Will any of these MODS effect ride quality ?

The sway bar can actually give you a slightly harsher response to potholes since some of that shock will now be transfered to both sides of the suspension. The sway bar is meant to control sway or lean of the rig by somewhat tying both sides of the suspension together via a torsion type spring bar. Whereas you were more independent from side to side before albeit tied together by a solid axle housing. The track bar can also transfer a little rear axle shock to the frame as well. However, both of these effects should not be severe and overall handling with the modifications you mention should be greatly improved. The FSD shocks are not manually adjustable and should be an improvement over OEM shocks.

I would suggest however to have your installer go for a ride and also do a once over to make sure everything is tight and installed correctly.

Now I see that you actually replaced a stock bar. The Roadmaster sway bar is most likely much stiffer than the stock bar (which are sometimes even hollow). A stiffer sway bar will transfer more shock encountered on one side to both sides thus given a slightly harsher response. But at the same time that stiffer bar is more resistant to roll or body lean.

Also have seen some reports that the Koni FSD's have a break in period after which they ride smoother.

Lastly, make sure your tire pressures are correct for actual weight and placement on the vehicle (single/dual). Go to tire manufacturer site, not necessarily door sticker unless updated by coach manufacturer.

I am curious what you were trying to fix with all of these mods. :h I have the same C, albeit 2 years older with 23,500 miles 17,500 of which I have logged over the last 11 months. Mine rides and drives just fine, 35 mph wind is still one hand steering and 18 wheelers at any speed hold no terror.

What psi were/are you running? I have found that 55 to 60 in the Michelin M/S 2's provides a smooth quiet ride - my coach weighs 10,050 fully loaded for travel and my psi matches the load rating recommendation from Michelin with a little extra load capability for good measure.

Someday,probably a long way down the road I'll be upgrading the OEM shocks to the best aftermarket model I can find but for now the OEM's are working fine. Just returned from a 7,360 cross country trip and we took a terrible beating from all of the potholes back east. DC, MD, PA, NY, OH, IN and especially MI were atrocious but the ride and handling are still OK. No sign of uneven tire wear, still tracks straight as an arrow and no new rattles.

:?

I'm also curious as to why you would do all those mods (or any of them), for any other reason than to improve ride quality. A 2014 Nexus needed all of that? :?

Tire pressure - 60 front 70 rear

Attempting to help: mild degree of wandering, side to side sway, being pushed sideways by passing trucks. Concerned would be worse under windy conditions that might be encountered on vacation.

All four MODS mentioned were recommended plus a new front sway bar was also recommended, but not installed.

I have not installed Koni's and don't know anything about the FSD's. The break-in period comment is interesting. But I DID install Front and Rear Sway Bars plus a Track Bar. Our 31 is on an E450. All the mods did was improve the handling and tracking. Significantly, actually!

Reading your list, your tire pressures sound a little high, but that's based on the size of your coach. The real authority is getting axle weights on a commercial scale. I believe Oregon is one of the states that leaves their truck scales ON and you can get a weight any time the Scales are "Closed." You really need weights.

Also from the list, degree of wandering... That Safe-T-Plus should help the steering stay centered. But... Have you had the Alignment Checked? The Ford's tendency to wander is worse when the CASTER is set to mid-range which is about 3-degrees-positive. We've found that at least FIVE degrees helps tremendously. The alignment shop needs to install offset upper balljoint bushings, which can be fixed or adjustable. The Passenger Side is designed to have about a half-degree more Caster than the Driver side, so if it comes back with Left of +5.0* and Right of +5.5*, that is correct. Camber will work out close to Zero, and Toe should be just slightly IN, say 1/16".

Where in OR? Henderson's Line-Up in Grants Pass is a hub for RV ride and handling improvement. I had a chance to meet with John Henderson a month or so ago. His company endorses and installs EVERY component you listed. Did they do your work? If they did or didn't you're on the right track.

oregon2 wrote:
Tire pressure - 60 front 70 rear

Attempting to help: mild degree of wandering, side to side sway, being pushed sideways by passing trucks. Concerned would be worse under windy conditions that might be encountered on vacation.

All four MODS mentioned were recommended plus a new front sway bar was also recommended, but not installed.

Not clear on the side to side wandering. Does your steering wheel require excessive input to maintain a straight line? As far as feeling the bow wave produced by an 18 wheeler (generally 80,000#), nothing is ever going to change that but I have never had one shake/move me enough to be a concern. I too think you have a little more psi than is optimum but as noted above, a trip the scale will clear things up. Please keep us posted.

:C

Yes- Henderson's
PSI in tires per their recommendation - 60/70
Weights -
LF -1800
RF- 1900
LR- 3750
RR- 4000
LS- 5550
RS- 5900
total 11450

Stiffer shocks will mean a rougher ride over sharp bumps, better control on slower movements like dips. The other mods might change handling, but should not have much impact on ride harshness.

What were your pressures before the work was done?

Michelin's Chart suggests about 5 PSI less for both Front and Rear, using the Chart the way they want you to. Specifically, the "RV" chart I linked here wants CORNER Weights. The "Truck" version is Axle Weights. That's because Michelin believes RV's are more likely to be unevenly loaded side-to-side than cargo trucks are. Michelin wants Corner Weights to make sure an axle that falls within its total rating isn't overloaded on one corner. They recommend inflating both front/all four rear tires according to the heavier corner. You clearly are not overloaded in any Corner, Axle, Side, or Total. Interestingly, if I had weighed YOUR coach the way I weighed ours, on a CAT Scale at a Truck Stop, I probably would have set pressures still lower, about 10 PSI less than Henderson's recommended.

Theorists, thinking of very light, all-out performance track cars, will say that too stiff a sway bar can cause "Under/Oversteer" depending on where the imbalance occurs. Their technical concepts aren't wrong, but a Class C RV operates in an entirely different envelope than a race car. Like an airliner vs. a fighter. Class C's can use all the "roll stiffness" (from Sway Bars) that you can find. I can agree that a stiff Sway Bar will transmit a part of pothole shock to the opposite corner. And I can agree that the Track Bar is an Axle-to-Frame connection that Ford didn't put there. Both add a little "unsprung weight" which those theorists'll say is bad. And is part of the justification for alloy wheels vs. steel. Still, the Track Bar is nearly horizontal. It just isn't going to have much leverage to transmit impact shock from Axle vertically to Frame.

Here's about all I can offer:

1. The FSD's may very well "break in." A country boy friend had a shop and we installed new front struts in a Toyota I had and I said "Wow, they're Stiff!" to which he replied "They'll limber up." and they did.

2. It's possible that the very hard poly bushings in the Sway and Track Bars and possibly the FSD's are sending a little more jolt to the coach in the cause of tighter handling control.

3. Call Henderson's if you haven't. See what they say. They won't tell you anything they don't believe to be true.

4. When I talked with John about Class C tracking, he said a Safe-T-Plus and rear Track Bar usually solve the problem. When I re-read the list of new parts you added, I started to think you might have gone there. I remain convinced you could not have done any better.