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Old 06-24-2019, 10:46 AM   #1
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Swaying and ride

I have a 37 ft Class A gas Holiday Rambler the drifts while driving and rides a little rough. I see all the ads about sway bars, better rides, etc. but I would like you to tell me your experiences with adding these things and if they really help with the ride and driveability.
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Old 06-24-2019, 10:54 AM   #2
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What chassis is your MH???

If its a Ford F53, I would recommend three items..

1) Verify the tire pressure

2) Verify the Front end alignment, set to max toe in and max caster.. Its ok to go a little past max toe in and caster..

3) Do the CHF, front and rear. This is an adjustment to the sway bar that will firm up side to side motion.
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Old 06-24-2019, 11:01 AM   #3
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Waiter21 nailed it.

All I can add is to check/change out your sway bar bushings, front and rear. It is a very inexpensive fix. Did mine on the front with the help of my son. Due to a trac bar install on the rear, I had Brazels do them for me. You can find the bushings on EBay.

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Old 06-25-2019, 06:41 AM   #4
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Chf took care of all sway issues and push from semis. My rig handles like a large suv right now. I did have new tires and alignment done prior to chf. So follow the advice above on tire pressures and alignment at same time.
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Old 06-25-2019, 08:00 AM   #5
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Most sway issues are caused by too much weight in the rear of the coach. Also a cause is too much rear overhang with a wheelbase shorter than 55% of the coach length. Weigh the coach and make sure that you are not overloading the rear axle and then distribute the cargo so that heavy items are as far forward as you can get them without overloading the front axle. If the ride is rough, a new set of Bilstein's help keep the wheels from skipping around. Set tire pressure for the Max GAWR for each axle (what the coachmaker usually reccommends) and watch the tire wear for a few thousand miles. Go from there on alignment and other changes.
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Old 06-25-2019, 08:24 AM   #6
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Not trying to hijack this post but what exactly is CHF? I see it mentioned often but have no idea what it stands for. Thanks
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Old 06-25-2019, 08:31 AM   #7
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Not trying to hijack this post but what exactly is CHF? I see it mentioned often but have no idea what it stands for. Thanks
See top Sticky in the Ford Chassis Forum. Lots to read...
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Old 06-25-2019, 08:39 AM   #8
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See top Sticky in the Ford Chassis Forum. Lots to read...

I will check it out. Thanks
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Old 06-25-2019, 05:19 PM   #9
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Lots of good answers here. I have a 33 ft National Seabreeze LX. My percentage is about 51%, so i did all of the above plus added a hellwig rear antiroll bar and a roadmaster true center steering stabilizer. Also weighed the motor home and now run 80psi front and 85psi back on my tires per the manuals. Handles 95% better, and rides a lot better as well. Will never ride like my Yukon, as it is a Ford truck chassis, but it's much better than when we got it.

Al
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Old 06-25-2019, 08:49 PM   #10
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CHF stand for Cheap Handling Fix.. The front and rear sway bars on 1999 and up F53 have two holes for attaching the links. By moving the links to the rear hole, this significantly increases the sway bar tension and thus improves sway control
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Old 06-26-2019, 06:35 AM   #11
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In my opinion there are 2 inherent problems with gas class A motorhomes. Size and weight. The push by manufacturers to go bigger has created coaches that are not reasonable on the Ford chassis. Length is compromised by RV builders adding frame extenders, running the body to ridiculous lengths with ridiculous overhang. Then they put tanks and heavy components aft of the axle causing a variety of handling problems that the owner is stuck trying to fix. That size and weight means that available cargo capacity is almost nil in many of the coaches. That statement applies to many Cs also. The same drive train is in class As from 25 to 38 feet. That drive train can move the 25 or 27 footer nicely, but struggles greatly with a 38 footer. Add a 5000# tow and it can't get up a hill.

