2011 chassis question

[Floridafran]

Hi all,

First, let me say this is our first RV ever, so everything is new to us and we're trying to learn as we go.

That said, I saw the sticky about the 2011 chassis (which we have) and decided to get a bit more education. I downloaded and printed it, then did my best to read and understand it.

I have a few questions I'm certain some of you can answer. (I tried to search this forum, but couldn't find what I was looking for.)

What's the difference between a stabilizer bar and a track bar? And when I look under the Vista, what would they look like? We've only driven the RV about 5,000 miles so far and haven't really experienced the terrible handling I sometimes read about, but it does wander a little at times.

According to that Ford specification sheet for the 2011/18,000 lbs (ours), we should have both a front and a rear stabilizer bar and an HD front track bar.

When I looked under there today, all I can see is one thing that looks (to my uneducated eyes) like it's any of these. It's in the front, a straight bar that is attached to the axle with some heavy-duty-looking hardware. My guess is that this is probably the track bar. So what/where are the stabilizer bars?

I'm asking because I read so much in the forums about people adding stabilizers, track bars, suspension bars. And I'm just lost. We're considering adding something like the Safe T Plus but I don't know if we need to add something in the rear, too, or if we (supposedly) already have something.

Help please.

Thanks. And feel free to add information about anything else similar to these items that we need to learn/know about.

[jcthorne]

The track bar keeps the axel from moving side to side. The stabilizer bar keeps the motorhome from tilting over, as in twisting the suspension. Its a big torsion spring that is twisted as the motorhome leans over. You have one of each on the front and a stabilzer bar on the rear. This thread has some good photos on the stablizer bar and some good information on improving the ride of your F-53 for very low or no cost:

Cheap Handling Fix

[Floridafran]

jcthorne,

Thanks for the link. I'm still not quite sure what I'm looking at and it's really hard to see under the RV. (Getting too old, I guess.) But I'm learning.

We have an appointment on Monday to take the Vista in for an alignment and we're going to get the technician to "educate" us about what's what, under there.