Track Bar for the Motor Home

Bushman512003 · 06-06-2009, 04:10 PM

Well My job is done and wow what a great improvement over all.I did most of the work with some over the sholder help in the building stage as I was willing to take any advice offered My Freightliner is a XCS on springs and no bar was out there and I needed one so if You would like a look remember this is a home made unit not factory...

kcir · 06-08-2009, 10:12 PM

Please send me some blue prints

Bushman512003 · 06-09-2009, 04:08 AM

There in the mail.Get packed for the race big Guy.Give a call when You get up also My Son looked it over and said I should have used a nice strait edge when cutting the iron I told Him the Old people with these Motor Homes have bad eyes and will not See it any way..lol..

J Walker · 06-09-2009, 09:15 AM

John, I have a 2000 XCS chassis that handles extremely well without a Track Bar. I did get the Freightliner free upgraded anti-sway bars and shocks right away when the rig was new. Others have said that they help a lot but I didn't drive mine enough before the upgrade to compare. How did you design your Track Bar? What does it correct? No doubt it made a big improvement and I would like to hear more about it. BTW it appears that you had some heavy metal work on your hands. Just drilling those holes would be a bear.

Bushman512003 · 06-09-2009, 11:36 AM

Hi Jim did You think I drilled the frame I drilled all the holes on a drill press.I did remove the spring u-bolts and replaced them with new that was a job as I have no cutting torch but any way it was worth My time as I did inprove the ride and sway or tail wag in the wind way more than I thought I could the Wife said She was impressed at the difference also the plate under the spring was predrilled and also the ang-iron is useing the jack leg the bar is a 3pt.hitch top link I revamped for the job (cut and made a sleve and welded back togetter) used #8 hardened bolts and in all cost was about $200. some things I had in the way and used first that kept the cost down.Still a job for this old boy I can tell You took a week for the thing to come in to play about 40 hours with some help from a strong young helper and I have a Friend help in the design also so that is all I can tell You but I also have the sway bar set up on My house that Freightliner built but was not happy with the control now I am more in control than ever..John did You see the pic.of the trac bar?That shows a lot of how it was built and mounts.

J Walker · 06-09-2009, 07:55 PM

John
Congratulations on a big and innovative job and thanks for sharing. You took advantage of what was there to make it a doable job at home. I will mull it over but since I don't have a problem or at least am not bugged by the usually small amount of sway that I have I may not install it on mine. Still it is good to see what can be done. You never know when it might be needed.

ldsord · 07-19-2009, 11:34 AM

John-I have a freightliner chassis and I'm getting a lot of tail wag(I constantly fight the steering wheel)I think what you've done might help me.How did you mount the angle to the frame?Do you need an adjustable bar?thanks

**Gary RVRoamer** · 07-20-2009, 05:00 PM

Larry,
You have air suspension on the Discovery, so I don't think a track bar will be as helpful as it was on the OP's leaf spring chassis.

Fighting the steering wheel may be an indication that you are steering to tight, i.e. looking close rather than well down the road and thus constantly over-correcting. It could also be an alignment problem. I seldom hear of handling problems with a Discovery.

ldsord · 07-20-2009, 11:36 PM

Thanks Gary,my steering problem seemed to really get bad after I got new tires.When I turn the wheel slightly,the rear seems to shift and the coach leans into the turn.If I catch some wind,or road ruts,the coach will veer and I have to bring it back,maybe I need to start with a wheel alignment and see what that does for me,I have been on some dirt roads lately.

**Gary RVRoamer** · 07-21-2009, 10:08 PM

If that doesn't do it, you might need a sturdier anti-sway bar in the rear. But if the problem started with the new tires, I'd work that angle first. Are the the same size and brand as the originals?

ldsord · 07-26-2009, 01:37 PM

We just got back from a fun trip to SLC,I got a wheel alignment before we left and that took care of about 50% of the problem.The mechanic said there was some play in the steering bar/arm?.I'll crawl under and have a look at that,see if I can tighten it up.I believe there are a couple of u-joints in that thing.Maybe they're getting worn,the MH still wants to veer off on it's own and I have to bring it back,though not as bad.The new tires are the same diameter but I think a little wider.I had Michellin's,got a good deal on Toyo's,I heard about the cotroversy of using Toyo's on MH's,but the company assured me these were made exactly for that purpose.We'll see.