Engine Tuning & Anti-Sway bars

[Buckeye4692002]

Hello all!

We recently purchased (our first coach) a Damon Daybreak with the Ford V-10.  I've been doing research on which upgrades are worth it and which aren't.  Specifically, I've been looking at front & rear anti-sway bars and electronic engine tuners. 
Looking under the coach I see there are factory anti-sway bars, however there's defiantly room to improve.  And, the engine tuner seems to get good reviews and claims to improve gas mileage and acceleration. 
My questions are these:
Does anyone have experience with engine tuners?  Specifically, can anyone speak to they're effectiveness? 
And, will changing the factory anti-sway to an aftermarket system make enough difference to warrant the (roughly) $1k spend?

Thanks all!

J

 

[lone_star_dsl]

First, the tuner.  This company http://5startuning.com/ is well known in the V-10 tuning world and even has tunes specialized for RV's.  Your best bet is to stay away from an "over the counter" tuner. Those tend to be far too generic to do anything other than lighten your wallet. 

Be ready to not see a return on your investment though.  It's unlikely you'll put enough mileage on your RV to ever recover the cost of the tuner and any other parts even though you improve fuel efficiency.

As far as the sway bar goes, I would certainly spend the money to have a proper handling RV. I don't have much seat time in one but I did co-pilot one for 2,000 miles last year. That thing was a bear to drive and my arms were worn out after a few hours. Now I know why my buddy wanted me to come along.  He has since upgraded the suspension and sway bars. Now it drives easy, goes where it's pointed, and the body doesn't feel like it's going to roll off the frame.

 

[Buddy110]

There are also steering improvements with steer safe stern stabilizers. They help center the wheel and keep you pointed straight. For the yaw and sway in the rear a rear track bar is a good, cheap fix. It's essentially a pan hard bar witch stabilizes the rear end

 

[cpaulsen]

Contact Mike at 5  Star.....it works!

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

May I suggest reading my article in the forum Library titled Motorhome Handing Primer. It describes the various handling improvement add-ons.
http://www.rvforum.net/miscfiles/MH_Steering_Handling_%20Primer.pdf

 

[Buckeye4692002]

Thanks all!  That's quite helpful!