We drove a number of Class A motorhomes on the F53 chassis before settling on our Bay Star. Besides overall quality putting Newmar on top for us I also felt it drove the best and was the quietest of the ones we looked at.
Even though it drives nice, it still exhibited some of the common behaviors of F53 based motorhomes - lane wander and getting pushed by the big rigs.
With that said, we decided that a visit to Henderson’s Lineup in Grants Pass was in order so we could run the rig through their road assessment service and get a prioritized list of recommended suspension modifications to dial in the ride.
So, here’s the run down on our experience.
Arrived at 8:30am for our 9am appointment. There is a gravel lot across the street from the service bays where we were able pull in and detach our toad. At 9am our assigned tech, Matt, came out and introduced himself and did a walk around. We talked about what I was experiencing currently and what I was hoping to improve upon. Once that was done, we did a road test and Matt explained what he was noticing and talked about some potential options to improve the ride. Once we completed our drive we pulled into the service bay and they got four corner weights. The next step was a physical inspection of the suspension. Matt invited me into the service pit and walked me through each suspension component. They also jacked the front wheels off the ground and checked for any play in the wheels and front suspension. After that he checked the alignment and then started putting together items for the service writer so he could get me a prioritized list of modifications.
At this point I met up with Doug and he walked me through the list.
Priority 1 - Safe T Plus.
Priority 2 - Rear trac bar.
Priority 3 - Upgrade to Koni shocks.
Priority 4 - Add a forward facing rear sway bar.
Priority 5 - Add a rearward rear sway bar.
Priority 6 - Sumo springs in the front.
Priority 7 - Sumo springs in the rear.
So, I did have a budget (and I went over so please don’t tell the DW) and elected to install the Safe T Plus, rear trac bar, front Koni shocks, since they were out of stock for the rears, along with the forward facing rear sway bar.
Once they had the go ahead it took them a full day to do the install, which required an overnight stay. The nice thing is you can stay onsite and they’ll provide you with a 30amp hookup.
In addition to being able to stay onsite, they also have a nice customer lounge while you wait. While there, we meet some great people who were in for a variety of services.
Overall the experience was outstanding. The staff at Henderson’s are wonderful and I highly recommend them for any suspension work you might need on any motorhome chassis.
As for the ride, I will say it is greatly improved and I feel that the expense was definitely worth it. I will be adding the rear Koni shocks when time and budget permits.
For those looking at a Bay Star 3609, here are my four corner weights. We were loaded as we normally are for a week trip, but I had more water than I normally carry. As for fuel, we had about 70 gallons on board.
Left front - 4300 lbs
Right front - 4000 lbs
Left rear - 7100 lbs
Right rear - 7100 lbs
So based on those weights they recommended a change in tire pressure. 85psi in the front and 75psi for the rears. We are 700lbs under on the front axel and 1300 under on the rear.
I had expected that they would recommend an alignment, but they said it wasn’t needed.
So, sorry for the long read and if you made it this far thanks for hanging in there.
I’d like to thank Earl II for answering my PM’s and this group in general for sharing your experiences.
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