Handling: Rocking and Rolling: UPDATE

[Snowman9000]

Our Sunseeker 2300 Chevy sure pitches side to side a lot when we encounter any bumps at all while turning at slow speed, such as leaving a parking lot. I have to go pretty slow, otherwise stuff will be flying.

It has sway bars, but would stouter ones help enough to matter? What else would stouter sway bars do to the handling and ride?

I have rear air bags, set to about the middle of their psi range. I have not experimented with them.

[carringb]

Does the "rocking" only occur when one axle makes the transition? Or both? If it is only rocking with one axle, it means the other axle does not have enough sway-stiffess, so a larger bar would be in order to balance the sway-stiffness. If it happens with both axles, your best bet is trying to lower the center of gravity followed by increased damper (aka shock absorber) valving. The stock Chevy 3500 dampers are pretty soft IMO.

[j-d]

You have a Fiver but is this your first experience in a self-contained motorhome? The extreme swaying in and out of parking lots happens in trailers too, you just aren't back there to experience it.
We replaced our skinny OEM sway bars with much larger Hellwig bars and the changes were only for the better. In theory there can be "too much sway bar" but I believe it pertains to cars and racing, and there is no practical limit for motorhomes. Being as they are very high, making them topheavy, and not driven to extremes.
Does it sway when parked on a campsite and people are moving around? You'll always feel movement in a Class C but if it wallows like it's driving on the road, stiffer sway bars will help greatly.

[Tiger4x4RV]

Have you loaded the heavy stuff low and the light fluffy stuff high? Every little bit counts.

[super_camper]

rockhillmanor wrote:
New leafs springs and add one and new front shocks. + Making sure tires are good, balanced and aligned.

Class C's should not be rocking and rolling unless the 2 aforementioned parts need to be replaced. IMHO, JMHO air bags are not needed and actually do nothing to enhance a proper ride. Replacing worn original parts does.

It looks like you're talking apples and oranges. Bumps like "leaving a parking lot" are often significant "think curb transitions" and will rock and roll any vehicle.

The best defense is to take them slow. I guess you could go ahead and spend thousands to try and fix it but the real question is WHY?

[rockhillmanor]

New leafs springs and add one and new front shocks. + Making sure tires are good, balanced and aligned.

Class C's should not be rocking and rolling unless the 2 aforementioned parts need to be replaced. IMHO, JMHO air bags are not needed and actually do nothing to enhance a proper ride. Replacing worn original parts does.

[Snowman9000]

The air bags have individual fills.

So this is just the nature of the beast, huh?

[Handbasket]

If the air bags are plumbed to a single fill or gauge, that's for sure aggravating the issue. Too much air and not enough shock can, too. The air is not self damping like a steel spring. A minor help may be to pack dense stuff like canned goods down as low as possible. I'm assuming correct load range tires and tire pressures.

But I don't think there's any way to stop all the body roll in those situations. There's just too much mass up too high. Stiffer sway bars may help some with that situation, as well as with parked stiffness, but don't expect night and day changes.

Jim, "Feng shui: An ancient Oriental art for separating money from the gullible."

[Harvard]

From my experience this is the case of the "box house" just following the rear axel. I think we would need less anti sway stuff as opposed to more anti sway stuff. JMO.