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Old 08-04-2020, 06:12 PM   #1
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Need some advice for new MH.

Just purchased an new MH. F53 27 feet, V10, Entegra Vision. It seems to be quite susceptible to big rigs and a lot of rock and roll. Not quite white knuckle driving but.!!!!! It is going back to the dealer this weekend after it's first road trip--about 2500 miles. To fix several items

I am considering having rear sway bars installed and a steering stabilizer. I understand that the coach has front and rear stabilizers. Are the stock ones not sufficient?? My question is, is this a good a good approach or are there other or better solutions???
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Old 08-04-2020, 06:22 PM   #2
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There is a rear sway bar already, but a much larger one will improve the "rock and roll". Heavier shocks will help.

Some people will tell you to install a Panhard rod (also called Panhard bar, track bar, or track rod) but this is really not the proper solution.

A steering stabilizer will not do much for the "rock and roll".

The 2020 (or is it 2021) F53 comes with better shocks and a much large rear sway bar a the little feedback I have read says these help quite a bit.
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Old 08-04-2020, 09:54 PM   #3
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TONS of opinions and info out there about improving ride and handling of the F53 to help the problems you describe. And I'm not meaning to be the, "do a search" guy. I'm encouraging you to do a lot of research and reading and, decide what you think is best for your situation. In any individual thread you'll get very biased opinions based on what an individual has spent their money on.

From what I've read, If/when I get a class A I will likely do airbags at all four corners and a steering stabilizer. I really like the ability to adjust the air in the bags and fine tune things. Of course, with the bags in parallel with the stock suspension there will no real improvement on ride... just handling and roll. If money were no object I'd do an airbag system in series with the stock springs or an all air system that replaces the stock suspension. Of course, if money were no object, I'd just buy a diesel pusher with full air and be done with it
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Old 08-04-2020, 10:12 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Garyaber View Post
Just purchased an new MH. F53 27 feet, V10, Entegra Vision. It seems to be quite susceptible to big rigs and a lot of rock and roll. Not quite white knuckle driving but.!!!!! It is going back to the dealer this weekend after it's first road trip--about 2500 miles. To fix several items

I am considering having rear sway bars installed and a steering stabilizer. I understand that the coach has front and rear stabilizers. Are the stock ones not sufficient?? My question is, is this a good a good approach or are there other or better solutions???
I have a 26' I've done the CHF front and back, steering stabilizer, rear trac bar and centermatics. Everything has helped plus tire pressure. Trac bar and CHF helped the most. Remember it's a truck.
Good luck
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Old 08-05-2020, 03:51 PM   #5
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Quote:
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quite susceptible to big rigs

Our F53 V10 Class A was also quite susceptible to big rigs until we installed a Safe-T-Plus steering stablilzer. Very, very positive improvement. Before installation needed to get a good grip on the wheel to manage holding it in the lane. After installation it was literally almost a two finger steering management when a big rig passed. Even when passed by two big rigs, one on each side. As others have said, stabilizer won't do anything about rock-n-roll like when you pass over speed bumps at an angle.
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Old 08-06-2020, 06:43 AM   #6
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sway

First step would be to weigh the MH and then adjust tire pressure to actual weight of MH, garages are notorious for pumping up tires to max listed on tire. I had mine in for inspection and a slow leak in one tire, took it and had a vibration that wasn't there before and it was very twitchy driving it...they had adjusted the tires on that side to 120 lbs, I run 80.
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Old 08-06-2020, 07:19 AM   #7
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Do the cheap easy things first and do a test drive after each FIX/MOD. At least that way you know what each MOD did or didn't do for the ride and handling.

Had a friend who was going to trade his RV. We added a DIY rear track bar and it was night and day difference. He loves the ride and handling.

Every RV is different in many ways. Never believe what some folks have experienced based on the so many differences between RV's. As said many times, "Don't compare apples to oranges".

All items mentioned above do help each RV in a small or greater way. One more piece of advice. Don't stop after the last MOD which made your RV handle very well but you drove it on a not very windy day. Just about the time you experience a bad Spring storm with gale winds and you're holding on for dear life all the while wishing you' hadn't stopped fixing the poor handling when you did.

I didn't stop until I believed everything I needed to do was done. Last month I added another shock to the fronts. All that did was improve the handling another notch.
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Old 08-06-2020, 07:42 AM   #8
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New MH

First I want to thank all the people that responded!!!!! Lots of good advice. I read many of the blogs on improving the ride and handling and watched many uTube Vids.

Here is my plan: Going to have the steering stabilizer and the rear stabilizer bar put on. Roadmasters I think! I have a quote from my local RV repair place for $1750.00 Probably either by the dealer or a local RV repair shop. I believe I could do it but I am 80 this year and will let some younger person take care of it.

