Suspension Improvements - Best Order

[S1njin]

So what is the consensus best order of suspension improvements on a E450 motorhome?

My guess:
Proper tire pressure
Front end alignment
Rear Sway
Front Sway
Shocks
Steering Stabilizer
Rear Track Bar

Am i close?

[j-d]

I'd finished the Hellwig installs, front and rear, and went to get into the coach. Wasn't even thinking of the sway bars and I realized at once how much steadier the coach was.

[OFDPOS]

S1njin wrote:

IAMICHABOD wrote:
Front Sway : If you don't have levelers then upgrade the puny undersized stock Anti Sway Bar with a Hellwig.

What do levelers have to do with upgrading the front sway bar?

Think you got him mixed up with me.

What does levelers have to do with upgrading the puny front "Anti" sway bar you ask...

Before you have the "Anti" sway bars replaced , stand up in the middle of the MH now rock back and forth ..
Then do the same thing again once the "Anti" sway bars have been swapped out..

You won't "sway" back and forth as much..
Your better half won't scold you as shes putting on make-up etc while your moving around in the MH..

I'm not a very big person 5'11 218lbs and before I replaced the "Anti" sway bars just stepping on the step going into the MH it would lean/sway a little bit.

So that's one big reason why I said "If you don't have levelers then upgrade the puny undersized stock "Anti" Sway Bar with a Hellwig"

I ordered both F&R Hellwigs from the same place you did, I received them with 5 business days..
Its spring time and they tell you it will take 2-3 weeks and all 3 times I ordered them they showed up within 5 business days.

Oh and when the Brown truck shows up with them , the boxes will be ripped open. At least all 3 times I ordered them the boxes were ripped open.. All parts were in sealed plastic bags or little boxes taped inside.
If your home when the deliver , might want to do a quick look to make sure all the nuts, bolts , links etc are there before signing for them.

[Harvard]

S1njin wrote:
I ordered both front and rear bars from SDTruckspings.com. Apparently Hellwig is a build to order type place so now I wait awhile. Got my alignment scheduled with a truck shop the day after we get back from our shakedown trip.

Re: Your shake down trip, if it wanders and is hard to keep between the lines it is because of too little caster.

For example....

[S1njin]

I ordered both front and rear bars from SDTruckspings.com. Apparently Hellwig is a build to order type place so now I wait awhile. Got my alignment scheduled with a truck shop the day after we get back from our shakedown trip.

[S1njin]

IAMICHABOD wrote:
Front Sway : If you don't have levelers then upgrade the puny undersized stock Anti Sway Bar with a Hellwig.

What do levelers have to do with upgrading the front sway bar?

[FunTwoDrv]

Everyone's advice seems in-line. I would go with weighing it and setting tire pressures accordingly along with an alignment with a lot of positive caster dialed in and then go drive it and see how it feels.
We have a 2015 GM chassis so, our experience may be quite different. I made a few changes (Bilsteins, alignment, air bags, Sumos) in an effort to make the handling "predictable".

Gary

[S1njin]

kerrlakeRoo wrote:
I've been curious on something like this too. Has anybody tried driving the Jayco Greyhawks with their J-Ride compared to the other units standard configuration. Jay ride plus is on the Greyhawk line.
J-Ride plus adds
Bilstein shocks,
Helwig helper springs
Front and rear stabilizer bars
rubber isolation mounts

It would be nice to be able to talk to a delivery driver with time in several brands to get a comparative view.

I had a Jayco Greyhawk with this on it. 1 Finger driving down I95 if it wasn’t windy. I suppose I’m spoiled now !

[Harvard]

POPULAR MECHANICS MAY 1973:
START QUOTE:
If too little caster exists, the car will wander and weave,
thus necessitating constant corrections in steering.
END QUOTE:

There are at least two ways to increase the effective
runtime caster (see Self Aligning Torque):
1. Decrease the tire inflation pressure to the required
minimum for load (to increase Pneumatic Trail), and or

2. Increase the caster angle during an alignment
(to increase caster trail).

If you find an improvement in reducing the tire pressure
you will be amazed what it is to add +2 degrees of caster. IMO.

[Hank85713]

I had some initial issues with the 2012 winnebago aspect. Looked at alignments, new stabilizer all the stuff you have listed for the most part. Found that having the tires at a decent pressure, not the max helped greatly as did increasing the air in the rear airbags to a minimum of 55-60 PSI. You do have airbags dont you? Anyhow that took all the fighting out of the system, still may have some push/pull from passing big rigs but that is typical of all slab sided vehicles. Bow wave get everyone all the time just depends on your set up as to how much effect it has. rv weighs in at around 13K 1/2 of all liquids, black grey tanks empty. We dont carry much as there is little room for extra stuff anyplace on the rig. Small outside storage bins and not much inside either.

if you have airbags play with them to find sweet spot, same with tire pressures. I run 60 in front 65 in rears like I said we dont carry much load do tow a Hyundai but it really does not add to the coach weight just draw weight.

