Trac bar

[okiejoe]

Anyone intall a trac bar on thier class c ? I’m think about installing one to help control tail wag while towing our tow car. In windy conditions especially side winds my tow car gets pushed some and it tend to cause some tail wag.i am towing a PT Cruiser all four down

[time2roll]

You could move the pressure point closer to the axle with a PullRite hitch.

https://www.pullrite.com/pullrite

[okiejoe]

My problem is on real windy days and I’ve got a cros wind or a cross/head wind it pushes the Toad and in turn that pushes the reared of my motorhome so I really believe that the Trac Bar will help with that because it will stabilize the rear differential. Without the Toad it run out perfectly so I’m sure the tow bar connected to the hitch and Toad is pushing it. My coach is 32 ft long and has a considerable amount of length behind the Axle. I spoke to Henderson’s Suppersteer in Grants Pass Oregon and explained my symptoms and the highly recommended the Trac Bar

[time2roll]

If you have added front and rear sway bars to the RV and still have a problem I have doubts the trac bar will be the solution. If you just have the wag while towing maybe the towed vehicle is causing the stability issue. Have you reviewed the suspension of the PT Cruiser and hitch for issues?

[bobndot]

okiejoe wrote:
BobnDot, yes I have had it aligned twice, in fact I have the SafeTplus steering control and sumo springs front and rear. But I’m not sure if they added a kit to the alignment but it seems to steer great just tail wag mainly while towing 4 down

okiejoe, , I understand, you are having the same issue that I was having regarding the toad pushing in corners and that's why I tried the TB. It did help a lot if not eliminate my problem.
Just keep in mind that my rv is a short 158" WB and it wasn't till much later that I added F/R HD sway bars. Doing that mod had nothing to do with the toad pushing issue. It was done because I wanted to lessen the rock n roll from side to side while driving it like a Porsche on the back roads. I was enjoying the track bar too much :B

RE: the AB's ,I think they work better on certain models. I only had them installed for a short time I do not think it made the ride too much different on my rig. It may have smoothed out the road cracks a little bit but so does reducing a little air pressure on the tires.
For the time I tried them it wasn't a holy smoke moment where I thought 'wow what a difference'. My 450 still pounded on the bumps. The only thing that makes it ride better is adding weight to get it closer to its 14,500# gross which will never happen unless I carry the toad on its roof.



In the below rvnet thread,
clouDriver has a link where it offers info on alignments and front end kits.

An interesting statement on that thread was the time a vehicle stays on an alignment rack. Some shops push them out and some take their time. My rv was on/off the rack for 3 days until they got it right with multiple test drives as was the rv before me.
I was concerned because I was having second thoughts :h but in fact, they were doing a very thorough job.

https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/28216148/print/true.cfm

[mr3117r]

okiejoe wrote:
80 psi, you’d think that would give you a harsh ride in the rear end more ridged

Actually runs smoother. Before I could feel all the joints in the road. After adding 80psi I no longer have the thumping sound driving over the joints and reduced by toad wag.

[okiejoe]

BobnDot, yes I have had it aligned twice, in fact I have the SafeTplus steering control and sumo springs front and rear. But I’m not sure if they added a kit to the alignment but it seems to steer great just tail wag mainly while towing 4 down

[okiejoe]

80 psi, you’d think that would give you a harsh ride in the rear end more ridged

[mr3117r]

I installed a ss450 and had airbags installed. I think the airbags made a bigger difference. I air up the bags to 80 psi and it stabilizes my Lexington 255ds while traveling 65 mph pulling a tracker 4 down.

[gotsmart]

okiejoe wrote:
Anyone intall a trac bar on thier class c ? I’m think about installing one to help control tail wag while towing our tow car. In windy conditions especially side winds my tow car gets pushed some and it tend to cause some tail wag.i am towing a PT Cruiser all four down

I have the SuperSteer SS450 installed on my 2004 E450. Here is a link to my post of it:
http://forums.goodsamclub.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26797712/gotomsg/26798137.cfm#26798137

[bobndot]

okiejoe, being that you already have upgraded the bars and shocks and are now trying this TB, I'm assuming you already have a good positive caster alignment ? I had to add the front end adjuster kit on my Ford in order to align it properly.

[okiejoe]

Well I’m not sure of what the old wizard was thinking, the track bar system is made for the rear leaf spring system, but he might be thinking of the pan hard system used in NASCAR. Henderson’s in Grants Pass Oregon install them and sell them constantly. Anyway I have installed the Hellwig sway bars and bilstien shocks. But I get pushed around while towing all four down on very windy days. I think I’ll try it
Thanks for your input BobnDot

[bobndot]

Well, it worked on leaf springs. I had changed the shock system prior to installing the track bar.

[theoldwizard1]

First, the correct name for a trac bar (track bar) is Panhard rod.

A Panhard bar is used to prevent side to side movement of the body in relationship to the suspension. This is NOT NECESSARY IN A LEAF SPRING SUSPENSION which is why you will not see them installed on solid axle leaf rear suspensions !

If you are getting excessive body lean/roll on corners you need a stiffer anti-sway/roll bar. If you are getting sway, especially from large vehicles passing in the opposite direction, you need better shock absorbers.

[bobndot]

2018 24ft Sunseeker E450 w/158" WB. I had one installed and it made a significant difference while being pushed in tight turns towing my toad 4-down. It also helped with crosswinds, being overtaken by semis traveling in the same direction as well as trucks traveling in the opposite direction on 2 lane highways.
For the install, the mechanic used my hydraulic levelers to lift the rv then jack stand it for extra safety.

I used a SuperSteer ss450 track bar.
It might be a tight fit if you have certain air bags, like a side mounted bag.
I first installed the track bar then installed a set of Wireless One by AirLift bags with a compressor which did fit because the bag installs on top of the spring pack not on one of those side mounted brackets.

I also added at a later time, HD Hellwig sway bars front and rear plus a steering stabilizer. Its hard to say which offered the most bang. If you were going to install one item, I think the rear track bar made the biggest difference in my case. The sway bars were the icing on the cake which made the package a total joy to drive but maybe I would feel differently if I had installed the sway bars first, who knows.

As a side note for info: After 4 road tests I ended up removing the air bags. They didn't work out, the wireless system malfunctioned constantly .
My reason for adding them, I was looking to raise my rv 2-3" in order to clear driveway aprons because the rear overhang was dragging in my home driveway.
Air bags will raise a sagging rv back up to normal but are very limited to raise a normal riding rv to a higher than normal level, 90-100# only lifted my rig an inch. It was not enough to justify that expense. That system installed was about $1500.

Hope this info helps, good luck and stay safe.