Wallowing Beast

j-d wrote:


OP, Your word "Wallowing" continues to nag me. Unless your other car is a Porsche, you shouldn't be using "wallow" as a comparative to other vehicles' handling when you talk about a relatively small RV. I envision EXTREME sway, and it's hard to think there isn't something badly worn or damaged in the OEM springs or their shackles, etc. But especially on a Chevy chassis, that seems to handle a little better than a comparable Ford, "wallow" just doesn't fit, at least for me. By all means, the Hellwig sway bar will help. I hope it alleviates your defined wallow. If not, air bags might work, and speaking of Hellwig, a "helper" spring that kicks in when one side it goes to be the down side the helper on the up side isn't stiffening it. My guess... If it wallows as bad as the word Wallow implies, I think there's spring work ahead... And I hope not, just a couple mods will help you.

Well, actually my other car is a very stiff C5 Corvette and the RVs primary purpose is to tow my Formula Vee race car to SCCA road racing events, so I guess I'm somewhat spoiled regarding handling. But I also used to drive a 55,000lb plow truck and I don't remember it being like this. Of course that truck had extremely heavy duty suspension for carrying super heavy loads so it's really not Apples to Apples.
This RV was actually very good on the highway when I drove it home from purchasing it, it was actually a very windy day and didn't seem to be affected much at all. The problem comes when turning, it just seems very top-heavy as if it was grossly overloaded. I spoke to my friend who used to own a Class A RV and he said that basically that's just the way they handle for the most part. Having some knowledge of suspension and handling, I know that an anti-sway bar is what controls lean as well as the springs and to an extent the shocks. Since I have installed the sway bar I will see how it is and go from there I guess. I can also definitely see how tire pressure would effect that. I will inflate the tires to the proper setting also. That should definitely help. If it still isn't right I guess I will move on to the next step. I will also look at replacing the front bushings with urethane as OFDPOS mentioned. Thank you all for your help I appreciate it.