2023 GT7 36D7 Suspension?

[TD7]

I just ordered a 2023 GT7 36D7 and am trying to get some input on the ride of the new chassis based on those that have 22's. Basically any mods to suspension that work best. Thanks

[Jc4ut]

For 2,000 miles. It is personal preference how a vehicle rides.
At first I hated the ride and being pushed around (I drive 62 so everyone passes me lol ��) but strangely after a few months the ride settles in and I honestly don’t get pushed around anymore or at least I don’t feel it like I used too!!
Please don’t buy suspension parts because someone says it make it ride better only you will know if it rides better. Save your money get used to driving it then decide.
I have a 22 36d7


Jimbo

[kenandterry]

Originally Posted by TD7

I just ordered a 2023 GT7 36D7 and am trying to get some input on the ride of the new chassis based on those that have 22's. Basically any mods to suspension that work best. Thanks

If you’ve never driven a vehicle anywhere near as large as your Georgetown, it’s going to take some time to get used too. No amount of money is going to make it ride and handle like your previous vehicles. Take it slow and easy, and look FARTHER down the road than you ever have before. If it was meant to go fast, it wouldn’t be shaped like a brick!

Relax, take your time…..it’s not that bad. Save your money and practice.
This suggestion, after more years and miles than you’ll ever do, after I drove school buses and our Georgetown for ten years.

[Dan_Frisbie]

No matter the year, it’s still a Ford F53 school bus chassis.
Imagine driving a school bus. If you’ve never done that, remember riding in one.
They suck. They handle like a school bus, sound like a school bus and ride every bit as smooth as a school bus.

[NXR]

Beginning with the V8 chassis in 2020 Ford made multiple suspension changes:

- Installed new, massive front and rear sway bars. This really is the only substantive change, IMHO.

- Replaced the axle "bump stops", which keep the metal axle from slamming into the metal frame, with new stops that are supposed to provide a softer experience and also reduce sway, kind of like Sumo Springs do. Unfortunately they have a reputation for simply falling off.

- Installed "new tuned" Sachs shocks, which is still pronounced "Sucks" and are still being tuned by someone who is tone-deaf.

- Spring rate changes

The reality is people are still changing the shocks to an after-market one. People installing the Bilsteins are happy as are the people installing the Koni FSDs. It seems that anything is dramatically better.

People who got tired of the new jounce stops falling off installed Sumo Springs.

People are still installing rear trac bars to stop the "tail wagging the dog" effect.

People are still installing steering stabilizers such as the Safe-T-Plus.

People are now installing "radius rods" which purport to keep the steering more stable by removing fore-aft movement in the spring bushings.

If you can elaborate on your RV experience people can offer better guidance but the advice above to try it for a while and see what problems you have that you think need corrected is still pretty good.

Or...if you're bucks up, just move straight to Liquid Springs for about $28,000.

HTH,

Ray

[TD7]

I'm moving to the Georgetown from a 40 foot fifth wheel. I have been researching about the ride and some F53 improvements. I was thinking of changing the shocks and adding a steering stabilizer. Just trying to see what others have done and gave them the best results. I will also be flat towing a ford ranger behind it. Thanks.

[NXR]

Those are two good starts. Just be cautious with recommendations. If not specified, ask whether it's a V10 or V8, the GVWR, the wheelbase, and the wheel size. There's a 5 ton difference between the lightest chassis and the heaviest and they will handle and ride very differently. There also are significant differences between the 19.5" wheels and the 22.5" wheels due to the tire sizes.

Ray

[badboy267]

I own 2022 gt7 36d7, I installed front sumo springs, safe t plus steering stabilizer and a rear track bar. I did the installation myself and these upgrades make my drive much better. To me it was money that I didn't want to spend but was glad that I did. To each their own. Good luck with your new rig.

[TD7]

Ya after driving it home I will definitely be ordering trac bar and front steering stabilizer. Also after it's loaded and I can get back to the cat scale to get loaded weight with fuel will probably drop tires to 90-95 psi. Can't do much now with winter. Just going to start getting a 2023 Ford ranger ready to tow behind it. I am going to order the NSA ready brut elite system. Looks like a simple set up and pretty easy to install.

[MDow]

Originally Posted by badboy267

I own 2022 gt7 36d7, I installed front sumo springs, safe t plus steering stabilizer and a rear track bar. I did the installation myself and these upgrades make my drive much better. To me it was money that I didn't want to spend but was glad that I did. To each their own. Good luck with your new rig.

