Looking for help in improving the ride on my RV

We have a Ford V-10 -- We --- put on new tires (age) had it aligned by a truck shop and put a steering stabalizer on. That all helped

Biggest help was the Ford chassis easy fix. Google it - you can do yourself and it was an amazing difference - we did both front and rear.

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I got the track bar online, and installed it. Very nice improvement. Next will be the sway bar 'cheap fix' as soon ss I've convinced myself that doing it won't subject the house structure to more violent swaying over things like uneven pavement, speed bumps, etc. Mine didn't come with a rear track bar at all, and it seems to help without adding strain anywhere else.

Air bags made a HUGE difference in my last MH.

Are you in Clovis, California or Clovis, New Mexico?

If California who is the dealer?

Thanks so much for the quick responses. I have a neighbor more mechanically inclined than myself (also retired with more time). I'm going to run the posts by him for his input and hopefully an offer to assist in the recommendations that can be done in-house. I'll post the results as soon as I'm done. I'm still waiting to hear back from the dealer who will be taking it on a test ride today.

I think you can sink a ton of money in it and not know you did it, it,s a truck.making it ride great is a tough one.

Unfortunely, that chassis, rode like a truck! the next model which was introduced in 2004 or so, rides a lot better, and the one following that I have heard is even better.

As a general rule of thumb, start with the least expensive and work your way up from there.

First things first.... get the RV weighed and set the tire pressure accordingly before you get into any tire failure trouble. It's tempting to run the tire pressure at the low end of the acceptable scale to improve the ride harshness, but proper inflation will not only improve the life of the tires...it will also go long ways towards your safety to prevent blowouts.

Since it's a 2002, the next thing you will want to do is to check the integrity of the sway bar bushings and possibly go ahead and replace them. (A couple of hours on your back under the coach in your driveway with standard tools if you are at all mechanically inclined.) I had a lot of body roll on my 1999 F53 and discovered that my front bushings were completely gone and the rear had shrunk to where they were not effective. Replaced them with new poly bushings and the body roll was practically gone. http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/281153537365?lpid=82&chn=ps I have not tried switching the bolt positions on the sway bars as described earlier, but intend to this season. Lots of great reviews for this "Cheap Handling Fix" http://www.irv2.com/forums/f23/cheap-handling-fix-72335.html as it's known in the RV community.

As far as harsh ride, you will probably want to try new shocks as well. I have read many a testimony for both Koni and for Bilstein...the latter being the stiffest of the two according to the reviews. I also intend to replace my shocks this season with Bilsteins due to slightly better handling reported from multiple reviews. I can take a little bit harsher ride if the coach handles like it's supposed to.

I am also planning to install a track bar as indicated earlier too. In looking at all of them on the market, I have decided to go with the Davis Track Bar. Seems to be about the easiest to install, and I like to do my own wrenching when possible.

On the steering stabilizer, I have read several reviews about them and although many people who bought them say they love them, I read one, more honest-sounding, review that said it did tighten the steering some, but not proportionally according to cost. In other words, the juice wasn't worth the squeeze. I've heard it also makes the steering much stiffer for normal use. I have been advised to take my coach to a big truck center that knows how to do alignments on big vehicles...have a 4-wheel alignment done and THEN decide if I need the steering stabilizer.

Good luck, and please let us know what you do and how it turned out.

Welcome to the forum tomcat08.
First, to improve handling a rear pan hard bar (also called a track bar) should be installed. This can be purchased or fabed by you or friends. This will keen the rear end centered between the chassis rails and end the tail waging. Then make the cheap handling fix, which involves moving the sway bar strut arms from the outside hole, to the inside hole, the one closest to the sway bar, not the end. Test drive on a known road and see if you want to do more. The Ford springs are very soft, and need some help. The harness you are feeling is because the axles are hitting the bump stops, causing the jolts when hitting rough roads. If you still want to try to improve ride, either adding air bag helpers, timbrens, or Sumotos to increase spring rates. When using air bags, you can use different pressures from side to side to level the MH, which usually lean to the right when parked on level ground. The other two systems require flat plate shims to level the MH.