Trac or Sway Bar? And install difficulty???

[johnandcaren]

Good day anyone,

I've read many post about these suspension bars, but have a couple of specific questions. I have a 2007, 39 ft Gulf Stream on a W24 chassis. Added Koni's this spring which helped quite a bit. Did weigh, tire pressure (98 front and 95 in rear) and alignment.

While I feel much more in control now, the steering wheel is being moved by me while driving 100% of the time. That is, I constantly correct for left / right drift regardless of the road circumstances.

Two questions please:
1. A trac bar appears to be one solution and I'm thinking of doing myself to save $$. How hard to install? Access will be tight. Differential bolts probably not a big deal. Do I have to drill the holes in the frame for the chassis attachment end? And overall, is it not too big a deal, or can it be more difficult than one would think? So, "encouragement" or "warning"?

2. I went to Camping World who sells the Davis trac bar but they could not find one for the rear, only the front and I believe the rear is more critical. So they tried to convince me the sway bar is just as good. So, does a good sway bar help any with side to side fishtailing movements, or only body roll??

PS - I'd love the blue ox true center steering stabilizer but don't have the $1200.00 for that now.

Tks for input,
John

[Gotta_P]

John,

I just added about $2600 to the suspension of my W24 and waht a difference it has made! I added front and rear Trac Bars and Sway Bars as well as the Safe-T-Steer to the steering linkage and two new Bilstein Comfort Shocks to the front end. Track bars will correct the wag (side to side movement) but not the roll. The combination of the two has made our RV track better, handle better, and pretty much eliminated the need to constantly counter-steer any time a semi passes. Our last trip to Murphy, NC was a joy, I went most of the way with one hand on the steering wheel, and when I got there had no pain or tension in my shoulders! It's not much different than driving my pick-up truck now...

The price above included installation, so if your were to do the install yourself, I'm sure it would be cheaper. Chip from Rallys "R" Us provided the parts and installation. The front was done during our State WIT Rally and the rear was taken care of a few weeks later at the storage lot where we keep our RV. The W24 required a special rear Track Bar (which Chip has made for his business) and due to close tolarances in the rear suspension, required an Exhaust extention was needed to clear the sway and track bars. It was a lot to shell out at once, but it was the best money we've spent on our RV because it's now a pleasure to drive on a long trips, and I look forward to getting behind the wheel. Before I used to hate driving it, and always felt I was fighting it the whole way which left me feeling beat up and sore by time we got to our destination, even if it was only 2 hours away!

[wilanddij]

Oemy's Web Site - Oemy's Product Catalog
I have the rear track bar on my W20, and it helps much with what you're describing. But, the price has certainly gone up since I got it. Installation was not too hard. Make sure you use some thread locker fluid to keep it in place.

[oemtech]

You can download my UltraTrac install guide Here if you want to see what it takes to do either the front or rear.

[Lued]

We have a Blue Ox trac bar, that I installed last year on a w-20 Bounder , it went good, without any drilling.

[alvinc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnandcaren Good day anyone, 2. I went to Camping World who sells the Davis trac bar but they could not find one for the rear, only the front and I believe the rear is more critical. So they tried to convince me the sway bar is just as good. So, does a good sway bar help any with side to side fishtailing movements, or only body roll?? PS - I'd love the blue ox true center steering stabilizer but don't have the $1200.00 for that now. Tks for input, John

Body roll can cause some fishtail movement, but the real solution for fishtail (also called wandering and can be caused by wind and large vehicles passing you) are track bars.

In a perfect world the leaf springs in your RV would keep the frame and wheels aligned. Unfortunately our RVs are loaded to max capability of the chassis. Therefore it is easier for the frame to move a little, side to side, and affect the steering. Track bars are the mechanism to stiffen the side to side movement of the axles with respect to the chassis.

As to which end (front or rear) to do first? I would suggest the front track bar, any movement of the front will have more affect on the steering that movement of the rear axle. Of course to do it right, you would do both front and rear.

My experience is based on a W22 that wandered all over due to highway ruts. At the time only the front track bars were available, so I installed it myself (it was not that difficult). It corrected most of the wandering. I went on to installing Bilstein shocks to correct the wallowing (boat) feeling, but then the rear suspension was too stiff. When the Koni shocks became available, I replaced the rear shocks. The last modification was to install both the front and rear anti-sway bars to control corner and driveway rolling.

I have yet to feel that I need to install a rear track bar.

I have a steering stabilizer on the Jeep Wrangler that is lifted and has 35" tires, but have not felt the RV needs one.

[DriVer]

The very first performance modification that I applied to my suspension was a "Rear track Bar'.

If you control what going on 30 feet behind you this will reduce the tendency for the steering wheel to fight with you. The most bang for the buck in my experience was a rear track bar. Once I got used to it, I installed a front track bar and a Safe-T-Plus. Directional control was remarkable and day long driving effort was reduced to 1 hand on the wheel.

Koni FSD Shock absorbers polished up the ride and I've been good ever since.

[johnandcaren]

OK everyone, tks for your time and advise which I appreciate.

Wrapping up:
1. Any mod will help, so there is something good to say about any one suspension upgrade. It would be nice for someone to "grade" or "rate" in percents how much one helps over the other, to give everyone a sense of scale of economy and performance. Any takers?

2. Front trac bar will help, BUT rear is likely to help more. Right?

3. While the expensive blue ox steering stabilizer is the "fanciest" with the button set option, the Safe-T-Steer is also a good option. I ask because it is more affordable and unfortunately I am a normal, not rich person.

4. Still don't know if I have to drill holes for the rear bar installation. Apparently there are no holes to drill in the front bar installation.

5. From the lack of response, I can assume a rear sway bar will help ONLY with roll characteristics and NOT with side to side movement. Right? I ask because while the rear sway bar is more costly, if it kills two birds with one stone it is worth considering in liew of the trac bar.

Tks again.
Take care all.

PS - As I'm good with wood, and my wife is a decorator, we've made some upgrades inside that are both attractive and very useful. I'll get some pics and comments in the correct post to repay in kind for your advise.

[Gotta_P]

John,

I watched the installation of all the parts added to our rig, and none of them required any drilling! The Safe-T-Steer is essentially the same as the Blue Ox (functionally), you just don't have the ability to adjust on the fly. After the initial installation, I had to ride down the rode and find the "center" position and marked the top of the steering wheel with a piece of tape. I then stopped and adjusted the steering wheel so the tape was top dead center and then crawled under the front of the rig, loosened the 4 nuts securing the "U" bolts to the steering rod. The Safe-T-Steer then snapped into position and I tightened the 4 nuts and have had to do nothing with it since...

When I had my rig looked at, the original recommendation was front and rear sway bars, front track bar and Safe-T-Steer. Chip did not think I would need the rear track bar. He has had a track bar manufactured specifically for the W24 Chassis that he sells for $250.00. I had him add it when he installed the rear sway bar as good measure. Do I need it? Who knows, but I figure I'd get it and then I'd have it and not have to have a third install done in case I did need it. All I can say is the RV handles so much better than it did before and it's a pleasure to drive now. Being as your rig is 2' longer than mine, the track bar may be a benefit to you, and the cost is not that much more.