Handling on 1997 e450
I am the proud new owner of a 98 24'rsb born free that has been very well taking care of. I have read several posts on here about handling issues and fixes of the ford chassis. This one is the E-sup...
Forum Discussion
Hi,
When my 97 F-53 chassis Fleetwood Bounder was only about 2 months old, and I had it loaded like I liked when I go camping, I took it to a big truck alignment shop. They had worked on straight beam trucks since the 50's and Ford's twin I-beams for many years too. They know how to align a twin I beam front end. They do it by bending the front axle to make the tire stand upright like it should.
Anyway the guy at the alignment shop asked "Why get it aligned when it is so new?" I said that Fleetwood recommends it, just because the springs will settle a bit as the RV sits with weight on it. And the alignment at the factory is a 'light' chassis, with all the options, but no water or your camping gear, so they say after the springs settle out in 2 months to have it aligned. Anyway the results where it is pretty straight, but only needed a minor tweak. I had the original tires with a lot of tread on them at 7 years when they where replaced. Still have the replacements - 2004 tires that are now over 11 years old, but I am not driving the RV until I replace them. They have most of the original tread, because the alignment is still great!
So new shocks (I replaced mine with Bilstiens at about 4,000 miles and the year old factory ones I could move in and out like an accordion).
I don't think a change in the anti-sway bars will help. I know that I need to replace my bushings on my RV, as the old ones fell off, so the bar is not really doing much now.
Good luck,
Fred.
When my 97 F-53 chassis Fleetwood Bounder was only about 2 months old, and I had it loaded like I liked when I go camping, I took it to a big truck alignment shop. They had worked on straight beam trucks since the 50's and Ford's twin I-beams for many years too. They know how to align a twin I beam front end. They do it by bending the front axle to make the tire stand upright like it should.
Anyway the guy at the alignment shop asked "Why get it aligned when it is so new?" I said that Fleetwood recommends it, just because the springs will settle a bit as the RV sits with weight on it. And the alignment at the factory is a 'light' chassis, with all the options, but no water or your camping gear, so they say after the springs settle out in 2 months to have it aligned. Anyway the results where it is pretty straight, but only needed a minor tweak. I had the original tires with a lot of tread on them at 7 years when they where replaced. Still have the replacements - 2004 tires that are now over 11 years old, but I am not driving the RV until I replace them. They have most of the original tread, because the alignment is still great!
So new shocks (I replaced mine with Bilstiens at about 4,000 miles and the year old factory ones I could move in and out like an accordion).
I don't think a change in the anti-sway bars will help. I know that I need to replace my bushings on my RV, as the old ones fell off, so the bar is not really doing much now.
Good luck,
Fred.
