# autocruise fiat ducato 1998 extremely light steering



## jada (May 3, 2010)

Hi, I hope someone can give us some advice. We have had our van for a year now, but the steering is very light. It can be very scary on the motorways, when large vehicles overtake us, the van veers off. It has had a recent mot and passed and it has been back to the firm we bought it off, no comment. 
We wish to travel europe next year, but are warey, until this problem has been rectified. 
Please can someone point us in the right direction.


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## iengine (May 1, 2005)

Hi Jada,

Very light steering indicates to me that the weight distribution is not satisfactory. You could load up your van as usual, then take it to a public weighbridge and get the loading on your front and rear wheels. Maybe you have too much weight at the rear, and insufficient at the front. See if this can be redistributed more evenly, and make sure the tyre pressures are correct for the weight loading of the van. Make sure the total of the two figures does not exceed your maximum payload.

Iengine


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## jada (May 3, 2010)

*steering*

Thank you so much for your speedy reply. 
Even when we had hardly any weight in it, the problem remained. We did have a top box, but we took that off and still light. Any other suggestions?
we will take it to the weighbridge and check tyres.


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## Jented (Jan 12, 2010)

Hi.
All the above,but it may help, if when you see in your rear view mirror,a large sided vehicle coming up to overtake you, IF!!!! it is SAFE!! to do so,on a m/way or road with an extra bit of width on the nearside to move in a little much. This decreases the "suction force" of the passing vehicle on yours,it has also been mentioned,that car transporters when loaded can have a "Swirley" effect on m/homes,c/vans,but i have not noticed this on my ventures out on the "Frog n Toad" lol. Stay well,stay lucky.
Gearjammer.


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## val33 (Jun 29, 2008)

I would also suggest getting the front wheel alignment checked. A check is normall free, most places only charge if and adjustment is needed.

Val


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

Hi Jada

It may just be that you are a bit scared due to your comparative inexperience of driving a M/H.

Some wagons, and not always the biggest, create a very strong suction which can vary according to your speed and the wind direction. It can sometimes drag your van quite alarmingly, and has been known to turn caravans over. 8O 

You soon get used to the "overtaking twitch" on your steering wheel - a correction which becomes second nature after a while.

You are extremely unlikely to get into any real problems since motorhomes are inherently much more stable than caravans and other towed vehicles, so don't be too concerned.

Having said all that, I would still advise you to satisfy yourself by following the advice already given, and also perhaps by asking the AA or the Caravan Club to check the van for you. (The CC do motorhome checks as well.)

If you have a friend who is an experienced M/H driver, why not get him/her to drive it up and down a nearby stretch of motorway and give an opinion? :wink: 

The steering on many vans is as light, if not lighter than some cars - so you may not have a problem at all.

Hope this helps

Dave


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## jada (May 3, 2010)

*Thanks and more suggestions*

Thank you everyone, we will take the advice, but keep them coming.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

It would be interesting to know the axle weights on your van. I would suspect that the front tyres are at too high a pressure. You can disregard the pressures given on the door pillars on most vans, they tend to be far too high. It is likely that your tyres should be between 55 and 60 psi. It will not hurt to try a drive with them at 55 psi and see if it feels better. You can ask the tyre manufacturers for the correct pressures, you will need to give them the actual axle weights, Alan.


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## jada (May 3, 2010)

*website*

Hi again, we are really pleased we have subscribed to this site.It has been reassuring to have advice from seasoned m/homers. Impressed with the replies and the speediness of said replies.
Again thankyou


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

we had one of the first Starfires ('99), and it was certainly a bit lively on the road! It did seem to bounce a round a bit, which was probably due to the rear axle / leaf springs. I didn't notice it being particularly light on the steering, it compared reasonably well with the cars I had at the time (it was our first MH). It did get pulled around by the wind force of trucks / coaches etc, something that the Pilote doeasn't get. We did notice that the Pilote is a lot more stable on the road than the Starfire was.


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## inkey-2008 (May 24, 2008)

There is another possible cause.

Some cars and vans have variable steering force nothing that you can adjust.

It is works by engine speed/revs so when you are going faster it should get harder to steer and when you are parking or going slow it gets lighter.

It may be that it has got stuck in the light steering mode.

It would be in the power steering pump.

Andy


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## loughrigg (Nov 10, 2008)

Hi Jada

I'd agree with Zebedee - the way an MH reacts to other vehicles at motorway speeds (whether overtaking or being overtaken) does take a good bit of getting used to. Unfortunately, the size of the lorry/van isn't always an indicator of the "wash" it creates.

I've passed large, modern lorries and hardly felt a thing. Last weekend, a VW people carrier with a large roof box passed me on the M11 and gave me a very surprising bump from the airflow.

I'd certainly check your tyres as well. When I was a complete novice, an over-enthusiastic tyre fitter once over inflated my tyres making the MH just about undriveable. The steering became so light, it was seriously scary.

Hope you get it sorted out.

Mike


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