Handling: Rocking and Rolling: UPDATE
Our Sunseeker 2300 Chevy sure pitches side to side a lot when we encounter any bumps at all while turning at slow speed, such as leaving a parking lot. I have to go pretty slow, otherwise stuff will b...
Forum Discussion
Beefier sway bars will also benefit in parking lot dips as well as on the open road. As j-d stated, they will also stabilize the rig when parked. People walking around inside will have less effective motion on the vehicle.
Everyone can easily experiment on their own motor home's rear sway bar very simply (and fun) to determine effectiveness. Have a few family members stand together inside the motor home over the rear axle, all members facing forward. Have them work together trying their best to rock the rig side to side by shifting their weight left to right in unison. An effective rear sway bar will lower both rear corners simultaneously regardless which way the weight has shifted. If you had no rear sway bar, one corner would raise up when the other rear corner went down. You can sight it best looking at the relationship between the rear tire and RV body.
A lesser rear sway bar will lower both rear corners, but not as much as a heavy duty bar would, hence you will still feel the rig rocking.
You could also perform this experiment on the front axle but because people can't stand directly over the front axle, you might not be able to get enough rocking motion to see the results. Still it would be worth a try.
When I perform this experiment on the rear of my own rig with Roadmaster heavy duty sway bars, I feel the entire rear of the motor home drop regardless of how I shifted my weight. I simply cannot get the rig to rock side to side. It gets cancelled out by dropping the entire rear of the rig by some amount.
Everyone can easily experiment on their own motor home's rear sway bar very simply (and fun) to determine effectiveness. Have a few family members stand together inside the motor home over the rear axle, all members facing forward. Have them work together trying their best to rock the rig side to side by shifting their weight left to right in unison. An effective rear sway bar will lower both rear corners simultaneously regardless which way the weight has shifted. If you had no rear sway bar, one corner would raise up when the other rear corner went down. You can sight it best looking at the relationship between the rear tire and RV body.
A lesser rear sway bar will lower both rear corners, but not as much as a heavy duty bar would, hence you will still feel the rig rocking.
You could also perform this experiment on the front axle but because people can't stand directly over the front axle, you might not be able to get enough rocking motion to see the results. Still it would be worth a try.
When I perform this experiment on the rear of my own rig with Roadmaster heavy duty sway bars, I feel the entire rear of the motor home drop regardless of how I shifted my weight. I simply cannot get the rig to rock side to side. It gets cancelled out by dropping the entire rear of the rig by some amount.
