F53 handling improvements

[Chargerman]

I’m sure this subject has been talked about in length but I was not able to find anything in a search

A friend has a F53 chassis under a 2019 Coach. He’s looking to improve the ride and handling and minimize drift from wind and trucks. I am aware of Liquid Springs setup but that more than he wants to spend. The Super Steer full setup looks interesting and the videos appear to show that their system helps significantly. Has anyone installed their equipment? How much improvement was noticed? Also, what other manufacturers sell a “system”?

Thank you

[Camp CA]

Originally Posted by Chargerman

...........looking to improve the ride and handling and minimize drift from wind and trucks...........

Safe T Plus steering stabilizer controls road wandering, over steering from side winds, pass semi-trucks and bad roads. Also a SuperSteer rear trac bar puts an end to the "tail wagging the dog" sensation or oversteer and improves stability. My Ford F53 chassis has both of these suspension upgrades in addtion to large diameter front and rear factory anti-sway bars and after-maket Roadmaster second rear anti-sway bar to stiffen up the side to side sway, factory Jounce bumpers, after-market Sumo springs and after-market Koni shocks.

[vsheetz]

Tire pressure by weight.

Ensure all suspension and steering components are as they should be. To include Alignment.

Only then aftermarket items:

1) SafetyPlus steering stabilizer. Highway straight line tracking and turning return to center improvements - big help in windy conditions - and of course safety in case of catastrophic tire failure.

2) CHF. Tightens sway bar action.

3) Rear Track bar. Fixes tail wag the dog problem. Via Blue Ox, Super Steer, others.

4) Koni shocks - ride and handling improvement.

Rear track bar positively affixes the rear axle laterally to the chassis. In the F53 there is not a rear track bar - allowing the rear of the coach to continually shift to either side. When the rear shifts to one side, the front must shift the other way. Then steering correction is needed. This goes on repeatedly...

Imho. Ymmv.

[Sweetbriar]

Easiest way to work this is start out with the low cost items.
1. Get under the coach and check all the suspension components. Are all the grease seals on the front axle intact? Has the axle been lubricated regularly? Have the rear sway bar bushings dissolved yet?
2. Set cold tire pressures based on loads or if not known set to the pressures on the Ford incomplete vehicle tag.
3. Consider doing the "Cheap Handling Fix" (CHP) mod.
4. Have the front end alignment check/set.
5. Adjust the steering box gear play.

From this point on the your into higher cost items. If you can't do the work yourself the labor costs also have to be considered.
1. Better shocks.
2. Up size sway bars with after market rather than CHP.
3. Airbags or Summo Springs.
4. Rear track bar (front has one from the assembly line).
5. Steering stabilizer.

Research what the the primary and potentially secondary effects are with each add on and balance that against what you want to achieve. Less tail wag from wind or passing vehicles - rear track bar, better ride comfort - better shocks and so on.

When you start spend money do one update at a time and drive the coach for several months in different conditions to determine if the coach is where you want it or if more is necessary. Some people get as far as new shocks and are happy while others do everything then traded the coach in for a DP.

[Chargerman]

Thanks for the responses guys. I see that Super Steer offers radius rod kit. I’m not sure what these are. Anyone have knowledge regarding these?

[Peter M]

Super Steer has a proven method. From Koni quad shocks to the combination of swaybars transform the coach.
I will say the tire pressure SS is recommending makes the steer tires feel too mushy/soft with excess sidewall flex.

[blueridge-fl]

On the topic of liquid springs, I recommend the owner ask themselves some questions:

1) How long do I plan to keep the RV?

2) How do I plan to use the RV?

If the owner plans to keep the RV for 5+ years and use it to make long (IE 5k mile) trips then they should take a hard look at liquid springs. If the owner views their RV as an intermediate step toward a higher end coach or is basically a weekend warrior, then they should make incremental suspension changes until the RV is good enough to meet their needs.

I have liquid springs. We just got back from a second 6k mile trip and I plan to keep the coach for many years. My biggest regret is the $5k I dumped into incremental suspension solutions that would have been saved if I had gone straight to liquid springs.

[rffowler55]

I agree with Camp CA's comments on the effectiveness of Safe-T-Plus and the Rear-Trac-Bar, both have drastically reduced the tail wag and steering corrections. We also have front-end Sumo Springs which helps with the movement felt at the top of the coach as the body rolls from side to side from wind or a hard turn entering a road from a side street. We also noticed a meaningful improvement installing new shock absorbers and setting our air pressure to the correct values based on weighing the coach.

Also, check the bushings on your sway bars since some of the old bushing materials were known to deteriorate over time.