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

[Shifty103.2]

Triplewide, I see you have a new ride! A 2016 Thor Miramar 34.2, nice. I take it that you went as far as you could go on the ACE and needed a new platform to work on. Now you have a new list to keep you busy I'm sure! Best of luck with it and may you have many upgrades to keep you at work. Keep us updated as to your progress, it's always a pleasure to get educated from ones like you and Tejay.

[triplewide]

Originally Posted by Shifty103.2

Triplewide, I see you have a new ride! A 2016 Thor Miramar 34.2, nice. I take it that you went as far as you could go on the ACE and needed a new platform to work on. Now you have a new list to keep you busy I'm sure! Best of luck with it and may you have many upgrades to keep you at work. Keep us updated as to your progress, it's always a pleasure to get educated from ones like you and Tejay.

Thanks Shifty, I'll answer you via your PM.

[TedRobb]

Just now reading this thread and can confirm. I also experienced this problem two years ago on my 2011 Fleetwood Terra F53 Chassis. One bolt came out completely and the bushing bracket was bent. I straightened the bracket at the vice and put a new grade 8 bolt, nut and removeable blue Loctite to restore it. Just got back from 7,000 mile cross-country trip and checked all bolts. All were tight and sway bars (front and back) are fine. All F-53 owners should check these regularly.

[TeJay]

TedRob,

Thanks for the response. You are correct regarding F-53 owners do need to check even if brand new or have some or many miles on them. Still not sure why only the rears come loose but that's just how it is.

If it were me and the first time I checked them I'd remove all fasteners and add some blue lock tight so they wouldn't come loose. If they are tight that's great but so were all the others ones that eventually did get loose.

Understand this. I've worked on assembly lines and almost all bolts tightened by workers are required to use torque wrenches. I'd almost bet they all come off the line correctly tightened and for what ever reason come loose later.

IMHO It's better to check them before they come loose rather than sorry later because you didn't. It's not the end of the world if you don't but it is something that can be avoided.

[K3wtf]

Ok here is my update:
I found skutterdude and ordered 2 new brackets and 2 new bushings. The Koni shocks came back in stock and replaced all 4. The "Dude" suggested since I am running truck tires 16 ply to reduce the PSI to 75. So 2 weekends ago the impact and I became friends. Last weekend we camped about 50 miles south and all I can say is what a difference. I changed a few things at once but what a difference. The DW said its a different coach. I do believe we will all the roadmaster or some other aux rear sway bar to finish it off...TeJay I watched a video of your plates for CHF... I want a pair!! Question is whats the 3rd hole for? Thanks again for all the help and guidance as I wished I would have done this 20K miles ago... Curious on reviews on Aux sway Bars...

[Brecklundin]

TeJay,

Not specifically about the fasteners you're discussing but i can offer that you have great advice about locking down the fasteners with some blue loctite. My evidence is i lost an upper bolt on driver side tag shock. Before i really looked my tag tires were almost bald. Once replaced that wear stopped. And i was exclusively driving in town no more than 6-10mi per trip. If i had thought to attack the bolts on the suspension i coulhave saved the cost of two new tires after well under 1000mi. over 3.5yrs.

[Glamping2]

I purchased a few months ago a 2006 National Dolphin 5355 F-53 Ford chassis 36.5 ft 26,000 lb chassis 62 k on odometer. Since reading this and others I have been planning an upgrade of moving the sway bars to the upper link. Then upon inspection I found that the bushings are all but gone on the back. So that sent me on to reading more on loose bolts etc. leaving for Florida after Christmas so I have got to get busy. Lousy weather for a 73 yr old to be doing this. But I felt needed to thank all for your contributions to this. I’ll write more after the repairs. We have had many motor homes and busses and strangely enough I haven’t noticed this coach to be handling bad at all.

[TeJay]

We'll be interested in how it may handle differently after you bring it back to 100% good sway control.

[Georgegeorge]

I found one bracket completely missing from the sway bare on my rear axle (1993 F53). Where can I find torques specs for when I replace it?

[TeJay]

An educated guess is this. All of the anti-sway systems used on Ford chassis from 1999 through 2018 have set the torque of all the bolts at 66 FT/LBs.

Those bolts are 12-mm and if your bolts are also 12-MM you'd be fine with the 66 ft/lbs of torque but make sure you also include the blue lock tight as added insurance.

From a technical stand point the torque on a bolt is dependent on it size and hardness which is another way of saying the tinsel strength of the metal used for the bolt. It's also referred to as the Class or Grade of the bolt. SAE grades are 3,5,7 etc. Metric uses numbers like 10.9.

The engineers decide which grade of bolt is used based on the location and job attached to what ever the bolt is holding together. Another example would be lug nuts for your your tires. The 19.5" tire/rim requires 150 FT/LBS of torque. The 22.5" tire/rim requires 450 FT/LBS of torque. Typically your shocks require 250 FT/LBS.

[Bytesponge]

Originally Posted by TeJay

An educated guess is this. All of the anti-sway systems used on Ford chassis from 1999 through 2018 have set the torque of all the bolts at 66 FT/LBs.

Those bolts are 12-mm and if your bolts are also 12-MM you'd be fine with the 66 ft/lbs of torque but make sure you also include the blue lock tight as added insurance.

From a technical stand point the torque on a bolt is dependent on it size and hardness which is another way of saying the tinsel strength of the metal used for the bolt. It's also referred to as the Class or Grade of the bolt. SAE grades are 3,5,7 etc. Metric uses numbers like 10.9.

The engineers decide which grade of bolt is used based on the location and job attached to what ever the bolt is holding together. Another example would be lug nuts for your your tires. The 19.5" tire/rim requires 150 FT/LBS of torque. The 22.5" tire/rim requires 450 FT/LBS of torque. Typically your shocks require 250 FT/LBS.

Tejay: I am glad I have 19.5" tires, otherwise I would have to buy a torque muliplier for that high a torque on 22.5" tires. By the way the 'tinsel" you quoted is actually spelled "tensile". Sorry, I am a spelling nut.

Bytesponge

[TeJay]

Bytesponge, not a problem!!!



I remember using spell checker for that but i guess I choose the incorrect word. However it is close to Christmas and our entire family (10 of us from 75 down to 11) will be here. Maybe my subconscious made the choice.

[Tlmr4784]

Originally Posted by TeJay

If you drive an F-53 Ford chassis RV you need to check the rear Stabilizer Bar (SB) attaching bolts on the differential.

We are hearing and reading that an unusual number are finding out that the attaching bolts are loose or missing. When this happens sometimes the bracket is bent, broken and some damage is done to the attaching bolts and nuts. If the bracket is missing you will loose your SWAY control associated with the SB.

The number of folks reporting this seems to be greater than normal.

No serious damage or loss of steering control or handling will result but you will/may loose some of your SWAY control. Here is the recommended fix.

Remove the bolts and add some blue lock tight. Blue lock tight will prevent the bolts from coming loose in the future but they can still be removed using the correct tools. Red lock tight is one step more and will require heat applied to the bolts so they can be removed. That is not necessary.

All the attaching bolts are torqued to 66 ft lbs. That torque is true for all as far back as I can determine.

We have not been hearing reports concerned with the front SB but I'd still perform the same fix as well. Better safe than sorry.

If anyone needs further assistance please check on the CHF thread and send a PM to any of the frequent posters.

Thanks,
TeJay

Excellent post

[Glamping2]

I did get my bushings in and after some wrestling got it all back together. We drove it to Florida and all is well actually handled well. Thanks again for the great info.