I amnin the process of driving home a 2022 36d7 and I must say... It's kinda stressful. There is way too much slop in the steering. I am getting more of a workout than I expected. After talking to a few MH owners, they ALL say to make those changes for a much better experience. Is there any chance you can send me what parts you went with? Thanks
Matt

[KRMann]

Originally Posted by TD7

I just ordered a 2023 GT7 36D7 and am trying to get some input on the ride of the new chassis based on those that have 22's. Basically any mods to suspension that work best. Thanks

1st Congrats on new Georgetown. I am thinking you are going to like it

I have 2022 GT7 36D7 FR53 V8 chassis. After about 4K miles we for sure needed to do some handling upgrades. After a lot of research we did the below. It drives and rides really well now and have no complaints.

Installed:
Safe T Plus steering stabilizer
Koni Shocks all 4 corners
Henderson rear track bar
Summa Springs on the front.

Let me know if you got questions

[MDow]

Thank you very much! This was exactly what I needed. I have an appointment in two weeks to get an alignment and the safe T. He suggested to hold on the shocks to see if needed. The rest will follow when the hit of the purchase wears off

So far, other than the loose steering we really like it.

Originally Posted by KRMann

1st Congrats on new Georgetown. I am thinking you are going to like it

I have 2022 GT7 36D7 FR53 V8 chassis. After about 4K miles we for sure needed to do some handling upgrades. After a lot of research we did the below. It drives and rides really well now and have no complaints. I did a video of what we did and here is a link https://youtu.be/adzRSOyFt_0

Installed:
Safe T Plus steering stabilizer
Koni Shocks all 4 corners
Henderson rear track bar
Summa Springs on the front.

Let me know if you got questions

[KRMann]

Originally Posted by MDow

Thank you very much! This was exactly what I needed. I have an appointment in two weeks to get an alignment and the safe T. He suggested to hold on the shocks to see if needed. The rest will follow when the hit of the purchase wears off

So far, other than the loose steering we really like it.

Good deal keep us updated.

[sherman12]

OP, after the Safe-T and alignment you should just get yourself used to driving your new motorhome, that is unless money isn't an issue for you. KenandTerry offered the best advice.

Anyone who has driven older Ford pickups up to Super Duties, F450S, and 550s will tell you that your new RV just drives like a Ford, Period.

I drove two different MHs on F53 and all I did was the Cheap Handling Fix (look it up), a Roadmaster steering stabilizer, and the biggest improvement of them all was an alignment on my first MH. They take time to get accustomed to but once you get the hang of it they do not ride or drive like an old school bus. In ten years of driving my two gas MHs I kept a small table lamp on the dinette. In over 30K miles of use, I would say that lamp tipped over or fell off of the dinette a total of 3 times and only on the worst roads imaginable.
Now with my DP on a Freightliner chassis and air bags etc, the lamp gets put on the floor under the dinette between trips.

[David-NJ]

During my PDI of my Georgetown GT5 34H5 the tech told me to hold off the alignment until I outfit what I'm carrying. I don't know what I'm carrying and I'm guessing that will take months. Plus maybe I don't want one item on the right side and find that it works better for access to have it on the other side. Any truth on what the tech mentioned about waiting?

When driving on the interstates, especially when cars and trucks past me, I found my self constantly correcting the steering, like I was being pulled into their lane. But on a flat surface and no one around it handled OK.

I did notice that the steering wheel is not straight.

Oh, and when trying to maintain 60 MPH and driving through the mountains of PA, the V8 screams when it downshifts. I saw as much as 4500 RPM then I backed off and crawled up the rest of they way.

I like the idea of the Safe-T and alignment done soon, especially before my next adventure.

[TD7]

I am probably ordering the safe t this week and also the rear trac bar. I'm in NE PA and won't be using it till April or so. I think it'll be fine with these 2 additions. I drove it home out of South Jersey and the wind was blowing hard, moved it around a little. I have it pretty much loaded now. Just waiting for the roads to clean up probably in march and get it weighed again and test pull a Ford ranger I just set up with the NSA Ready Brut tow bar system.

[NXR]

Originally Posted by David-NJ

During my PDI of my Georgetown GT5 34H5 the tech told me to hold off the alignment until I outfit what I'm carrying. I don't know what I'm carrying and I'm guessing that will take months. Plus maybe I don't want one item on the right side and find that it works better for access to have it on the other side. Any truth on what the tech mentioned about waiting?

Some people say Yes. Some people say No. Some people say Yes, but only if you have Independent Front Suspension like a car does and not a solid front axle. The Ford F-53 has a solid front axle as do some lower-end DP's.

