Trac bar

We have a rear Henderson trac bar installed in back along with a heavy duty Roadmaster stabilizer bar. I can't say how great it is by itself because it was installed along with other upgrades. I can say that all together it worked great for a while, now replacing the tired 4 Koni-RV shocks with HD Bilsteins to get the rig back to 100%.

One thing I recall the installer of everything said... it was tricky to have both the rear HD stabilizer bar and rear trac bar together, maybe they share common mounting points, maybe an interference, not sure exactly what the challenge was. But they did resolve it.

It seems to me if your E350/E450 has a stable front end you will not notice the play in the towing mechanism. Least wise, a stable front end will easily cope with a loose tow insert..

The first measurement you can take to determine if you have a stable front end is where the front end +caster is set. Ford ships these E series with the caster set at about +3 to +4 degrees which is OK for city driving BUT you want to have +5 to +6 degrees for highway driving. Just saying....

Mich F wrote:

After my disappointing first tow with the trac bar, I bought a couple of Roadmaster quiet hitches which did seem to help considerably with the movement by reducing the movemenent in my drop receiver and tow bar connections.

I have tried almost every Anti Rattle device on the market, most have been no good or so complicated and cumbersome that they are useless. Including the Roadmaster type,totally useless.
Until I found the one at Hitch Rider.

Their Hitch Vice is the best and easiest one I have come across and it really works.

Thanks for all the answers.

Mich F
X2 on the Roadmaster quiet hitches

phil-t wrote:
Seems like good numbers. Have you been able to "watch" the F150 in tow? Tracking nice and straight?

While towing I can only see a little of the side mirror on the driver's side of the truck. I should have someone follow me to to see how it tracks. In that strong wind situation, I could see the mirror going side to side, more than when not in the wind.

Your question reminded me of what I forgot to add in my first post in this thread. After my disappointing first tow with the trac bar, I bought a couple of Roadmaster quiet hitches which did seem to help considerably with the movement by reducing the movemenent in my drop receiver and tow bar connections.

Seems like good numbers. Have you been able to "watch" the F150 in tow? Tracking nice and straight?

I haven't weighed it in a number of years, but when it was weighed, all set for camping, with fuel tank about 3/4 full it was 11,940#. Way under the 14,500 GVWR. This truck is supposed to be about 4,500#. I should be well under the 22,000# GCWR. I do have about an 11 1/2' rear overhang.

Yes I feel best bang for my buck after replacing the puny undersized stock Anti Sway Bars with Hellwigs !
We don't tow, but got pushed even being passed by a larger SUV.

Once the Trac Bar was installed, it really straightened up the rear .
Still get pushed being passed , but not the big tail wag the dog handling like before.

Mich, where are you with weight on your coach? Then add the f150? Are you sure you are within specs on the GCVW?

I never had any handling issues with my MH when not towing, or when towing a Mazda CX 5 on a tow dolly. Maybe I would of had problems towing the Mazda in strong winds? I did use the tow dolly for almost 6,000 miles, but don't recall any wind related issues. I started towing an F 150 4 wheels down and would occasionally get a tail wagging the dog feeling. That little annoyance turned into a white knuckle driving experience while driving in some strongish winds, while driving across Texas last Nov. I ended up unhooking the truck and my wife drove it the rest of that day. You could still feel the wind while driving the MH without the toad, but it wasn't that big a deal.

When I got home I had a shop install a Super Steer rear trac bar. I "read on the internet" that it would cure the problem. Unfortunately in my case I don't think it made any difference at all. I've been on two trips with winds in the low teens and it feels exactly the same as it did before adding the trac bar. Perhaps in stronger winds it might cut down on the white knuckle experience, but I just don't think it will. :(