Body Roll

[10forty2]

So we took our first mini-trip this past weekend on the coach and had an absolute BLAST!! Everything worked great and we couldn't have enjoyed ourselves more unless someone else paid for everything!

BUT.....traveling down the interstate to our destination, I noticed an unnerving amount of top-heavy body roll in a couple of places when entering a curve on some slightly uneven pavement. Other than that, it handled very well at 70MPH and never checked up when a tractor trailer passed me or as I passed another tractor trailer in a straightaway. I was expecting a heavy pull towards them but never experienced that. Maybe it's just me, not being used to driving such a top-heavy vehicle, but should I be looking for another issue? Shocks? Sway bars? Springs? Improper tire pressures? Other?

[ddndoug]

The first thing I would check is the rear sway bar bushings. Ours had completely rotted away. Once I replaced them it was a huge difference. Then I added new shocks and the combination of the two has made driving much more enjoyable.

To answer your question.... No, there should be no significant load on your sway bar if it is sitting level and on a level surface. No need to jack the coach or axles up.

Doug

[10forty2]

Again, thanks for the info! I'll take a look at the coach and will probably do that simple mod.

Question for you, C-Leigh Racing,.... is there significant load on the sway bar as it sits parked in the driveway that needs unloading before removing the bolt on the link to move to the inner mounting hole? If so, how did you unload the tension on the sway bar? Is simply jacking the coach up on the levelers enough?

[C-Leigh_Racing]

travelzoo wrote:
I think HEREis the answer to your body roll with the Ford chassis. Lots of Ford Chassis owners have done the mod and many with lots of added miles after reporting no problems from doing the mod.

I did this mod myself on ours & it made a great change in the handling.

You have the same chassis as we do, 99 F53 & first thing I did was replace the rear rubber bushings in the rear sway bar. You can find a new Poly type of replacement bushings on E bay & then once you have those changed out, do the CHF to the front sway bar.

I added a rear trac bar to ours to stop the rear axle from walking under the chassis, (working the play in the lief spring bushing from age) & that made the most improvement in the handling of the F53 chassis.
Neil

[wa8yxm]

What you are talking about sounds like SWAY (Side to side rocking like fans swying side to side at a rock concert) there are sway bars on your chassis, but... UPGRADES are possible in this area. Any RV suspension specialist can outfit you with better ones.

End of important response... Continuing to things you may discover

WAG is where the body moves to the right or left over the axle.. Often the front end wags one way and the tail the other (Like a dog's tail wagging) this causes you to make adjustments since you precive it as the motor home turning.. TRACK BARS also called pan hard bars. LOCK the body centered over the axle.. Stopping this 100%


Finally there are stabilizers.. These devices either try to hold the steering straight ahead or "Assist" you in getting there.. TWO of them (At least) are now adjustable from the driver's seat (you can re-center from inside) Blue Ox True Center and I think the other one is Saf-T-Steer. This may or may not make driving more relaxing.. I know it does on my rig.

[travelzoo]

I think HEREis the answer to your body roll with the Ford chassis. Lots of Ford Chassis owners have done the mod and many with lots of added miles after reporting no problems from doing the mod.

[cdl2]

What chassis do you have?
I have an F53, Ford, new shocks & tires.
It rolls if I'm going to fast on the curves......so I just slow down.

[Clay_L]

Which chassis do you have?

[10forty2]

Thanks! I'll get all that checked out by a suspension specialist. I'm pretty good at most things mechanical, but suspensions are not part of my skill set.

There didn't seem to be any tracking or handling/swerving issues, even with the roll I experienced, but my wife was in the truck behind me and she noticed the roll enough to mention it. I can foresee it happening bad enough to cause oscillation and eventually cause an accident.

[Johno02]

Carefully check all of the above, as any one could be a culprit on that age rig. Shocks especially. For me, in our second small "A" gasser, some roll is normal. I do find that 70 is a bit fast for it, and stability seems to be a lot less when we pass 65. (speed and age). The important thing is sway that affects your steering, causing swerving side to side. We do have some roll, but it does not effect steering or tracking, such as when being passed. I do get a lot of bother from gusty sidewinds, but have learned what to expect and what to watch out for.

[rgatijnet1]

All of the above should be checked. Shocks are probably worn, sway bar bushings could be worn, tire pressure could be wrong if coach was not weighed as per the load, and the springs could have sagged to the point that your ride height is too low. Not a bad idea to go over everything with the suspension to insure that all is in good shape. It doesn't sound like you have any major problems and it may be just a few minor things need attention.