Ford chassis sway bar

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zukIzzy

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 30, 2007
Posts
430
Hey all

Thought I would share in case it helped anyone.

My Four Winds Infinity on a Ford chassis has become a handfull to drive over the last little while. I did not notice a big change at any one time just that I had trouble with sway on roads where I had never had any trouble before.

The last trip we made was fully loaded with 2 off road race cars on my flatbed and a full load of race spares and such. On the way out I had no trouble and it drove like it always has. After the race I had almost no load, Race cars went to their new owners along with most of the spares and fuel in the trailer tank was used up in the race. With no load on the trailer water and fuel in the motorhome almost empty I was able to go a bit faster in places where I was slowed due to a load before. At the higher speed the Motorhome became a real handfull, I had to drive slow like I was loaded for it to be even safe enough to drive. I stopped and checked air in tires which are less then 6 months old and inspected everything I could, and found nothing wrong. I thought the shocks were bad and had a long slow drive home.

This weekend I replaced all 4 bilstien shocks and went for a drive NO CHANGE. This had me stumped so I got on my creeper and started inspecting things. Both trackbars were good and tight, sway bars were connecte............What is this? The rear sway bar was still connected but on closer inspection the bolt that connects the sway bar to the link was sheered. The link connects to the sway bar via a bent plate bracket that bolts to the sway bar and has a bolt going thru it, the link and the swaybar to provide a dual sheer mount for the sway bar link. The through bolt was sheered and alowing the bracket to pivit on the second bolt, effectivley disconecting the sway bar. I inspected the front as well and found the same condition on the oposite side. It was hard to see what was happening with a qhick glance @ the parts.

I replaced all the bolts with f-911 spect bolts and went for a drive. I am happy to report she drived like new again, or better than new if you consider the track bars and new shocks ;D

wayne
 
Good on ya, I imagine that would be tough to spot..what model and year Motorhome do you have?
 
2003 four winds Infinity r34 on the F53 chassis I think :-\

Wayne
 
I would imagine if the same thing hadn't occurred on the opposite side, you would have had an easier time spotting it since the coach would have been leaning harder to the side with the shear. 

As it is, you've got me thinking I should double check my F53 for this condition as well since I have been having some well documented leaning problems (since resolved with airbags running 30lbs differential side to side, but if the condition were caused by the above I may not have noticed it during my previous inspections and it may still be occurring).
 
Give them a look but I forgot to mention I did not find the sheered bolt until I put a wrench on them. When I did the nut side came out with a piece of the bolt still in it. Everything looked fine until I looked really close @ the wear marks where there should not be any and put a wrench to em. You need a 15mm and an 18mm if you roll under there ;D

disconecting one side of the bar is the same as disconnecting them both. The way it is mounted on the axle lets it pivit in the mounts with only 1 side connected.

I go offroad a lot in this rig @ the desert races and I suspect I over flexed it at one time or more and it took a while for the bolts to completly sheer and let the sway bar freefloat.

I thought of your dilema as I was under my rig noticing how much negative arch my front springs have. I am going to keep an eye out for a set and make a custom spring pack and maybe shackle. I woudl like a couple more inches of height in the front that has been lost over the 6 hard years of use and 75K miles.

Wayne
 
Good point about one side disconnect allowing it to rotate.  I didn't consider the entire bar moving in the bushings.

We'll, you sound like a pro (wish you lived near me ;)), but the air bags were a cinch to install and seem to be working great if you are thinking about going that route.  I am now thinking about a set for the front axle given how well the working in the back re: smoothing out the ride, decreasing chassis lean in turns, and increasing ride height.

I busted my roller last weekend ...if I get under there I'll be on my back ;D
 

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