DryCreek wrote:
Will the CHF alter suspension geometry?
I believe the answer is YES in - with a caveat. I think that it depends on the GVWR for the F-53 chassis it is performed on. My Winnebago 29R is on the Ford 18K lb. GVWR chassis. When I moved the stock front sway bar links to the back hole the bar and the links were nearly in line, and my suspension travel was shortened somewhat. I went with the Hellwig 7962 adjustable sway bar links and set them to maintain the OEM geometry. Suspension travel was returned to stock parameters. Plus, I could take the front stock sway bar links and use them for the CHF on the rear. The front links are exactly one inch longer than the stock rear ones. I didn't want to get in a bind and have the upper end of the sway bar possibly contacting the VSS mounted in the top of the differential housing.
It may be that the F-53 chassis rated for higher the GVWR have different sway bars or end links. Or maybe the slight differences between chassis runs through the years? Just kinda' grasping at straws there - as I've seen posts where some have had no change and others (like me) did.
There is a thread on another forum with over 300 pages of results about this mod.. Many of us have spoken to the Ford hotline about it and they have no reason not to do it. When several years ago they moved the front link it has caused the sway bar to be at an awkward angle after doing the CHF and some have interference with springs and some other parts. The fix is easy and cheap. Brackets can and are made to keep the sway bar level and the geometry in the original position. In fact, it can even be adjusted to make the sway bar more level than original if desired. Helwig makes an adjustable link that will also work.
There is a gentleman on that forum that makes these brackets for all comers at a very modest price. I think he charges around 30-40 bucks. A few new bolts and that is all the cost there is. You can have a local machine shop make the brackets for probably under $20 or so.
The bigger concern is that many of us (myself included) have discovered the bolts holding the sway bar brackets to be loose or missing, especially the rears. There is also a thread of many pages on that same forum discussing this problem. The fix is easy if the problem is caught in time before the brackets become loose and fail. Just remove the bolts apply blue locktite and reinstall and torque to 66lbs.
On our MH all four rear bolts were loose and two of the front bolts were loose or not at correct torque. One on the rear had already broken the spot welded nut off the frame and was a real challenge to retorque, but I finally figured out a way to do it. I used blue locktite on all.
Checking them is now on my "check once a year" list.
