Help the sway

[Kondor54]

Hey everyone I have a new 2019 Winnebago Intent 29L on a Ford F53 Chassis. I installed the Road master Steering Reflex Stabilizer which helped out tremendously with bumps, sway. But as a full timer I still have issues with wind as I travel through out the country. I am asking for advice on getting Sumo Springs on the rear or new Anti sway bar from road master. Which is better, obviously would like both but one for now. Any advice would be great to keep me and my family safe as possible. Thanks!

[DFord]

Chum lee wrote:

DFord wrote:
My MH felt top heavy when going around a curve until I did the CHF. I no longer have any feeling of being top heavy and I go flat around curves. It made a bigger difference than any thing else I've done.

The problem is that YOU ARE STILL TOP HEAVY in a high profile vehicle. Now, according to you, your MH no longer feels that way when you drive around curves. Over the years, the engineers at Ford went to great lengths to provide that "feeling" to the driver. See any problem with that? It's not a race car, it's a Class A motor home.

That said, it's your vehicle and you are free to modify the handling however you wish. Just be prepared for situations when your motor home "seemingly out of nowhere" lifts a leg, you over compensate with steering input, and . . . . . you are on your side.

Chum lee

That's not going to be a problem for me. Driving a MH that felt squirrelly and unstable was. I could have spent a lot of money on bigger sway bars and Sumo bags and SuperSteer or whatever BlueOx calls their add-on but I chose to move the links on the OEM sway bar and now I no longer experience the control issues I had.
Thank you for your advice and give me a wave when you pass me because I'm not driving beyond my limits.

[Chum_lee]

DFord wrote:
My MH felt top heavy when going around a curve until I did the CHF. I no longer have any feeling of being top heavy and I go flat around curves. It made a bigger difference than any thing else I've done.

The problem is that YOU ARE STILL TOP HEAVY in a high profile vehicle. Now, according to you, your MH no longer feels that way when you drive around curves. Over the years, the engineers at Ford went to great lengths to provide that "feeling" to the driver. See any problem with that? It's not a race car, it's a Class A motor home.

That said, it's your vehicle and you are free to modify the handling however you wish. Just be prepared for situations when your motor home "seemingly out of nowhere" lifts a leg, you over compensate with steering input, and . . . . . you are on your side.

Chum lee

[Cider]

I think the CHF is a 50 - 50 chance of improvement on handling and sway. Sumo springs are an improvement, but does not solve the issue. Our F53, 24K chassis came with Sumo springs and drove like a bread truck with sway, porpoising and rough ride. Depending on how much you want to spend, you can pretty much solve the problem. Items that work: replace front anti-sway bar with loadmaster 1 3/4" sway bar, rear, forward facing anti-sway bar(s), in addition to existing bar, Koni FSD shocks, and rear trac bar. You can take a piecemeal approach or go full bore on upgrades. Also consider 4 corner weight and adjusting air pressure accordingly. If I was gong to take a piecemeal approach to the upgrades, I would do the following: front ant-sway bar, rear sway bar and rear trac bar - maybe $3k - $3.5 K if you have it installed by a shop.

[DFord]

My MH felt top heavy when going around a curve until I did the CHF. Then the bushings went bad right away so I upgraded them. I no longer have any feeling of being top heavy and I go flat around curves. It made a bigger difference than any thing else I've done.

[Kondor54]

Thanks. The videos look great. I am doing it and I appreciate the savings. I am confident it will help alot. Thank you all!

[RedRollingRoadb]

His sway bar bushings will be poly as Ford switched to them in about 2012.
There is also some reports coming out that the CHF is having some problems due to the Z-Brackets. The sway bar bracket bolts should be removed and given some Blue Locktite and torqued to 66 pounds.

I found the best bang for the buck for me was the addition of the auxiliary sway bar.

The addition of Sumos on all four corners of my F53 22,000 pound chassis I feel was not worth it, Maybe a 30% improvement on the in sway control.

Get your rig axles weighed and adjust your tire pressure to the manufactures spec for your weight, NOT the maximum on the sidewall. Good place to start is the placard in your MH.

[DFord]

Forget about spending a lot of money until after you try the F53 CHF (Cheap Handing Fix)! All you have to do is move the sway bar links closer to the axles - both front and rear. You should replace the sway bar bushing with polyurethane bushing at the same time because the OEM sway bar will actually be doing something afterwards.

Take your pick of any of these videos on YouTube to learn how it's done:
Results of a search for "F53 Cheap Handling Fix" on YouTube

Believe me it works!