Your experience parallels mine. I installed Hellwig Front and Rear Sway Bars a few years ago and the transformation on our 31-ft/218" wheelbase E450 was amazing. From an automotive engineering standpoint, Ford took a shortcut in front sway bar mounting in 1992 that wasn't corrected till 2008. The puny OEM sway bar is even less effective because of the way it's mounted into holes in the axle instead of with real end links. The OEM rear bar is also inadequate and Hellwig provides much more rugged end links. I like Hellwig's rear end links better than Roadmaster's. Hellwig's front end link brackets don't look as exotic as Roadmaster's but they've worked fine and not come loose.
Right now I have 2012 Ford OEM front shocks and 2002 Ford OEM rear shocks. Based on this thread, I'll consider only the HD Bilstein shocks for front and rear. I think I'm like the OP - I sense that if compromise is to be made it's toward handling and away from ride comfort, not the other way.
2012 Ford OEM Shocks, you ask? Well, they came with a whole takeoff 2012 Front Axle setup that I bought from a 4x4 conversion shop. That gave me all-new Axles, Ball Joints and Axle Bushings, modernized Radius Arms, and much larger Brake Calipers, Pads and Rotors. The Shocks were also in the package. The pre-2008 Hellwig front sway bar works with the new style axle. Of course anybody with 2008 and later would want the part number that actually matches the year. Just saying the earlier style bar still works.
Add Levelers if you want, I hope your research pointed you to Direct Acting and not Kick Down. That said, the Sway Bars help nearly as much on the campsite as they do on the road. Our coach is about as steady with the new bars and no jacks as it was with jacks down before and it isn't much better on jacks with the new bars.
