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Otherwise, loosen up your grip and arms, usually having relaxed hands on the wheel will actually smooth out the gusts more then white knuckles.
I agree.
My 2006 2500HC passenger is not an RV. It doesn't have crosswind assist. I still believe that overcorrection being unhelpful applies.
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I had some time to kill while driving across Kansas. Interstate 70 entering before Hays, to Topeka, and beyond to home. There was a pretty strong gusty NW wind during those many hours of driving.
2006 2500HC 140 Passenger Sprinter. 160,000 miles on the clock.
225 75r 16 tires. Goodyear G947 RSS front. Mastercraft Courser ATX rear. 50 psi all around.
OEM suspension. OEM style newer rear shocks and front struts.
The truck was loaded for 2 people on a road trip vacation. Medium load at best.
Along the way my wife checked some airports for wind reports. Over the distance the winds were typically reported as 27 - 35 mph sustained, gusts to 40 - 45 mph. My guess is that we may have been hit by a couple gusts above 45 mph, but that is subjective. That said, even including the airport wind data doesn't change the fact that this post and the observations remain very subjective.
I have always believed that there is an inherent looseness in van suspension which makes some drivers feel that the van will wander. My experience is that my vans [Added: van, not an RV] have tracked fairly well. As is expected, I do notice some effect from side winds and truck wash, but rarely do I feel that constant steering correction is necessary. That remains true while towing my travel trailer and sailboat, but at those times my speed is somewhat reduced. Reduced speed is always your friend when things become too gusty.
As we were heading east on I-70 I did notice that the cross winds were quite gusty. I also noticed that I was comfortable steering with just one hand. My basic method was to keep a steady pressure to the left against the prevailing winds. The wind gusts would hit, the van body would move and shake, but the tires tracked properly down the road in the proper direction. Very few gusts actually required me to noticeably move the steering wheel.
Every so often there would be a high(er) power gust. With those gusts the van would actually change direction a bit, but it didn't take much steering wheel movement to keep on track.
I had time to notice how I passed trucks in the gusty wind when traffic permitted me to drive as I wanted. I would swing out, pass the truck, and then wait for a friendly gust to nudge the van to right. When that nudge came I would move back to the right lane. There was no hurry on my part to "steer" back over to the right.
Having some time, I commented to my wife about one of the relatives who constantly see-saws the wheel when driving. That is even with no wind. I started to demonstrate what happens when the wheel is see-sawed rather than just held to one side as I normally do. I wasn't "steering". I was just moving the wheel gently within the loose range of the steering. After about 10 seconds of see-saw my wife exclaimed "CUT THAT OUT!! That's why I always drive and XXXXX always rides, even when we're in her car." I went back to my one handed pressure to one side mode and all was happy again.
Anyway. We had some serious cross winds and gusts while crossing Kansas. For the most part the Sprinter just tracked along like it should.
A big for what it may be worth on the above comments. I have no data.
vic
I had some time to kill while driving across Kansas. Interstate 70 entering before Hays, to Topeka, and beyond to home. There was a pretty strong gusty NW wind during those many hours of driving. 2006 2500HC 140 Passenger Sprinter. 160,000 miles on the clock. 225 75r 16 tires. Goodyear G947 RSS...
sprinter-source.com
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