What Did You Do To Improve Handling

[c92vette]

I've read and read a lot of the threads concerning handling of the F53 chassis. The differences from the late 90's to today's chassis are subtle in scope but there are differences. I see a lot of add ons and expense to very few changes along with a lot of thoughts and ideas. The CHF seems to be the overall change made by most but there are several variations to it. What I'm curious about is how far beyond the CHF have owners gone to become happy with the handling of their coach. Here's what I have done. How bout you?

My chassis handling mods:
CHF
- Poly bushings - Replaced the rubber ones.
- Hellwig adjustable links added to reduce the tension load on the links.
Tires
- Inflation - found the correct pressure (5 psi over suggested)
- Quality - Changed from Badyears (Goodyear) to Toyos.
Loading
- Full Water Tank - 500 to 600 pounds spread across the center line of the vehicle.
- Low loading - Load all heavy items in the basement or lower cabinets.
Human Factors
- Raised the seat 3" - Improves physical exertion and response to conditions.
- Steering Wheel - Tilt adjusted for best comfort and visibility.
- Arm Rests - used for upper body support by resting elbows on them.
Summary - We had all the issues with rocking, rolling, and sway. Semis and wind posed challenges that would send most owners to sell the unit and stay home. Rough roads threw us all over. Came across the CHF and made the changes. Bought the Hellwig adjustable links and test drove our unit. Big improvement but after installing the poly bushings I really noted the difference. Because of unrelated tire issues changed the crappy badyears for Toyos. Tire shop inflated them to 110 psi. Handling was great, ride rough. Lowered the pressures by 5 psi each leg of our trip all the way down to 80 psi (lowest pressure per Toyo pressure chart). Found the sweet spot at 90 psi cold. Handling degraded exponentially below 90. Is marginal at 90 until the tires warm up after 5 or so miles. Then the coach settles in and rides nice.
Still had issues in high wind but road issues disappeared for the most part. Real bad roads are just that, really bad. Nothing handles well over ruts and pot holes. Applied my knowledge of aircraft to the loading and kept most everything low except for light items. This lowers the inertia effect when the force of the wind pushes the coach. The coach drove well but I still was tired and I needed a break every hour or so. That's when I raised the seat so I could sit up over the steering wheel. Physical exertion improved and the coach became a joy to drive.

[Waiter21]

CHF
Extended front links by 3 inches, extended rear links by 1 inch

SHOCKS
Replaced all 4 shocks, they were worn out

ALIGNMENT
Set toe in to max. would like to add 1 or two degrees to caster

REAR TRACK BAR
Homemade rear track bar

[Reacher]

I loaded the rig for a normal trip. Including full tanks. First stop was a travel center for full fuel and cat scale. After first night of camping the very next morning I adjusted cold tire pressure to the tire manufacturer's recommendation and shifted some cargo front to rear just ahead of rear axle. That was all. The coach handles great. This after owning a FL chassis DP with air suspension.

[CathedralCub]

Tires are new Toyos.

Replaced front sway bar with the biggest Roadmaster unit I could find.

Replaced rear sway rubber bushings with polyurethane.

Added rear sway bar for the next size longer motorhome than mine (for only like $50.00 more).

Added rear track bar.

Found good tire pressure at 82PSI (dealer had them all at 123PSI cold).

Night and day difference in handling.

Next: Good alignment, add some caster.

[Hikerdogs]

NONE. It rides and handles just fine from the factory. Don't even have to fill the water tank. Maybe we just got lucky, but we have nearly 50,000 miles on with no complaints.

[sbleiweiss]

Done none of the above and happy.

[W.J. Demo]

Every one of the Ford Chassis and Motorhome body combinations has some similar; but, mostly different and unique handling and ride characteristics. I previously owned a 2007 (2006 F53 20,500 lb GVWR chassis) Itasca Sunstar 32K. Tracking was exceptionally stable, push from passing trucks was very predictable, easily controlled and ride acceptable. I never experienced any extreme sway or porposing. Fast forward to my current 2019 Tiffin Open Road 34PA on the F53 26,000 lb GVWR chassis with Sumo Springs. Does not track very well, fair amount of body roll, and sometimes extreme porposing at roadway to bridge transitions. I am taking corrective steps one at a time. First I set tire pressures based on axle ratings with little noticeable affect. Next I changed to single Koni FSD shocks all around. Was surprised at how much this improved the ride (porposing greatly reduced) and and even some reduction in body roll. Coach actually feels somewhat planted to the road. I next did a front end alignment. Caster was OK at the upper end of the Ford specs; but toe was significantly out and that was corrected. Tracking improved a bit; but, still prone to wandering on smooth roads with no wind. Next step will be the CHF front and rear (using TeeJay's plates) and finally am considering the rear track bar from Ultra RV. I also installed the Safe-T-Plus when I installed the Konis. Aside from the safety aspect, the benefit of the Safe-T-Plus is the return-to-center assist provided to the driver. I think this helps in keeping the driver from over correcting as the coach wanders. I really don't think it does anything to reduce the wandering. JMHO and YMMV.

