F53 suspension upgrades

dodge guy wrote:

rgatijnet1 wrote:

RLS7201 wrote:

rgatijnet1 wrote:
Before I would spend any money on bolt-ons I would do the basics first. In other words load the coach exactly as it is when you travel with full fuel and fresh water(if you fill your tanks for travel), as well as food and clothing. Then have ALL four corner weighed and adjust your tire pressure according to the manufacturer's specs. The next would be to take it to an alignment shop, while the coach is still loaded for travel, that can deal with motor homes and get a front and rear axle alignment or a thrust angle alignment. Some shops will tell you that your rear axle is not adjustable when they DO NOT have the equipment available to set the trust angle on an RV chassis. It can be adjusted.
After you have done these things, and you still are not happy with the way the coach drives, then try some add-ons, one at a time.

Tell us how you adjust the rear thrust angle on a gas chassis with no provisions for adjustment? The spring hangers are bolted to holes in the frame, the spring draw bolt head aligns with a hole in the axle tube. There are no cams, no adjustable rods, etc.

Richard

The rear axle is attached to the springs with U-bolts that can be loosened to allow the axle to be moved as necessary to get it in to perfect alignment. You don't move the springs but the rear axle itself can be moved. Here is a link to Brazels which gives some details on the services they offer. There are other alignment shops that have the ability to give a gas or a diesel pusher RV a 4 wheel alignment. Brazels 4 wheel alignment on a gas chassis
Here is another link: FMCA alignment
Here is another place that can do the alignment as can any shop that has Hunter equipment designed for thrust angle alignment: Hendersons
Another place: Sunshine Service

No! The rear axle is located on the springs with pins. If the axle can be moved then it is unsafe and shouldn’t be driven. Axles need the pins to properly locate the axle. Other wise it would move on the spring under acceleration or braking. And the u bolts are not strong enough to keep it from moving.

Even after giving a bunch of links to talk with someone that do alignments for a living, there are still some people that are stuck in the past that do not believe there is any possible way to adjust axles that they believe cannot ever be changed. Some people keep up with the times and understand that modifications can be made for very little money that allows an alignment tech to adjust the rear axle to obtain perfect alignment without compromising any safety issues. Here is a picture of one mod that actually creates "pins" that are adjustable. Anyone that thinks that a straight axle that is 12-20 feet behind the front axle is in perfect alignment when it leaves the factory needs to go back to school. As I mentioned, the shops that tell you it cannot be adjusted/aligned just do not have the equipment to do it so they come up with all kinds of "excuses" to convince you it is impossible. Note that the picture is from 2009. This is not NEW tech.