My F53 chassis mods made a big difference!

[ArmorWrapGuy]

So I've been posting on here and doing a lot of reading. I didn't like the way my 08 Pace Arrow on the F53 chassis handled on the highway. Felt like a lot of play in the wheel, swaying, etc and I wouldn't dare go over 60mph with a lot of cars/trucks around.

I did a few things to the RV and spent a little money. About $1300 actually. The coach feels totally different now. I just drove it 20 miles and hit 75mph without even realizing it and using just 1 hand part of the time (could have the whole time). No swaying, no pushing when being passed, the ride wasn't as harsh, steering felt tight. It felt like I was cruising in a giant suburban and not an RV anymore and I'd have no problem or fatigue driving this coach across the country. It was maybe the best $1300 I've spent.


So after reading quite a bit I decided to do these things.
1) Roadmaster steering stabilizer
2) sumo springs front and rear
3) front cheap handling fix
4) adjusted tire pressure to correct psi or close to it

I'm not exactly sure which one made the biggest improvement but I think it was #1 and 2. The cheap handling fix may have been redundant after doing sumosprings. My tires were 15psi over so that may have been a big factor.

Anyway, I'm posting this for any future forum members who have the same handling issue. It was something I didn't want to get used to so I bought the RV and did all of this 2 weeks later. It all made a very significant improvement and like I wrote above, I can drive at 70-75mph with one hand and not even think about it now. Even when trucks pass me.

 

[Larry N.]

My tires were 15psi over so that may have been a big factor.

Considering the monster improvement that 10 psi made on my Bounder, I expect this was major for you.

 

[kdbgoat]

If I were in the same situation, I believe I would have done things differently. Weigh rig and adjust tire pressure- cost $0, and should be done anyway. Then do the CHF, - cost minimal$, then if I wasn't satisfied, I would start spending the big bucks for the Roadmaster, but only adding a rear trackbar if the coach didn't have one. The money I probably saved doing things starting with the minimal cost items could pay for a couple of weeks of camping.

 

[ArmorWrapGuy]

If I were in the same situation, I believe I would have done things differently. Weigh rig and adjust tire pressure- cost $0, and should be done anyway. Then do the CHF, - cost minimal$, then if I wasn't satisfied, I would start spending the big bucks for the Roadmaster, but only adding a rear trackbar if the coach didn't have one. The money I probably saved doing things starting with the minimal cost items could pay for a couple of weeks of camping.

The steering stabilizer was only $300 but my thinking was, if anything at all, it's much safer to have in a blowout situation. After seeing some videos of RVs responding very badly I figured this was cheap insurance. But the side effect, it made my coach drive MUCH better.

I should've done the CHF before the sumosprings. I just didn't know at the time. This is why I'm posting this so others in my shoes down the road (if they run a search here like I did) can see the list of things and the difference it all made. Maybe they can switch the order.

I'm not sure how much the tire pressure really changed things but thats easy to test and I may test it one day. I'll just pump them back up and take it for a drive to see if I notice anything.  I drove it before doing the CHF and didn't notice much difference afterwards. I think the sumosprings did what was needed at that point.

But yeah, if I did it over I'd do tire pressure, CHF, steering stabilizer and then drive it. If still not 100% happy then I'd add sumosprings since thats the biggest expense. I also have a 5 star tuner on order based off reviews so that will be my final purchase for this type of thing.

 

[Old_Crow]

How'd you do the CHF in the front?  Buy new links or have yours extended?

 

[Denver Transplant]

I had to make similar modifications to my ACE 30.1

Alignment - Thor doesn't re-align their coaches after the dump a couple thousand pounds of box onto the chassis
Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer - really helped with steering wander
Koni FSD shocks - much smoother ride and significant reduction in porpoising
Cheap Handling Fix - front and rear - reduction in sway
Super Steer rear track bar - Massive improvement in getting rid of the push and suck of passing trucks

The coach still has too much sway on mountain roads. Next up is likely Roadmaster sway bars. I was thinking Sumo Springs, but I think the sway bars are a better next step. I might try Sumo Rebels on the front.

 

[garyb1st]

Koni Shocks for our old F53, about $1,000.  My wife who does very little driving said they made a big difference.  Personally, I didn't notice much difference.  Certainly not to the extent I would have paid $1,000 if I knew what that difference would be.  So from my simple perspective, two factors that are hard to evaluate come into play.  Perception and expectation. 

Before the Koni's, we adjusted the air pressure in the tires and the Ride Rite air bags, distribution the weight in the bays evenly and learned how to drive.  That made a huge difference. 

 

[ArmorWrapGuy]

How'd you do the CHF in the front?  Buy new links or have yours extended?

For now, neither. I just moved the bar over to the next hole. But I do have a video saved where a guy bought some new adjustable links for about $160 and he installed those. He gave part#s so I have it all bookmarked when I'm ready to do it. I actually wasn't sure if it would even do much since i installed sumosprings so after I put on 500 miles or so, I may move them back to the original location and drive another 500 and decide.

 

[ArmorWrapGuy]

Koni Shocks for our old F53, about $1,000.  My wife who does very little driving said they made a big difference.  Personally, I didn't notice much difference.  Certainly not to the extent I would have paid $1,000 if I knew what that difference would be.  So from my simple perspective, two factors that are hard to evaluate come into play.  Perception and expectation. 

Before the Koni's, we adjusted the air pressure in the tires and the Ride Rite air bags, distribution the weight in the bays evenly and learned how to drive.  That made a huge difference.

Yes, this was my worry. I would spend all of this money and then drive it and say "hmmm, i think it's better". I wanted a night and day difference or was hoping for one. Luckily, it was night and day! I'm excited to take a trip now just to drive it a decent distance.

If I had the time I should've test drove it on the highway after changing just 1 or 2 things so I could see what made the biggest difference but I'm pretty positive it was the things I spend the most money on. If I wanted to perfect it as much as I could then shocks and roadmaster sway bars would be the next purchase but I'm happy with how it is now.