[OFDPOS]

Thank you IAMICHABOD !!

[IAMICHABOD]

OFDPOS wrote:
Contrary to what others post about NOT getting pushed by a semi PASSING them once they did an alignment or even all the above is lying to you...

It may help some to a lot , but you are still going to get pushed by a large SUV on up to a semi passing you.

Have read where people say they don't get pushed by a semi only to say they don't get pushed by a semi while PASSING THEM , big difference in passing and being passed... You still are going to get pushed ...

Sorry don't know how to do the click here link, but this little video shows the effect of what happens when passed by a semi in layman's terms...
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2017/08/28/vaping-next-to-truck/#.WsFU8YjwaUk

I agree and Made A CLICKY For ya :B

[OFDPOS]

S1njin wrote:
So what is the consensus best order of suspension improvements on a E450 motorhome?

My guess:
Proper Tire Pressure : Load it up like your leaving to go on trip then weigh it , set tire pressures according to weight.

Front end alignment : While still loaded for trip go get an alignment done.

Rear Sway : If it doesn't have a rear Anti Sway Bar or does have the puny undersized ford one ? Put a Hellwig on.

Front Sway : If you don't have levelers then upgrade the puny undersized stock Anti Sway Bar with a Hellwig.

Shocks : For now leave the fronts alone, and if you slam going over bridge joints or even driving over cracks in the road (since Koni's are suppose to work on the rebound I'll give them on that)
Replace the rear shocks with the Koni's FSD , myself I'd replace the rear with Bilstein's.

Steering Stabilizer : More for a blow out , but does help very very little on side-wind or very very little pushed from semi's passing you. So it would be Saf-T-Plus if you want to replace Fords joke of a steering damper .

Rear Track Bar : You are boarder line length wise for a Trac Bar.
But if you are going to tow then yes a rear Trac Bar will help.

Am i close?

Contrary to what others post about NOT getting pushed by a semi PASSING them once they did an alignment or even all the above is lying to you...

It may help some to a lot , but you are still going to get pushed by a large SUV on up to a semi passing you.

Have read where people say they don't get pushed by a semi only to say they don't get pushed by a semi while PASSING THEM , big difference in passing and being passed... You still are going to get pushed ...

Sorry don't know how to do the click here link, but this little video shows the effect of what happens when passed by a semi in layman's terms...
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2017/08/28/vaping-next-to-truck/#.WsFU8YjwaUk

[kerrlakeRoo]

I've been curious on something like this too. Has anybody tried driving the Jayco Greyhawks with their J-Ride compared to the other units standard configuration. Jay ride plus is on the Greyhawk line.
J-Ride plus adds
Bilstein shocks,
Helwig helper springs
Front and rear stabilizer bars
rubber isolation mounts

It would be nice to be able to talk to a delivery driver with time in several brands to get a comparative view.

[pnichols]

I don't know about the newer E450 chassis, but my chassis year 2005 E450 under our Winnebago Itasca came new with these items - which on our small (24 ft) Class C are completely adequate as is:

Rear Sway (a torsion bar)
Front Sway (a torsion bar)
Steering Stabilizer (a horizontal shock absorber)

However, maybe a larger Class C coach would require different after-market versions of the above, or maybe new E450 chassis come stock from Ford with different designs of what mine has on it.

In addition, due to our situation of a small Class C on the heavier duty E450 instead of the normally adequate E350, I had to use somewhat uncommon shocks on the rear to help reduce the stiff ride back there from the light weight coach.

[Desert_Captain]

You need to keep in mind that a Class C is a 1 ton cutaway van. It is never going to handle like your family car. :S

IMHO: Any Class C that does not drive and handle well with the proper tire pressure and a decent alignment is the WRONG coach. There should be no need to add aftermarket garbage to get your coach to drive decently.

If it did not dirve well on the thorough test drive {you did do a thorough test drive, right?} adding thousands of dollars of aftermarket equipment is a waste of your time and money. Will quality after market gear improve the ride and handling? Perhaps, but it is only money needlessly/foolishly spent due to buying the wrong coach in the first place.

Quality coaches {like Coachhouse, Born Free, Phoenix Cruiser and yes, my Nexus et al} need nothing more than proper psi and alignment to give smooth, stable ride and handling. Some manufacturers actually recommend getting your brand new $100K+ coach aligned and the suspensiopn modified right off the showroom floor. Would you buy a $100k SUV that came with the same recommendation? :h

As always... opinions and YMMV.

:C