ATTENTION !!!! Ford F-53 Owners READ!!

[phil-t]

Originally Posted by gowestwardho

I'm taking my 2017 Precept 31UL /Ford F53 22" chassis in to Ford to replace a torn drag link rubber boot. But I've been reading al this stuff about the Rear Stabilizer Bar attaching bolts, and other such common problems. So I wanted to ask....what all do you suggest I request Ford adjust, inspect, replace, if I can under warranty? (only 10 mos and 10,000 miles into warranty BTW). We're about to embark on a 8,000 mile, 3 month cross country trip so now is the time for me to get Ford to look at any of the usual suspects. But what are they all that I should specify?

A good, thorough inspection will take a good chassis mechanic a fair amount of time to complete. Warranty may cover replacement parts and labor for issues but not necessarily the time for the inspection.
I would have that discussion with the service manager and come to a good understanding of what they will do.
I spent almost two hours on my back, under my coach on a creeper, checking things like bolts, welds, hitch, etc.

[georgelesley]

I don’t know your interest or capability in doing such things, but there is no replacement for you peeking under the unit yourself from time to time. My first time I strapped up some cable shields and tucked in some wires that were exposed. That was RV stuff that Ford would never have touched. Also did bolts, hitch a few areas of minor rust starting, etc, etc...

If you are unable to do so I would suggest finding a trusted friend or handyman to look at it from time to time and get familiar with it so he can spot problems in the future.

One last example and reason to do as much as possible yourself or thru a trusted person: when I checked my grease fittings the first time I found two that had not been done in some time. I had paid for them to be done, but not all were. I now do my own oil changes and grease jobs. Also things like lubing hinges, steps, all rubber seals and wx strippings, locks, 303 protectant on all roof plastic parts like vents, A/C shrouds, skylines, check caulking, etc, etc.

Again, I suggest you find a trusted handyman to go over your unit top to bottom once a year at least. No RV dealer or Ford dealer will ever do all of this for you. Good luck.

[TeJay]

gowestwardho,

George is spot on. When we arrived home with the new RV I devoted several hours using tie downs to secure all the wires running under the RV. Nobody will take the time except the owner.

You now own a home on wheels and as when you bought your own sticks and bricks home you either paid somebody to do all the fix it work or learned how to do it yourself to some degree. If you take your RV back to a dealer every time a nut, bolt or screw comes loose or falls out you'll wear your tires out before to long.

In regards to this thread. Ford will not recognize or accept the fact that the rear SB bolts are coming loose unless the bolts fall out or they decide to check and find them loose. They still probably won't remove them and add any lock tight either. WHY?? Nobody will instruct them to do so because they still won't believe they are coming loose on all year units.

The only bolts concerned here are the REAR stabilizer bar (SB) which bolt the SB to the rear differential. There are 4 of them or 2 on each side. If you don't own a torque wrench go to HF and spend $20 to buy a 3/8" Drive FT/LB TW. Get the one that has a range from about 30 FT/LB to about 100. That will cover the small bolts. You'll need a larger one for the tires unless you have 22.5" tires/rims. That requires 450 FT/LBs of torque and I don't even have one that big. And the tires/rims are way to heavy for me to lift them.

As this thread suggests just to be certain and for the future remove the bolts and add some blue or red lock tight so the torqued bolts don't ever come loose. Yes, if it's a Ford F-53 chassis they are coming loose on all makes of RV's old and new. I know of one friend who tightened his bolts to the 66 ft/lbs and 2,500 miles later they were loose again. He took them off and added the lock tight.

[KBlanchard]

Someone mentioned pulling the tires off the MH being too heavy to handle.. I used a Pittsburgh® Automotive 61917 1250 lbs. Capacity Vehicle Positioning Wheel Dolly. Bought at Harbor-freight. Works well on flat surface.

[TeJay]

Thanks for the idea!!

The tires for me are to heavy to lift more than a few inches off the ground. Our tire storage area is at shoulder height. For one person that won't happen. I can lever them to install but lifting even a 19.5" tire/rim more than a few inches is a bit much. I've also built a lever rolling/carrying device before but that's just another thing to store. The jack sounds good but for the 19.5" I roll them up a ramp to take them in and lever them on the RV.

[Treetopguy]

I don't review this site very often, but I did today, and the rear sway bar is a big issue that all should check. I was installing Sumosprings on my 2004 Gulfstream and during one of my "rest" periods lying on my back under the coach, I found the left side torsion sway bar mount was completely gone with only a portion of the mount left under the one remaining bolt. the right side was missing the upper bolt and the mount was bent out just barely holding the bar up. I don't know how long this had been this way, but had been a while. the bushings were completely gone without a trace. I ordered the parts online and replaced with new hardened bolts I found at Ace hardware. the originals were a 9.8 hardness and I got 10 hardness bolts that were the perfect length. the bolt is a 12m with 1.75 pitch. Found all this before seeing this important article. Thanks for letting the others know because it sounds like everyone could be at risk.

