by someone who, ...well that's not fair. Anyway we are on it. We plan to take the MH cross country this coming spring. Got new tires (Toyo/2020). I can do the shocks myself. Engine seems find. Got Huei of course. Oil, filters, and flush are on the menu too. We don't have solar. That's gotta change. Thanks for sharing how the ride is better. That gives us hope. My wife tried driving the coach and gave back to me the next rest stop. She did drive our Dynasty that which we had put a lot into. Once issues are dealt with I'm sure she will like to drive again. I can used my wife's Facebook account for what you mentioned. Thanks again. Gonna go look at sway bars.
Rusty Robins

Welcome aboard, there's a great wealth of information here.

Jeff(ProCycle), Thank you, all my sway bars are lose and need new rubber bushings, maybe nuts as well. Good news to me, I can fix it.
Brett(wolfe10), Thank you. I have yet to learn how how adjust coach height. Thank you also for your work on shocks with Ralph. Very interesting study and conclusion on Koni shocks that work best. Does this sound right to you.
front; Koni 88-1641SP3 rear; Koni 88-14585SP1 ?
We are quite excited to have this information. So much I have learn and I'm eager to learn it.
Also thanks to TDJohn for posting shock numbers.
I am getting some 1/2" drive tools to prepare for work ahead.
I will do sway bars and shocks and hopefully ride height before dropping steer gear box.
I can't thank you guys enough.
Rusty
P.S. I need to learn about shock adjustment.

RonWall wrote: ↑Thu Oct 21, 2021 10:41 pm Welcome aboard, there's a great wealth of information here.

Rusty & Catherine
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