To all of you P-30 owners and previous owners.

[BA-in-Mich]

I am wondering of all of the modifications made to the suspension of the P-30 what was one that made a dramatic improvement. I have put a trac bar on and have added air bags on the back. Not too impressed with the trac bar. I was wondering if a bigger sway bar up front would help with the whole being passed by a semi pull in. Would a steer safe unit be a better choice. I know there are P-30 haters out there so I don't want a response from those.

[magicbus]

I put Steer-Safe on my 32’ 1994 P30 Dolphin. It helped so much I could actually drink a cup of coffee without using a sippy cup. And it was an easy installation.

[cadillac_al]

I always drive with a glass of water beside me and I never spill a drop. I can't do that in my Cadillacs. I don't know what I could improve on.

[D Gardiner]

We have done numerous upgrades on our ‘96 P30 chassis.

Each and every upgrade made a significant change in handling. Don’t over look the simple and easy, like worn steering and suspension parts. We had a slightly worn outer tie rod that caused the coach to wander. Plus make sure the alignment has the higher caster settings (verses the low bread truck specs.)
I will include the Super Steer bell cranks in the must have steering upgrades. If your coach says in the front, get the Super Steer front springs.

When we added the track bar it made a significant improvement, as our rear overhang is on the long side. The monster front Road Master sway bar did even more. Probably as much as the track bar. Don’t forget the sway bar bushings. Polyurethane bushings are a must.

Lastly, the P30 steering is sensitive. A small steering input ‘will change’ your direction of travel. Keeping your arms on the arm rests, using your wrists to steer helps as much as looking far down the road.

[Isaac-1]

My 2002 coach has most of the available suspension upgrades, Super Steer bell cranks, front spreader bar (2001+ wide track thing), Safe-T Plus, rear track bar, Koni FSD shocks, Super Steer front springs, and rear airbags with in cab control. Most were installed by the previous owner, though I did add the FSD shocks, spreader bar, and rear air bags. Having said that the biggest improvement I found was changing brand of tires, my coach came with then nearly new Hercules brand tires when I bought it in 2016, in 2021 I switched to Sumitomo ST719 tires, and they made a night and day difference in handling, to the point I kept finding myself driving 5-10 mph faster than I thought I was going at highway speeds.

[George Schweikle]

A track bar made a significant improvement in the handling of our 1999 Safari Trek 2830 (P30) in windy conditions or when passed by trucks. The only other changes were poly sway bar bushings for the stock front & rear sway bars & Koni shocks.

Originally Posted by BA-in-Mich

I am wondering of all of the modifications made to the suspension of the P-30 what was one that made a dramatic improvement. I have put a trac bar on and have added air bags on the back. Not too impressed with the trac bar. I was wondering if a bigger sway bar up front would help with the whole being passed by a semi pull in. Would a steer safe unit be a better choice. I know there are P-30 haters out there so I don't want a response from those.

[Argosy]

A semi is always going to make a lighter vehicle move, especially with the sidewalls of a Class A.

The best improvement I made to the worst P30 chassis I've had was to adjust the bell crank. Costs nothing if you can do it yourself and the change was unbelievable.

[BA-in-Mich]

I've got 58K on the MH. I checked the bell cranks about a year ago. Checked for up and down movement and side to side movement, non was noticed. I have had this MH since 10k miles and have greased the living crap out of the front end.

[Mark_K5LXP]

Originally Posted by Argosy

The best improvement I made to the worst P30 chassis I've had was to adjust the bell crank.

What part of a bell crank is adjustable?

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

[Argosy]

The end play.

[astrnmrtom]

SuperSteer Bell cranks and swapping out old crushed rubber sway bar bushings and end link bushings with polyurethane. Adjusting steering box. After doing that I was no longer white knuckled if passed by a semi. I still had a little push/pull but it was easy to compensate for with a little steering input at the proper time.

The factory bell cranks are simple bushings so there's no way to adjust out any wear other than end play. Driver's side sees the most stress and wears much faster. If on a budget, do the driver's side first. Doesn't hurt to have ball joints inspected. The P-chassis is marginal for a heavy motorhome so suspension parts can wear quickly if not taken care of. With bushing style bell cranks, even with regular lubing they can wear quickly. My p-chassis rig's driver's side bell crank was shot at 50,000 miles. Because longer motorhomes on the P-chassis have considerable cantilevered mass past the rear wheels they are more susceptible to the tail wagging the dog, especially if there's any wear on the steering components.

I can't remember the specs but the proper alignment is important too. It's been years but I remember something about some alignment shops using truck specs instead of motorhome specs.

Steering stabilizers can help.

[hotrod6657]

Probably a dumb and overly obvious suggestion but tire pressures make a huge difference on our 30ft Southwind on a P30 chassis. Previous owner put most of the "typical" improvements on it before we got it but pressure has been an easy thing we can control and it makes a huge impact for us.



Too high (but still well within spec) and the thing is on ice skates when next to trucks. We haven't gone to scales to get proper axle weights but we looked up a load chart for our tires and made our set points based on that.


Like I said, probably far too basic for your question but it's had a surprisingly big impact for us for overall drive-ability.

[RickNC]

I did the upgrades one at a time. Mine already had front and rear sway bars. I still have the stock bell cranks,The PO had kept them well greased and I have done the same while also keeping them in adjustment.

First was a steering damper with centering spring. It was probably the least effective at improving steering control.

2nd was Super Steer Springs. They took the place of the leaky airbags and certainly improved the ride.

3rd and most significant was having the front end alignment done to Super Steer specs. (Mostly increased caster and front toe-in)
This really made a bigger difference in drivability than anything.

4th, The motorhome came with fairly new Monroe RV Shocks. I changed them to Koni. Greatly improved ride.

5. When I weighed the motorhome for the front springs, I saw that the front tires were near their maximum load capacity. I replaced the front tires with the next size in width. The slightly wider foot print helped the tracking and the lower air pressure helped absorb more of the road shock.

[RickNC]

Originally Posted by Mark_K5LXP

What part of a bell crank is adjustable?



Mark B.

Albuquerque, NM

As Argosy said, End Play.

Instructions ; To adjust, loosen the large lock nut, torque cap to 25 ft. lbs. and then loosen 1/16th of a turn and tighten lock nut. If there is lateral (side to side) play, replace bushings with Workhorse part no. 00266316 or GM part no. 266316 in the affected assembly.

The bushings are no longer available from GM, but you can find them NOS on Ebay pretty frequently. I bought 2 sets last year for $40.