[Treetopguy]

here is a before and after photo.

[TeJay]

TreeTop,
What you experienced with the rear Stabilizer Bar (SB) has been experienced by many, many F-53 RV owners. That's why this thread was started to alert folks who never look under their RV or happen to notice the failure so they can get it fixed.

SWAY control is one of those things that happens gradually so they don't notice how bad the SWAY has become. It's just like failed shocks.

Ford is the one who used soy bean based oil for those bushings that just fall apart around 6 to 10 or so years of age.

[Nickd]

Tejay,
Do you recommend leaving factory SB bushings in place on 07 and newer F53’s?Ours was made at Ford 04/18 18000lb Itasca 32BE.
I understand they are polyurethane from 07 and up. But, I have read Ford has issues with the bushings being dry or poor fit and that would be something that causes the bars to bind and increased friction. As you well know the Ford does not need any help riding rough. Don’t know if the after market poly’s fit better or not but at least I could add synthetic grease if I change them out.
Thoughts?

[TeJay]

Nickd,

According to "Skutterdude" who makes replacement polyurethane bushings at a reasonable price for us RV'ers here on the forum and also sells them on e-bay Ford didn't start using the poly bushings until the 2012 chassis. I have never heard anything about Ford using poly back in 2007.

Even if Ford had a better bushing in 2007 I'd still replace the stock with Skutterdudes bushings.

Last year I removed my rear SB to reinforce the brackets which if they come loose, and this thread is devoted to just that issue, it could bend or break the bracket. When I removed my 2013 bushings one was torn and I don't know why. I ordered some new ones from Skuterdude. When I got them I made a comparison and they are of a much better quality than what Ford is using even today. He also supplies some poly lubricant. You can buy it on Amazon also.

I'm thinking I added some pics of those torn bushing on this thread some time back. I'll do a quick search and post where they are located.

Yes I did post those pics and they start on post # 265 and go for the next few pages. You'll see some broken and reinforced brackets.

[Jer N Neisey]

TeJay,

Since the start of this season I began noticing that our 2017 Coachmen Mirada 35BH ('16 22k F53 chassis) just wasn't feeling right on the road. The sway, roll, and general loose control was the worst it has been since we bought her new in 2016. After deciding to finally order the Roadmaster steering stabilizer and Roadmaster rear trac bar (which arrived this weekend), I jumped on the forum to make sure I wasn't missing anything and found this thread. After reading all 25 pages last night, I decided to swing by today after work and give her a look and decide whether or not to order new bushings from Skudderdude. Just as I suspected, you were right on the money. Yet another example as to why you started this thread in the first place! My broken saddle bracket is on the driver side, bottom bolt is gone, nut is sheared off. Bought some blue Loctite and will have quite a project on my hands this weekend. Rear trac bar, steering stabilizer, and new bushings, in addition to the repair work.

I tried to attach a few photos, hopefully they come through.

Thanks to the info on here from you veteran RVers, this 30 somethin youngan knows exactly how to proceed. And save a ton of moola in the meantime. Thanks again...

[TeJay]

Thanks for the report!!! The RV will ride better than new when you're done with all the MODS.

We still don't know why the rear brackets are coming loose even on fairly new units and that shouldn't be happening.

Your new bushings will come with some poly lubrication. When I removed my 2013 brackets they were dry. I don't think Ford lubed them at the factory.

Sometimes readers miss the STICKY threads at the top. I once asked if they'd alert folks to their importance by making them a blue or red color and they said they either wouldn't or couldn't do it.

Enjoy the new ride!!!!!

[Blazeman45]

After reading this post I checked my newly purchased 2014 Newmar Baystar 3124. The coach has 28k miles. The driver side bracket was missing and the top welded nut had broken off while the lower nut’s threads were messed up.

Upon checking the passenger side I found the top bolt loose and the lower bolt was backed almost half way out. I could move the whole sway bar by hand.

Purchased a new bracket and bolts through Ford and had to replace the top nut that was missing with a washer and new nut. The bottom nut was fixed after running a tap through and cleaning the threads.

I removed the remaining bolts and cleaned all threads. All bolts were replaced with blue Locktite. I will be checking them with each oil change from now on.

It also looks like the edges of the inboard tires are worn as a result of the sway bar being detached. Please check your sway bar!!!

[TeJay]

WOW!!! Nice that you caught this when you did.

I'm very surprised the amount of damage caused on a 2013 chassis with only 28,000 miles. Ford did install polyurethane bushings starting on the 2012 chassis.

Did you replace the bushings? If you didn't I'd suggest it and add some poly lubrication as well. Our chassis is the same and I had one rear bushing tear and not to sure why. I replaced both rears and added some good poly lube.

If you google the name "Skuterdude" at the top of the forum page in the google window you'll find his info. He makes a good replacement bushing at a decent price.