Ford E-450 suspension upgrade suggestions

Replace all your ball joints and tie rod ends with parts having grease fittings. That should eliminate banging and shaking. Replace shocks with premium shocks. Have alignment done with the coach at normal (usual) road weight. Check power steering for slop,

Rock Auto has proper suspension parts and ships quickly. My kit did not include drop links. Do not use motorcraft parts.

The front kit and shocks all around took out all the banging and klunks.

Desert Captain wrote:
Bigjgc,

While they may be fine your tires need to be inflated to the Michelin specs based upon the load they carry. Ford knows squat when it comes to tires vs Michelin. I add in a 10 - 20% fudge factor just to be safe.
:C

Apparently Michelin knows squat about tires because you add 10 - 20% to their spec.

biggic, at least have your alignment checked and if the caster is not more then +5 degrees then it is probably an issue. Better still post a picture of the top of an upper ball joint and we can pretty much tell if you have factory caster settings which are fixed at about 3.5 to 4 degrees.

Here is an example picture of factory default fixed settings.

Bigjgc,

While they may be fine your tires need to be inflated to the Michelin specs based upon the load they carry. Ford knows squat when it comes to tires vs Michelin. I add in a 10 - 20% fudge factor just to be safe.

The new shocks are all my coach is going to need for a long time. It tracks straight as an arrow, smooth and steady. I could not be happier with the ride and handling. The E-450 does have a stiffer suspension to begin with but new shocks can work miracles as the Bilsteins are so much better than the originals.

:C

Desert Captain: My apologies, I should have been clear. I run my airbags at 50 psi. My tires are right at Ford's specs. I have played around with the Airbag pressure, and 50psi seems to be the best.

Harvard: this is the only motorhome that I have owned, so I have nothing to compare the handling to . I realize that it will never handle like my Honda . I can't say that it wanders - just looking for ways to improve the driving experience.

"Handling is just OK" is a fairly vague description. If the unit wanders and has what appears to be loose steering then you might want to research the topic of alignment and adding additional +caster to your E450.

The first thing you need to do is add more pressure to your tires. Even empty, and you never are, 50 psi is far too low. Get your coach weighed and then air up pursuant to the Michilin load tables. Our E-350 weighs 11,300 (Gvwr of 11,500), and I tow a 960# trailer (motorcycle). I run the rears at 70 and the fronts at 65. You would probably need more than that but a trip to the scale will tell the tale.

After 33,000 miles I was exprriencing the same rough ride you describe. I too had my Michelin's replaced on the recall and love the LTX M/S 2's.

I just replaced the original shocks with a set of Bilsteins and went up one model to a slightly stiffer set. The difference is off the charts. The ride, while never terrible, has gotten soooo much better. The set of Bilsteins came to $396, no tax, no freight to my door in 5 days. The install took 3 hours and cost $267.

We are in Northern California after an 1,000 + mile drive from Tucson. Crossed lots of hot desert and very tall mountains to get here and had the best ride we have ever experienced!

Get weighed, pumped and replace those shocks and you will be amazed.



:C

biggjc wrote:
I own a 29' 2010 Winnebago Aspect on Ford E-450 with factory Airbags on the rear. I have not upgraded anything with the exception of a free set of tires courtesy of the Michelin recall. I run with air pressure of 50 psi.

I have been experiencing a lot of rattling,shaking and outright banging whenever I am on less than perfect pavement. Handling is just OK,

I have been lurking on this site for quite some time, and it seems that many of you have replaced your Shocks with the Koni FSB's. I have looked around for pricing and it appears that a set of 4 can be had for about $600 . I'm OK this - but I wonder if there is anything else I should do as long as my rig will be in the shop for installation . My goal is to reduce coach noise and improve handling. Any suggestions?

Just installed Koni's, previous owner installed huge sway bars. Koni's are proving themselves already. I am also going to look into the rear springs. I believe they used way to stiff springs on these E-450's. Unless weighed

down heavy they ride rough. Looking for that sweet spot to put in the airbags. 5 lbs can make a big difference. When I had my 32ft. gooseneck with my jeep inside and water etc, 45lbs on my single wheel Duramax

was great, 5 lbs more and it would bounce you out of the seat.