Cheap Handling Fix

[Dunner]

I moved mine one day and didn't like it, so I made my own extended links with salvaged shock ends, bushings and some chromoly I had in the attic.

[W4MBG]

roll: i saw and agreed (silently) with your comments about the bar-to-link angle. but i felt you had made your point quite well and i didnt want to beat a dead horse. however, it seems the horse is alive and well, so i chimed in.

alas, i do not have an F53, just a lowly E450 with the wonderful pass-through front bar and an equally skimpy rear bar. gonna have to pony up the bux to stabilize mine.

[Towertime]

Originally Posted by Roll

Dang! I must have said that 6 times over the life of this thread. Finally someone else sees this. I did drive mine this way for a few hundred miles but was never comfortable with it. Installed the Hellwig links and now the bar/link angle is close to 90 degrees, (it never was actually 90 degrees from the factory).

Well, I am confortable now that I have some offset angle between the link and ends of the bar.

Also, in the pic with the bar up against the leaf springs.... I suspect once you pull the leveling jacks in and lower the suspension a bit the bar will come down off the springs, (mine did anyway).

Roll

Which Hellwig links did you install?

[clyon51]

I'm still running the stock links with 3500mi on them. I'm going to run them another 3500 too. I didn't like the angle on the onset either, but so far, see no reason to change based on performance and reliability.

[Randy1252]

Does anyone know anything about John Deere chassis? Will this fix work on it?

[Dunner]

Does it have an existing anti-sway bar with additional holes. Got pics?

[Open-Road-Pr]

Roll, I agree 100% with what you said about conditions after the fix. It made a big difference in cornering and semis approaching on two lane roads, but at times it feels like you're steering with ropes! Very true about the happening when you take your eyes off of the road. I've been thinking of selling, but with new shocks, Air Lift bags, new Michelins, a satellite dish, new wiper arms & blades in the past few months, it's hard to do.
Ron

[Dunner]

I don't think the swab bar mod has anything to do with the wandering. Mine does it too. I think it's just the nature of the beasts. If I look over at what my dog is doing, the radio changes stations .
If I pay attention to the road, it's fine and I can drive with one hand.

[Roll]

Originally Posted by Dunner

I don't think the swab bar mod has anything to do with the wandering. Mine does it too. I think it's just the nature of the beasts. If I look over at what my dog is doing, the radio changes stations .
If I pay attention to the road, it's fine and I can drive with one hand.

Yup, yup, what he said.

[Roll]

Originally Posted by Towertime

Which Hellwig links did you install?

I bought the 11" to 14" length links.
(From my post on 5-29-12)

I extracted both the sleeves and the blue bushings from the original links and pressed them into the Hellwig links. Checked the angle of the front sway bar with the original links in the front/outside holes then measured the length of a link which would duplicate that sway bar angle but if attached to the back/inside holes. 1.75 inches longer to reach the rear/inside holes. Added .25 inches to bring the bar down just a hair. Adjusted the Hellwig links to a length two inches longer than the originals and installed them in the rear/inside holes.

Not a difficult install but the bolts on the frame on both sides were a little tough to get to. I ended up using box wrenches and so getting them tight on reinstall required some effort especially for an older guy with a bad back. Nonetheless got it done. Now I can rest easy knowing the front sway bar is very close to the original position; say what you want about it pointing up, I was not comfortable with the bar pointing up so sharply. $100 was a cheap fix for my concern.
Roll

[C-Leigh Racing]

Originally Posted by Randy1252

Does anyone know anything about John Deere chassis? Will this fix work on it?

Randy,
We had a 36' 88 GBM on JD chassis, before the H/R with F53 & after dealing with the F53 sway bars & adding a rear trac bar, which is real close to being like the JD chassis, a trac bar on the front & rear axles plus if the sway bar can be changed to another hole, do that & it should make quite a bit of difference in handling.

At the time we had the JD, I fabbed up some shim washers for the front axle to go between the rear spring hangers & spring ends. The through bolt was tight in the hanger & inner bushing tube, but the spring end could shift from side to side.
Put those shims in & it did away with a bunch of sawing on the steering wheel to hold it in my lane, because the rear eye of the springs couldnt shift any more.
Looking back, I had a rear trac bar on my mind for the JD chassis rear axle, cause I knew what a trac bar does on a race car, but never got around to building one.

When the sway bars are not strong enough, they allow the body of the coach to roll from side to side. It transfers that body weight to the springs that it is rolling to & in turn causes the front axle on the weighted side to shift forward or aft. When the axle shifts like that, the coach will start traveling in that direction the axle is pointed to, so you have to counter the action by sawing on the steering wheel.
The axle wont move much, one could probably not just look at it & see the action it is making, but is enough to cause a difference in handling.

That is just one thing, now add the long tail end of the coach from the rear axle back to the bumper, that weight forcing coach body for side to side as you go down the road & your back to sawing the steering wheel correcting that action.

I believe when we get these chassis handling right for a real relaxed drive, close to a simi, they will probably be stiff as a buck board & we could probably tell if we ran over a bug in the road it would be so stiff.
Neil

Something else I just remembered, the link from the steering box back to the front axle spindle, take the cotter pins out & check those nuts to be sure they are tight.
The ball joint on our JD closest to the steering box, nut was loose & you could see the ball joint wollering back & forth. Once the nut was tight, it made some difference in the handle.
Be sure to put the cotter pins back in.

[Dunner]

Yes, a metaphor that I stole from my friend, who has an `04 Breeze LX, with the WH chassis, and no sway bars at all.

I take PayPal to keep DW from knowing what you posted.

[C-Leigh Racing]

Man, had to be under the ol house car, for two days replacing a leveling jack hose, so went ahead & checked those front sway bar bolts, wouldnt you know it, they were loose.
I know I tighten those bolts up good when I did that mod, but some how. I guess the inner bushings may have srunk.

And OH my God, if any of you that dont know, those HWH leveling jack hydroulic hoses are so cheap & so thin its a wonder they dont bust the first time you use the jacks.
Reminds you of a 5/16s gas line hose except a little harder & does not have any steel braid inside, some kind of fiber braid. Might even be cotton, who knows.

But, if you have one messed up, needs replacing, just go ahead to like a hydroulic hose place or NAPA & get the 4000 LB rated hose & never think about it again.
Oh, did I mention it took me two day of crawling in & out under to get the old one off & put the new one on, Hello Ibprofin.
Neil

[Dunner]

Originally Posted by C-Leigh Racing

Man, had to be under the ol house car, for two days replacing a leveling jack hose, so went ahead & checked those front sway bar bolts, wouldnt you know it, they were loose.
I know I tighten those bolts up good when I did that mod, but some how. I guess the inner bushings may have srunk.

As I've said before. When you think you have them tight, put a torque wrench on them and see how much more they tighten to get them to 60ft lbs.