On the Ford F-53 the only front end alignment adjustment that is easy to make is toe. That's it. Caster can be changed but it requires replacing shims so it's rarely done. Camber can only be adjusted by heating and bending the solid front axle so almost no one does it.

Note that Forest River used to pay for a front end alignment within the first 90 days of ownership, once it is loaded up, under warranty. Check with the selling dealer to see if they still do that.

Also note that the Georgetown division does perform a front end alignment on all new motorhomes before they leave the factory. But the Ford spec is kind of wide and not really designed for ease of driving.

When we had a front end alignment done on ours it was within Ford specs. But the Ford Commercial Dealer tech who works on all of the motorhomes for the local dealers said he could change the toe a bit to make it less "squirrelly". We did notice a bit less sawing of the steering wheel on the way home. That tech also reset our Safe-T-Plus after the alignment.

The point of that is that not all front end alignment techs are of the same skill set. While any truck shop can get an alignment within spec you really want to find one that works on a lot of motorhomes. You could ask your selling dealer or local motorhome dealers who they use for Ford service to see if you can find an alignment tech with the correct experience.

When driving on the interstates, especially when cars and trucks past me, I found my self constantly correcting the steering, like I was being pulled into their lane. But on a flat surface and no one around it handled OK.

Possible fixes: Rear trac bar, a steering stabilizer like the Safe-T-Plus, the new radius rods, and for the V10 chassis a supplemental rear sway bar. The V8 has much larger way bars and typically only need to have the rear sway bar attachment bolts checked to assure they still are tight.

We added a rear trac bar, a steering stabilizer, and a supplemental rear sway bar to our V10 chassis. We also replaced the shocks at 800 miles on the odometer for a much better ride and less sway.

I did notice that the steering wheel is not straight.

Yeah, WTH is wrong with Ford and Detroit Chassis LLC, the real builders of the F-53, is beyond me. Ford usually will not correct an off-center steering wheel under warranty. Some people have paid for the Ford commercial truck dealer to fix that but because it involves splines it is not a simple adjustment. Ours is still pointed at about 10:30 PM, just like new.

Oh, and when trying to maintain 60 MPH and driving through the mountains of PA, the V8 screams when it downshifts. I saw as much as 4500 RPM then I backed off and crawled up the rest of they way.

Are you using Tow/Haul mode or not? If not, you should be. The F-53 uses downshifts when descending as an engine brake to avoid burning up or overheating the brakes.

If you are not using Tow/Haul, do you understand how it works and what it does?

BTW, you'll notice the tach has no redline because the engine computer will not allow it to over-speed.

Ray

[NXR]

One helpful add-on is called a rear trac bar. As dumb as this sounds, a trac bar anchors the motorhome's frame to the axle. Ford provides a front trac bar as standard but not a rear trac bar.

When a truck approaches you it's pushing a big wall of air. That wall of air will hit the rear of the motorhome and due to the lack of a rear trac bar, the motorhome body will slide slightly towards the other side because it's not anchored to the axle. That causes the driver to have to make a steering correction.

As the truck passes you, the motorhome body tries to return to its original position AND there is a vacuum behind the truck. So the motorhome body actually slides too far in the other direction and the driver has to make another steering correction.

Then after the truck has passed the motorhome body finally straightens out and there's one last steering correction.

Until the next truck approaches. Or until the next blast of wind hits you from the side. This effect is known as "the tail wagging the dog".

We had the Ultratrac rear trac bar added to our 22,000 GVWR chassis: https://www.brazelsrv.com/UTF53V10R-...2k-GVW-Chassis

Hope this helps rather than confuses.

Ray

[sherman12]

No matter what bars and stabilizers and shocks and the amount of money you spend, you are still driving a big square box down the road anchored by six comparatively small patch touch points called your tires. NXR has a great description of the forces affecting the ride in your vehicle.

As others have suggested, there is a learning curve and a huge understanding of what you can expect driving a motor home.

And for the comment about the RV screaming on downshifts through the hills of PA, I wonder if that RV'er is using cruise control. One big difference in my switch to diesel is now I can use cruise control through most, not all, driving circumstances where I never, never used it with my V10 gas rigs. Also, I manually downshifted, not using tow haul mode either. Nevertheless, I enjoyed driving both almost as much as my DP.

[Pilotarmy]

I have a 2022 georgetown gt7 36d7 and trying to install a safe t plus 41230 wit a F105K2.5 mounting kit. With tie rod bracket on bottom of tie rod I have to move bracket 20 degrees up angle to get parallel. Can the bracket be mounted on top of tie rod?