F53, 18,000 lb chassis

vandave wrote:
I did the CHP the second day I got it home. It' 80 miles or so from the dealer mostly on I-71. Trucks passing were quite noticeable. After CHF not so much. Had the safe-T-Plus installed and added a little more control. I haven't weighed it yet since it is still "empty". Will load it up and weigh it before going south. Having the Ready Brake Elite put on late December.

Yes fill the fresh water tank full, fill the gas tank full, load your normal camping supplies, drain the black/gray tanks and get it weighed.

I would like to know how a 31 foot motorhome with large slide out weighs that is sitting on a 18000 lb chassis, as far as I am concerned Winnebago purchased the wrong chassis for that size of a motorhome, should have been put on a 20,500 lb chassis.

I just weighed my 32 ft motorhome with 2 slide outs a few days ago without towing my trailer/toad and with full fresh water/gas and empty black/gray tanks and normal supplies loaded my weight was 19,340 lbs, mine sits on a 20,500 lb chassis.

I would be surprised if you have any extra carrying weight or might be a tad over max.

I did the CHP the second day I got it home. It' 80 miles or so from the dealer mostly on I-71. Trucks passing were quite noticeable. After CHF not so much. Had the safe-T-Plus installed and added a little more control. I haven't weighed it yet since it is still "empty". Will load it up and weigh it before going south. Having the Ready Brake Elite put on late December.

When making chassis mods in search of improving the handling or ride comfort prioritize your list of potential add on items by cost. Start with the least expensive then take a bit time driving in different conditions to evaluate any change before moving to the next. When requesting feedback from other owners consider what might be an acceptable ride or improvement to one owner is not to another.

I have an older 18K chassis (2006) and so far the lowest cost changes made the greatest improvement. Correct tire pressure, weight distribution, replacement rear sway bar bushings and the cheap handling fix (aka CHF). A higher cost addition that helped was a rear track bar and Koni shocks. The most expensive addition with the least improvement was airbags at each axle. The airbags are helpful to regaining ride height after loading but did little for ride comfort other than maybe suspension bottoming. Get the air pressure too high and the coach will get pretty bouncy.

As far as which chassis your coach is built on a physical inspection is the ultimate answer to the question. Builder specs will change without notice even in the middle of a production cycle. Easy to tell between the the 18K and 20K by the rear axle differential cover. 18K with the lighter axle will have a bolt on rear cover while on the 20K the cover is welded.

If anyone is interested a friend of mine has a set of front maxiums for the 18000 f53 that were used two years. Bought a new coach with the 22000 chassis so had to by new ones. He is asking $350, pm me if interested. They will fit the 18-20 from 2000 to present.
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Take a look at what we call CHF, cheap handling fix. Might help. Helped my f53.

timmac wrote:

vandave wrote:
2017 on a Winnebago 31BE

I think that might be a 20,500 lb chassis

OK I just checked the chassis specs and it does sit on a GVWR 18,000 lb chassis, what is wrong with Winnebago, my 32W Bounder that's is only a foot longer sits on a GVWR 20,500 lb chassis and almost near max weight when fully loaded, that motorhome could be over weight once is loaded up for travel.

Heck might be at max weight straight from the factory.

vandave wrote:
2017 on a Winnebago 31BE

I think that might be a 20,500 lb chassis

2017 on a Winnebago 31BE

What age/year F53? There have been suspension changes over the decades.