Ford F-53 toe-in

[TXiceman]

The first thing you should do with a new motorhome is to load it to normal travel mode, get it weighed to see if you are not overloaded on an axle, adjust tire pressures according to weight and take it to an independent truck alignment shop to get the front end set to proper specs once loaded.

The alignment out of the factory is generally not set for the chassis to be loaded.

Ken

[Johnynorthla]

Originally Posted by Vibeman

UPDATE:
I finally located a reputable truck frame and alignment shop about 60 miles away so I loaded the Thor up to near GVWR and took it in for evaluation of the alignment. The tech took it for a test drive then put it on the alignment rack. His initial readings were as follows:
Camber left = +1/8 degree
Camber right = +1/4 degree
Caster left = +3 ½ degrees
Caster right = +3 ½ degrees
Toe in = 0 degrees (As I wrote in my original post, I had previously given the tie rod ¼ turn myself so my original reading of toe out was probably correct)
He said this is within Ford specification and they don’t recommend any changes. I was surprised, however, when he said all steering system pivots looked as if they had never been greased. At his recommendation I agreed to have him do a thorough greasing of all points which included lifting the weight off the king pins and multiple lock to lock steering wheel rotations and charged me $138 for everything, which I thought was reasonable. I was kind of disappointed that the wandering I was experiencing was not due to misalignment. However, as I drove out the driveway of the shop I immediately noticed a difference in the steering. I had some slow speed roads to travel first but once I got it out on the expressway I couldn’t believe the difference, it drove like a new vehicle! Only a few hours before this I had driven it the 60 miles to the shop and it was wandering as usual. Now on the way home it was quite steady in spite of a moderate cross wind. I was a happy camper! I still did not like the 0 degrees toe in, though, so after I got home I gave the tie rod another quarter turn and then a couple of days later I took it out for another test drive. I’m not sure if the increased toe-in made much difference but it still is a vast improvement over what it was. I think it may be possible that the stiff steering linkage was preventing the caster from precisely re-centering the wheels after a small steering correction, thus necessitating constant back and forth input from the driver.
In a week we are leaving for a campground in northern Michigan about 200 miles from us and I will have more opportunity to evaluate the handling improvement. I hope others with similar handling problems will read this thread and get a good grease job before doing other more expensive work. After reading all the many posts on F-53 handling problems I had already purchased a track bar and a steering stabilizer and was only waiting on the front end alignment results before installing them. Since I already have them I will probably still put them in, but if I didn’t have them I may not have even bought them in the first place, the handling is that much better!
-Ken

Do yourself a favor put in the Super Steer track bar, I’ve written this before best improvement overall, and I’ve done everything to my suspension

[Jim Messner]

Howdy from the (soon to be) Great White North!

Question:
Does anyone know if the 2015 Ford F53 Chassis (22.5" wheels & 22K Lbs) has two rear sway bars?

I recently bought a used (20,000 miles) Fleetwood Southwind 32VS.
It had a bad wandering problem as you'll note from my other posts.
Ive now had an alignment done with caster specs achieved at 6.3 and 6.45.
Total Toe In is now at 1.0.
Tires now at 95 Lbs (I tried 100 Lbs and down by 2 lbs each time).

Still wanders bad on some roads and not so bad on others.
On newly paved roads it's as straight as an arrow with no corrections needed.

It has a Blue Ox Steering Damper (It clicks but I don't think it does anything else).

MY QUESTION Today is:
Q: Does the factory put on 2 rear Sway Bars?
Mine has one sway bar in front of the Diff and one behind the Diff.
I'm wondering if the previous owner added an extra aftermarket sway bar?
Does anyone know for sure?
Thanks again!

[twinboat]

The rear swaybar behind the axle is an aftermarket add on.

1 inch of tow in ? 1/8 to 1/4 inch is the norm.

[Jim Messner]

OK Thanks, I suspected 2 sway bars might not be a factory thing.

As far as the "1" on the Toe In... I wasn't sure if that was 1" inch or 1 degree or something as 1" seems like a lot!

[alank]

Your alignment is way out of whack if you want it to drive good. 1” of toe will have the right wheel always pushing against the left wheel and you’ll go which ever direction depending on which wheel gets the most traction on the road surface. Try .04* so both wheels are trying to go the same direction down the road.
The caster is also way off. Wind will be able to blow you all over the road. Calculate the amount of caster you need for your diameter of tire so you get 3/4” to 1” of trail. You should be in the 3* area with the left being 1/2* less than the right. I’m running about 2.25* and just a little over 2.5* now on my 22.5” tires. Have done this on the last four chassis I have owned, 2 Ford’s and 2 Freightliners. No aftermarket add-ons for steering control.

[Jim Messner]

I'll try the toe set at zero as soon as i get time to change it.

[Svshutt]

I liked your response that your coach is finally enjoyable to drive. Right now mine is not. Can you tell me exactly what you added.