New class A -ACE 30.1

njtony wrote:
Just came out from under my 2013 coachman getting water lines ready for winter camping and just happened to see a broken bracket on sway bar. SUPRISE!!!. Found this info on net. Thanks. Did ford do a recall ? Or do I just replace the part myself. Does anyone know the part numbers ?

I just put one on mine because mine was broken too. Take your vin number to Ford and tell them what you need. Mine was less than $20.00. It was still under warranty but it would have cost more to take it to Ford and leave it and then go pick it up again. So I bought one and put it on myself.

Just came out from under my 2013 coachman getting water lines ready for winter camping and just happened to see a broken bracket on sway bar. SUPRISE!!!. Found this info on net. Thanks. Did ford do a recall ? Or do I just replace the part myself. Does anyone know the part numbers ?

Since we are talking about the F-53 chassis, on another forum there are many, many reports of the bolts that hold the sway bar brackets in place, two on each bracket, are not correctly tightened. It seems to affect nearly all years of the F-53

I checked our 2014 with 9000 miles and of the 8 total bolts, 6 were not tight. One was finger loose. Now all eight are properly torqued and sealed with blue locktite. This is easy to check and if you cannot do it I suggest you pay any mechanic for probably 15 minutes of labor to fix.

Losing a sway bar bracket will not likely cause a crash, but it will cause a white knuckle moment of driving. There are many pics on the net showing broken brackets. This again will cost little or nothing but may save you some grief later. I strongly suggest everyone driving a Ford F-53 chassis to check the sway bar bolts.

Do the CHF it is easy, helps a bunch and YouTube videos and much other info are on the net.

CHF or cheap handling fix can be done in your driveway in about 20 mins. The F53 is used for many things, mostly commercial. But it comes from the factory with 2 settings on the sway bars. It comes in the firmer setting. The sway bar has 2 connection points. All you need to do is loosen the bolts and move the connection points to the firmer setting. In the rear just reverse the brackets. HUGE improvement in wander and road push. And costs nothing if you have a basic set of tools. The other thing you should do before spending any money is set the correct psi in your tires. Mine were set way to high for the weight and rode rough. I went to a local CAT scale, paid a few bucks and got 2 axle weights (4 corners is better but no place local to do that). Went home, pulled up the tire manufacturers chart for psi to weight, and found I was about 15 lbs over what I needed. I adjusted and now it rides so much better. These are things that are relatively free and frankly should be done anyway to set your rig properly. The F53 is a notoriously rough chassis. It's built for Fed ex trucks and other commercial applications. So it will never ride like an air suspension DP. But there are things you can do to keep your tracking straight and the windows from rattling out.

vandave wrote:
How many find it beneficial to add steering or suspension enhancements?

We have a 2013 ACE 30.1 and love it. We did have a rough ride (common to the F53), so we changed over to softer Koni shocks and that helped a lot. Really a lot. At our next tire change, I'll also shift to softer Michelins, which I'm told will soften up the ride even more, although it's fine right now.

I also added the Safe-T-Steer and rear track bar, which I think did something. I'm not sure because we never really drove in nasty, Plains-style crosswinds until after we got those items installed. On a recent trip across the Plains, with 90-degree crosswinds at 20 sustained, gusting to 30, the vehicle was fine. Whether it would have been fine otherwise, who knows.

CHF is the "cheap handling fix" it only applies to Ford F-53 chassis and helps much and best of all costs little or depending on your chassis, zero. There is a huge thread on it on another RV forum. I also added 1/2 degree of positive caster. That really firmed up the steering and took away the constant steering wheel corrections.

Another major improvement is to add a rear track bar. It will stop the rear leaf springs from allowing the axle to shift a bit from side to side and stop the tail wagging effect. Depending on the year of your chassis you may need a track bar on the front as well. Ford added a track bar to the front on the F-53 chassis a few years ago. Why they did not add one to the rear at the same time only Ford knows. Track bars are also known as "Panhard bars or Panhard rods" named such because that was the name of the inventor.

I am going to add a steering stabilizer in Dec. it will likely add little to the handling with everything else already done, but it will add a considerable safety margin in case of a tire blowout or an unexpected cross wind or road defect. It helps hold the wheel straight ahead when the unexpected ocurrs. In normal smooth road conditions probably not much effect.

vandave wrote:
CHF?

CHF = Cheap Handling Fix

I'm not sure exactly what it entails but have seen it talked about a lot with class A units. I'm sure a Google search will get you some info.

I did put on Safe-T-Plus steering control on my 30.1 shortly after getting it. It does help with steering.

I owned a 2014 ACE 30.1. We really loved the motorhome but it would wear you out to drive it. It was impossible to keep in one lane. After trying many different things including the CHF, tire pressure, front end alignment and a rear track bar I finally gave up and traded it off. I never tried a steering stabilizer though, never know that might of helped.

CHF?