Community Forums

r00ster · 06-28-2013, 07:21 PM

i found the rear bushings on ebay, but i couldn't find the front ones. any suggestions?

chboone · 06-29-2013, 12:54 AM

Here are the front bushings. Ford F53 Front Poly Sway Bar Bushings 1999 and Up Class A motorhome New | eBay

Chuck

r00ster · 06-29-2013, 07:14 AM

Thank you so much. This rv thing has a lot for me to learn. Looks like most if it I can do myself. This forum and the people on it are great. Thanks to everyone for helping each other out. Its nice not to see haters on these forums. I guess the demographics are better than most for the civil behavior.

chboone · 06-29-2013, 10:20 AM

There are a lot of knowledgeable members here. They all had to learn from someone or by reading about it. Don't be afraid to ask a question, even if you think it is stupid.

Chuck

r00ster · 07-02-2013, 08:30 AM

well going to do this CHF on thursday. any pointers to make it go easier? any input would be gladly taken.

clyon51 · 07-02-2013, 08:45 AM

Making sure the coach is completely level side to side helps quite a bit, don't ask how I know

r00ster · 07-02-2013, 08:51 AM

it is out in front of my house. luckily the street is level across. i'll take the plunge early in the morning. i take it not being level is a bad thing?

clyon51 · 07-02-2013, 09:00 AM

If the coach is leaning, it's pulling up on one side of the bar and pushing down on the other. A slight lean will make it difficult to remove and reinstall the bolts. Thats why it is partially necessary to have a floor or bottle jack available to make small adjustments to the bar.

wyorancher · 07-02-2013, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by r00ster

it is out in front of my house. luckily the street is level across. i'll take the plunge early in the morning. i take it not being level is a bad thing?

If the coach is leaning the there will be some pressure on the bar. Bolts will be more difficult to remove. You could put blocks under wheels if you have problems. Or possibly put jack under the low sway bar.

r00ster · 07-02-2013, 09:12 AM

thanks, i will bring my jack with me when i roll under there. now another question, going to replace the shocks, i called around and most rv places want to charge me 1 to 1 1/2 hours shop time per shock. thats highway robbery. would a good 400 lbs impact drive do the trick to loosen up the shock mounts? or if anyone know of a shop near san antonio that i could take it to and have then install shocks?

clyon51 · 07-02-2013, 09:27 AM

I would think that impact would to the job. I did a friends not too long ago. The day before, I heated the bolts then squired them down with JB80 (I like better than WD40). The next day I had a 2 ft breaker bar, but they all came off easy. Did the same removing my old leveling jacks for seal replacement, easy removal.

r00ster · 07-02-2013, 09:55 AM

nice to know, some liquid wrench and a little elbow grease.

dabrooks · 07-02-2013, 07:58 PM

I also changed all four shocks on a 2001 chassis. I sprayed them the night before and the came off with no problem. I changed one axle at a time. I pulled the rear up on leveling blocks so I would have more room underneath to work. I jacked the front up and removed the tires which made access to the bolts much easier. I used wooden blocks and let the axle back down on the blocks which served as jack stands. While you have the front wheels off it is easy to get to all the grease fitting too.

Randog · 07-03-2013, 05:41 PM

I read most of this thread and I think I will try this CHF thing this weekend using the stock links. I don’t think the extended links would be necessary for this application. I come from the Jeep community and when the suspension has been lifted, it becomes important to lengthen your sway bar links to keep the relationship of the link to the bar at a right angle. Reason being when the axel is in full droop you don’t want the link to hyper extend and let the link swing over the other way and break when the weight of the vehicle comes back down on it. I seriously doubt that the suspension on these chassis would have enough droop to allow the link to hyperextend even though by moving the links to the inner hole makes the configuration of the link to the bar less of a right angle. Confused? Me too, just writing this confused me! Anyway worst case scenario would result in a broken sway bar link and I have busted a bunch on my Jeep and was still able to drive the vehicle home.