I made the mistake of buying a 38' Winnebago Vista. Nice house, horrid chassis. Lousy handling, noisy, slow and I cut my losses and got the DP in the sig line. IF I was in the market for a gas A, the maximum length I would consider would be about 32'. No owner should have to do the CHF, add additional sway/track bars etc. ignorer to make a new motorhome drive acceptably. But that won't happen because unsuspecting buyers will fall victim too the glitz and bling and not realize the limitations of what they are getting. I suspect very few look at GVW or GCWR and even know what those numbers mean.
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Old 06-26-2019, 10:23 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by drwwicks View Post
In my opinion there are 2 inherent problems with gas class A motorhomes. Size and weight. The push by manufacturers to go bigger has created coaches that are not reasonable on the Ford chassis. Length is compromised by RV builders adding frame extenders, running the body to ridiculous lengths with ridiculous overhang. Then they put tanks and heavy components aft of the axle causing a variety of handling problems that the owner is stuck trying to fix. That size and weight means that available cargo capacity is almost nil in many of the coaches. That statement applies to many Cs also. The same drive train is in class As from 25 to 38 feet. That drive train can move the 25 or 27 footer nicely, but struggles greatly with a 38 footer. Add a 5000# tow and it can't get up a hill.

I made the mistake of buying a 38' Winnebago Vista. Nice house, horrid chassis. Lousy handling, noisy, slow and I cut my losses and got the DP in the sig line. IF I was in the market for a gas A, the maximum length I would consider would be about 32'. No owner should have to do the CHF, add additional sway/track bars etc. ignorer to make a new motorhome drive acceptably. But that won't happen because unsuspecting buyers will fall victim too the glitz and bling and not realize the limitations of what they are getting. I suspect very few look at GVW or GCWR and even know what those numbers mean.
You raise a good point. AFA the chassis length, the F53 comes with a 208", 228", 242", and 256" wheelbase from Ford without having to add any extenders. In my case, my 33' National has a 208" wheel base - way too short. However, we love the floorplan and the construction, so it was worth doing the suspension mods to make it handle better. As I've looked under the MH there is no reason why they could not have used the 228" wheelbase and just moved a couple of things around, which would have solved my handling issues (most likely). I'm sure there was a reason they didn't, but I have what I have and I'm happy. BTW - I weigh 19,800lbs loaded with full tanks and my wife and I sitting in it, and the GCWR is 26,000lbs. I am one who looked at the numbers and knew what they meant....
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Old 06-27-2019, 08:22 AM   #13
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Some numbers from my coach:
Overall lenth is 34' Wheelbase is 228" so ratio is 55.8%.
Chassis: GVWR 20,500; GAWR front, 7,000 GAWR rear 13,500
Empty weight (as built): Rear 10,555; Front 5,425, Total 15,890
Weight loaded with full fuel, water, propane, two people, and everything that we normally carry: Rear Axle 12412; Front Axle 6680; Total 19092
Note that we are very careful with weight distribution and try to keep as much weight forward in the coach as we can.
We run all tires at 82psi, which is the recommended pressure for the GAWR of each axle. The coach rides very well and we do not have sway issues or problems with getting blown around by trucks on the highway. We have zero suspension modifications other than Bilstein shocks (not sure if the PO added them or if they were stock)
So my suggestion is to start with getting your coach weighed and work on distributing the weight so that it is as far forward as you can without overloading the front axle. All that costs is the scale fee and you should know what the coach weighs anyway.
It seems to me that adding "fixes" without addressing the basic cause of the problem is a waste of money.
It seems to me that coach makers build what people "think" they want to buy and very few buyers do their homework about what makes a good coach down the road. Some RV's mostly sit parked in a campground so the only thing the buyer cares about is layout. Those of us that spend a lot of time touring the country, need to do more homework.
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Old 06-27-2019, 09:51 AM   #14
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Had a Holiday Rambler gasser. Had the CHF done, and added a rear sway bar. Even with these tweaks we decided to make the move to slightly used Aria dp.
DW really appreciates the ride difference. Good luck I
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