[Russ Silber]

Originally Posted by W.J. Demo

Every one of the Ford Chassis and Motorhome body combinations has some similar; but, mostly different and unique handling and ride characteristics. I previously owned a 2007 (2006 F53 20,500 lb GVWR chassis) Itasca Sunstar 32K. Tracking was exceptionally stable, push from passing trucks was very predictable, easily controlled and ride acceptable. I never experienced any extreme sway or porposing. Fast forward to my current 2019 Tiffin Open Road 34PA on the F53 26,000 lb GVWR chassis with Sumo Springs. Does not track very well, fair amount of body roll, and sometimes extreme porposing at roadway to bridge transitions. I am taking corrective steps one at a time. First I set tire pressures based on axle ratings with little noticeable affect. Next I changed to single Koni FSD shocks all around. Was surprised at how much this improved the ride (porposing greatly reduced) and and even some reduction in body roll. Coach actually feels somewhat planted to the road. I next did a front end alignment. Caster was OK at the upper end of the Ford specs; but toe was significantly out and that was corrected. Tracking improved a bit; but, still prone to wandering on smooth roads with no wind. Next step will be the CHF front and rear (using TeeJay's plates) and finally am considering the rear track bar from Ultra RV. I also installed the Safe-T-Plus when I installed the Konis. Aside from the safety aspect, the benefit of the Safe-T-Plus is the return-to-center assist provided to the driver. I think this helps in keeping the driver from over correcting as the coach wanders. I really don't think it does anything to reduce the wandering. JMHO and YMMV.

Our 1999 F53 Dutchstar rides great only added steering centering. Can't figure out what all the fuss is. On level road you can let go of the wheel anf it will tract straight until you turn the wheel. Doesn't move when tt pass slight corrrection on high crown roads or strong cross winds. Has heavy sway bars fron and rear. Run M tires at 82 lbs all around. Even wear on all. All run at same temp. Usually run at 65 towing crv. Average about 6.5 with gen running without crv average 7.6von 350 mile trip.
[emoji41]

[CathedralCub]

Originally Posted by W.J. Demo

Next I changed to single Koni FSD shocks all around. Was surprised at how much this improved the ride (porposing greatly reduced) and and even some reduction in body roll. Coach actually feels somewhat planted to the road.

Good to know about the Konis. The ones on it now are fairly recent according to the records, but they have no manufacturer info on them (therefore are probably cheapos) and I could stand for it to handle better if available.

[CathedralCub]

Originally Posted by Russ Silber

Our 1999 F53 Dutchstar rides great only added steering centering. Can't figure out what all the fuss is. On level road you can let go of the wheel anf it will tract straight until you turn the wheel. Doesn't move when tt pass slight corrrection on high crown roads or strong cross winds. Has heavy sway bars fron and rear. Run M tires at 82 lbs all around. Even wear on all. All run at same temp. Usually run at 65 towing crv. Average about 6.5 with gen running without crv average 7.6von 350 mile trip.
[emoji41]

Big sway bars really helped mine. If yours came with them, that's probably why yours handles so well. Now that I have mine straightened out it drives like you describe.

[JpalmerCass]

In the first place I bought the coach with the longest wheelbase for its length--228" compared to some with 208" on the same length. And factory installed Sumos, for what that's worth. Anyway I think going with the longer wheelbase probably helped because I don't have the handling problems commonly expressed. Knowing the weight of the loaded coach and inflating the tires properly for the weight might be helping.

Now the ride, that's a different story. But the handling and steering are fine.

[blueridge-fl]

2018 Winnebago Vista 32YE. It was dangerous to drive as it came from the factory.

1) Added Rear anti-sway bar from Roadmaster and Safe-T-Plus. This made it drivable but still too much push from trucks and the tracking still had a little wander to it.

2) Got a front end alignment at a good truck chassis shop. Now tracks straight as an arrow. Much bigger improvement than the Safe-T-Plus. Still more truck push than I like.

3) Performed CHF using Tejay's plates on the front. Set plates to CHF+1. Now the RV only gets pushed by a truck on rare occasions.

4) Experienced some very strong winds (gusting to 50) traveling across the US last spring. Filling the water tank made a big difference in the way the RV handled the winds.

All of this is on top of evenly distributing weight and keeping as much weight as low as possible.

[Tegu]

1) CHF on front- better
2) CHF on rear - little better
3)full water tank
4 added front adjustable links- ride less harsh
5)rear track bar -trucks don't bother me
6)moved all can goods and heavy pots and pans to bays.
Almost rides like a sports car. Would be better if DW hadn't voted against number 6

[House Husband]

I drive what some consider a worst case scenario. 1995 F53, 33' long, 190" wheelbase, 13' rear overhang.

Added front panhard bar and set toe to 5/32 toe-in. No rags for tires, Michelin XPS all steel cord tires. It drives well. Responds to 1/2" steering wheel input. No sawing of the wheel. All is good.

I spent some of my younger years in a front end shop and am very fussy about the way a vehicle handles.

Richard