Next, and if I feel it needs more, I'll do the front stabilizer and Sumo shocks.

I will report on my experiemce. But one last question. When the rear stabilizer is put on, do they leave the OM one in place??

Just comments: I own a marine company and work with many yachts. That said, the wiring in my new MH is crude, sloppy, slapdash, and as many other negative adjectives I can think of! Are they all like this? I have already crawled underneath and secured several wires that, to me, like failures waiting to happen.
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Old 08-06-2020, 07:56 AM   #9
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Check out Safety Plus..... many benefits from this device. Makes wind and passing 18 wheeler's much more enjoyable. Plus great in case of a blowout.
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Old 08-06-2020, 08:09 AM   #10
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The steering stabilizers only mask the problem and do not solve it. When you hang that big box on the E450 chassis, the Ford suspension is not up to the job. What you are experiencing is called bump or roll steer. The body will roll and you have to counter-steer to correct. So you go down the road and see-saw the steering wheel back and forth.

The best cure for the problem is to add a larger sway or anti-roll bar to the back and front of the RV. One end does not cure the problem. Next thing is to replace all 4 shocks with Bilstein Heavy Duty shocks.

We had a 31 foot on the E450 and that is what to took to make it a pleasure to drive. I also added Air springs to both front and rear.

I don't know why Ford does not beef up the sway control on the chassis. It is not that expensive to do at the manufacturing stage. You might go back to Entergra and complain to see if they will pay for the upgrade now.

Ken
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Old 08-07-2020, 09:59 AM   #11
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The steering stabilizers only mask the problem and do not solve it. When you hang that big box on the E450 chassis, the Ford suspension is not up to the job. What you are experiencing is called bump or roll steer. The body will roll and you have to counter-steer to correct. So you go down the road and see-saw the steering wheel back and forth.

The best cure for the problem is to add a larger sway or anti-roll bar to the back and front of the RV. One end does not cure the problem. Next thing is to replace all 4 shocks with Bilstein Heavy Duty shocks.

We had a 31 foot on the E450 and that is what to took to make it a pleasure to drive. I also added Air springs to both front and rear.

I don't know why Ford does not beef up the sway control on the chassis. It is not that expensive to do at the manufacturing stage. You might go back to Entergra and complain to see if they will pay for the upgrade now.

Ken
i have read quite a few blog posts and viewed Utube. The steering stabilizer has gotten the most positive reviews with stabilizer bars coming a close next then Sumo shocks/springs. According to most reviews the rear stabilizer will give the coach the most rock and roll improvement (60 to 70%), and the front bar will help to a lessor extent. Hence my plan of steering and rear stabilizer first then maybe more if I feel it still needs it
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Old 08-07-2020, 02:26 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Garyaber View Post
Here is my plan: Going to have the steering stabilizer and the rear stabilizer bar put on. Roadmasters I think! I have a quote from my local RV repair place for $1750.00 Probably either by the dealer or a local RV repair shop. I believe I could do it but I am 80 this year and will let some younger person take care of it.
I would doubt there is anywhere enough experience with the new F53 chassis and suspension for you to get applicable advice about the usual F53 add-ons.

I'd get a front end alignment by an experienced F53 shop as the first thing. I had mine done at a Ford commercial truck dealer and it helped. They said they align a couple of hundred motorhomes a year.

A rear trac bar probably is a good thing since Ford still is not putting one on as stock. If many of your issues are when a truck passes, a rear trac bar may be the solution. The trac bar, believe it or not, secures the body to the axle. Without a rear tract bar, the bow wave of air from an approaching truck will actually push the body of the motorhome out of its way. As the truck passes, the vacuum sucks the rear of the body back over. The effect is called "tail wagging the dog" because it requires a steering correction in both directions as the truck passes.

See if you can find a good local truck shop. The one near me let me buy everything myself and they installed them (Koni FSD shocks at 800 miles all the way around and trac bar). They service a lot of motorhomes also so I figured they were competent. The FSD's really, really helped my 22,000 lb chassis.

Quote:
comments: I own a marine company and work with many yachts. That said, the wiring in my new MH is crude, sloppy, slapdash, and as many other negative adjectives I can think of! Are they all like this? I have already crawled underneath and secured several wires that, to me, like failures waiting to happen.
Yes, and it's really, really sad. I haven't seen so many potential and actual chafe points in decades as I found in our motorhome. I just saw a picture of a new Newmar's wiring and it looked like the same rat's nest as I have.

I actually had the dealer submit some of the chafe points as warranty items and Forest River denied the claim as a "product improvement". Seriously. So I bought some wire loom and spiral wrap from Amazon and wrapped the wires and hydraulic lines myself.

Ray
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