Fleetwood Storm ride

[Wandering_Storm]

Traded in my winnebago view for a 2015 Fleetwood storm. Despite some opinions, we love the Storm 30 L floor plan and living arrangements. All systems are operating without a hitch. However, we don't like the ride. It seems too stiff and we feel every little glitch in the road. Because the highway system in the US is, in my opinion, a national disgrace, a softer more manageable ride would be a big help. We have taken three long trips and sway , big rigs etc. are not a major concern but road bumps are. Can anybody recommend shock upgrades or some system changes that can help. Would appreciate any responses. As with everybody, $$$, figures into the solution. Thanks in advance. John McDonough

[OldBlackWater]

I have a 2011 Fleetwood Storm 32BH that I bought new about 3 years ago. I hated the ride at first, but after a few adjustments and additions, I'm very pleased with the handling, and the ride has improved as well (although still a little rough on the poorly maintained roads). Here are the things I did to mine:

Added around 10-15 PSI to all the tires above what the dealer had in there, to about 5 PSI above the tire manufacturer's specs given my RV's weight on each axle. This helped somewhat, and it was basically free.

Did the CFH ("cheap handling fix") moving the bolts to the other hole on both the front and rear sway bars. This really helped the ride. Less rocking and less susceptible to the wind from passing trucks, etc., and it was free and pretty easy to do with minimal tools.

Added a rear track bar. This cost me about $500, and I installed it myself with a bit more effort than the CFH. Rear track bars are meant to reduce the wagging rear end that gives you the sensation that you're swerving, causing the driver to overcorrect with the steering wheel. I only noticed a marginal difference over the improvements the CFH already provided.

Added a SteerSafe. It's basically a set of springs that connect the front axle to the front wheels to help hold it in a near-straight position. I got them at a Fleetwood RV rally for $375, installed by the company. To me, this improved the driving experience more than the track bar because I'm finding I don't need to fight with the steering wheel with every passing car or gust of wind. I found that I didn't get tired of driving as quickly after installing this. It's also supposed to help keep the wheels straight in the event of a blowout, but I don't plan to test that feature.

[timmac]

wildmanbaker wrote:
Shocks will not make a jarring ride any better. You are more than likely hitting the bump stops for the suspension.

The stock Bilstein's shocks are to stiff for smaller motorhome like yours, replace them with Monroe RV shocks and the bumps will be softer.

Bilstein are around 360 psi gas charged and Monroe's are around 80 psi.

[wolfe10]

wildmanbaker wrote:
Shocks will not make a jarring ride any better. You are more than likely hitting the bump stops for the suspension.

Actually shocks CAN help. Any dampening on compression, ADDS to effective spring rate.

For better ride, you want shocks that have virtually all their dampening on extension.

Koni FSD's do that.

[wildmanbaker]

Shocks will not make a jarring ride any better. You are more than likely hitting the bump stops for the suspension.

[Effy]

mccsix wrote:
Koni shocks help a lot but they're not cheap.

I thought about those. From what I have heard that they will make an F53 about as good as it gets, but you are right - at $600, I have to scratch my head on whether it's worth it based on the amount of usage.

The right PSI, CHF and some sound deadening in the dog house and ours rolls along pretty smooth on most roads. It's only when you get to really bad sections, like VA 95/64/264 - concrete roads with the massive tank traps for potholes in them that it's unbearable. I am not sure a Prevost wouldn't have issues on that road.

[LVJ58]

After adjusting air pressure in tires, adequate to support coach weight I would highly recommend installing the Koni FSD shock absorbers. Yes they're exttremely expensive, however for the improvement in the ride comfort on our coach with the F53 chassis I considered them well worth the $$$'s.

Before installing the Koni's I had replaced the Factory OEM shocks with Monroe Gas Magnum RV shocks which were superior to the Factory shocks.

Good luck & safe travels..:@

[mccsix]

Koni shocks help a lot but they're not cheap.

[kaydeejay]

frankdamp wrote:
We had a 32-footer on the F53 chassis. It rode like a truck because it IS a truck. For our utilisation (about 4500 miles a year), I decided I could live with it rather than spending megabucks trying to make it ride like a Cadillac. We got some relief by getting the tire pressures correct for the actual load they carried.

If you do many more miles a year than we did, or the poor ride quality is producing travel-sickness problems, maybe some kind of upgrade would be worth it.

When I contacted Coachmen about the ride on my 1999 Mirada 30 footer all they said was "What do you expect, it's a Fedex delivery truck chassis".
I did adjust tire pressures according to corner weights.
Local truck suspension specialist was amazed the cabinets had not ripped out of the ceiling when they test drove it.
They figured they could "soften" it for $6000, but no guarantees.
I passed and sold it!

[wolfe10]

Yes, as Effy said, have you weighed and adjusted tire pressure according to your tire manufacturers recommendation for that weight?

What PSI are you carrying?

What is the chassis GVWR (usually on a plaque near the driver's area)?

What is the recommended PSI on that plaque (that PSI is based on each axle being loaded to its GAWR (Gross Axle Weight Rating). If you weigh less, you do not need that much air in the tires.

[frankdamp]

We had a 32-footer on the F53 chassis. It rode like a truck because it IS a truck. For our utilisation (about 4500 miles a year), I decided I could live with it rather than spending megabucks trying to make it ride like a Cadillac. We got some relief by getting the tire pressures correct for the actual load they carried.

If you do many more miles a year than we did, or the poor ride quality is producing travel-sickness problems, maybe some kind of upgrade would be worth it.

[Effy]

Have you weighed it loaded and adjusted PSI according to the tire manufacturers chart? The F53 is notorious for getting a lot of road feedback especially on a lighter coach with a lot of sprung weight. The PSI recommendation on my rig was actually a lot higher than the tire manufacturer recommended for my coach when it was weighed for travel. I was able to drop about 5 psi per tire which doesn't sound like much but it made a nice difference. Rough roads are still a problem on any F53. Some have replaced the shocks and had good luck.