B+ motorhomes

Gene in NE wrote:
rcwaz - Your new unit is a little longer than most so called B+ units. If it handles like my shorter unit, you would just be wasting your money on a sway bar.

I discovered recently that the Chevy cut-a-way chassis has bigger sway bars (on the front for sure) than the Ford does. If you have the Chevy you should be happy with handling (relatively happy, of course, we're talking RVs here). With my '97 class A the aftermarket sway bar was huge compared to the OE sway bar. As I said, I tried many things to improve the safety and driving comfort of my Ford F53 chassis. Bilstiens, a TruTrack bar, closely maintaining 10+ psi extra on all tires, expensive diagnosis by Ford specialists, and continual steering box tweaking all had no noticeable affect. The sway bar did. Since I have another Ford chassis and the difference in the sway bars between the Ford and Chevy are very obvious I think I'll go with the sway bar very soon.

As far as the Bilstiens, When I see indications the shocks are going bad as you did, I will put them on my unit. I believe the advantage with the Bilstiens is with heat, as with summer heat, shifting weight, and bumpy roads.

As to the discussion about Gear Vendors and ratio changes, My experience is that the biggest effect on mileage is how you drive, frontal area, and weight. If you go to a lower ratio but have your foot in the carburator to accelerate at the same pace as before the change, you haven't gained anything. When you look at frontal area issue, the engine must work harder with a lower ratio to maintain the same speed. That means the engine will be turning slower but the throttle will be engaged more to compensate for the change in ratio. When you look at the Gear Vendor or US Gear units, or a differential ratio change, I don't believe any of those are cost effective unless your load changes dramatically from one trip to the next. As an example, you can't unload the B+ RV from the chassis as you can unload a fifth wheel from the tow vehicle. I got 10 MPG towing the 16,000 LB fifth wheel and 15 MPG when not. My truck was set up to pull the heavy load even when there wasn't one to pull. With a Gear Vendors or US Gear addition I could have signicantly improved the mileage I received when empty. I had certainly considered an overdrive unit for my truck but I knew the payoff time would exceed the time I had the truck. I feel the same way about diesel vs gas engines.
Thanks for the soap box. Please forgive me, with the long winter and being unable to get out on the road has me feeling frustrated. You want a long rant, ask me about RV salesmen who have no concept about RVing nor RVs (except discussing "price point" or cabinet drawer construction).