Class A motor home steering stabilizer

I tried the CHF and found the sway bar hits the leaf spring with wheels near their upper travel. The CHF might work for typical highway but I get into some pretty uneven cow pastures. Not a fix for me. I DIDN'T try the longer Helwig sway bar connecting links - those might work. For $100 they'd better work!

I had a buddy with the same problem on an older shorter coach and he fixed his sway with air bags on the front only.

Im sure some tires pull in the ruts harder than others. Also, some ruts are bigger than others!

Best,
- bob

Rwake901 wrote:

rgd123 wrote:
Just purchased a 2015 Thor ACE 30' motor home.
Ford V10 chassis
Having some issues on the open roads with Semi Trucks and Rouge Winds.
Need some help/information as to what the most effective steering stabilizer
is Available and some first hand experiences.
Thanks

I just traded off a 2014 Thor ACE 30.1 and I had the same problems. Very hard to keep in one lane. I did the CHF, rear track bar, front end alignment and weighed and set the tire pressure accordingly. Each thing I did helped some but it was still a handful to drive. Even at a slow speed like 30mph it liked to wander. I even called Ford and asked them what I can I do. They told me and I quote ( sounds like you've tried everything, we don't know). We liked the motorhome but it just wore me out to drive it. So we decided to trade and get something a little bigger and that drives great. The only thing I didn't try was a steering stabilizer. Our ACE seamed to want to follow the ruts in the road so maybe a steering stabilizer will help. But like others have said I would try whats free first before you start dumping money in aftermarket items... Good Luck

Curious what tires you had on it. My First ACE had Contis and it drove like a pig. My new 29.2 has GY G670's and it handles great. I did the CHF and weighed and set psi and it drives really nice. My first 29.1 was harsh and loud and wandered even after doing all that. Maybe it's the tires?

rgd123 wrote:
Just purchased a 2015 Thor ACE 30' motor home.
Ford V10 chassis
Having some issues on the open roads with Semi Trucks and Rouge Winds.
Need some help/information as to what the most effective steering stabilizer
is Available and some first hand experiences.
Thanks

I just traded off a 2014 Thor ACE 30.1 and I had the same problems. Very hard to keep in one lane. I did the CHF, rear track bar, front end alignment and weighed and set the tire pressure accordingly. Each thing I did helped some but it was still a handful to drive. Even at a slow speed like 30mph it liked to wander. I even called Ford and asked them what I can I do. They told me and I quote ( sounds like you've tried everything, we don't know). We liked the motorhome but it just wore me out to drive it. So we decided to trade and get something a little bigger and that drives great. The only thing I didn't try was a steering stabilizer. Our ACE seamed to want to follow the ruts in the road so maybe a steering stabilizer will help. But like others have said I would try whats free first before you start dumping money in aftermarket items... Good Luck

Let's not forget the CHF. Cheap handling fix is free and takes about 15 mins. Do a search on here. Essentially it moves the position of the stock sway bars to a different set of holes. Dramatically reduces sway and body roll. I did mine and hardly get any truck push or wander any more. Did it in 15 mins in my driveway and cost nothing.

Also, as others have said, load your coach like you are travelling (water, food, people etc) and weigh your coach if not all 4 corners then at least by the axles, and set your tires PSI accordingly. The sticker on the MH for recommended pressure on mine was off pretty far. Weighed it and set to the tire manufacturer's chart and rides much better.

Do those 2 things, for free and you may find you won't need to spend any money on aftermarket stabilizers or anything else.

Everything that Wolf10 said is correct. I will only add that you load your coach for travel and have it weighed. Most coaches handle better if the front axle is loaded close to the maximum.
I found that the AirTabs helped my coach resist wind movement. Once I added four corner air bags, I stopped 99% of wind movement, especially while traveling in the Great Plains during windy season, which is all of the time.

A steering stabilizer, while a good addition would be well down my list of what to do for your issue. Here is the order I would do:

Set tire pressure to tire manufacturer's minimum spec for your actual axle weights plus 5-8 PSI.

Rear track bar/panhard rod (you already have a front bar)

Check front end alignment and verify that caster specs are near high-end of spec. Verify correct toe-in.

THEN look at steering dampeners. I like the Safe-T-Plus.