Suspension

[mceddie]

Anybody do any suspension upgrades on a Forestriver Georgetown XL Sumo springs, sway bars, stairing assist ?

[Dodge Guy]

Lots of people have done all, part or none of it! What exactly ar you trying to accomplish?
I bought mine with everything done by the previous owner. I belive they had stability issues, which stemmed from the excessive toe out I found after I drove it home.

[Swag]

Installed Sumo springs, front & back.made a big difference.
Next month installing Koni shocks.

[mceddie]

Too much play in steering wheel and to much roll when entering some gas stations .

[mceddie]

What year and model is your coach ?

[Dodge Guy]

Looks like you have a 2019 Georgetown XL by your profile. Have you looked at the CHF (Cheap Handling Fix) that should take care of your roll going into a gas station. As for the steering, well these have some play on them. You may want to start with an alignment. If it’s out it will feel like it has a lot of play due to fighting the wheel back and forth.

[mceddie]

Thanks appreciate the advice , will check it out

[dutch]

Originally Posted by mceddie

Thanks appreciate the advice , will check it out

We have a 2013 Georgetown 378Xl I have done all that, the last thing I did was install sumo springs and it rides 100% better, I installed a 1 3/4 sway bar in the front from a 1 1/2,

[RFoxUSMC]

When the Mothership was in the shop I had Roadmaster front and rear heavy duty sway bars put in, Safe T Plus steering stabilizer and summo springs front and rear installed. After recovering from Emergency Room treatment for total costs I can now drive with one hand.

The quick fix with just a pair of front summo springs could do the trick. Take baby steps as each rig is different.

[Darrens02]

I started with a front alignment, then did the CHF, and finished with the sumo springs. It is handling great now, just still doesn't like side winds. Oh well, you can't have it all.

[IDguy]

What is the CHF?

Does anyone know, or know how to find, the suspension provided on a 2019 30 Gx3? It is getting hard for me to get under the thing and look.

I do not see a sway bar on the rear axle. The front axle has heavy rods in front of and behind it. I suspect one is a tie rod. The other?

It handles fine, including in strong wind, both empty and loaded, including pulling my Cherokee. Not a lot of Interstate experience because of where I live and my repulsion, but the few hundred miles in low traffic density not a problem. I stay in the right lane at 65. Speed limits here mostly 80. Most trucks seem to do about 70. I let them go by.

She’s put up for a few months but I plan a long trip starting mid February and might consider something before it. I have a few other things high on the list before that trip, including mattress and real batteries. And maybe a couple hundred watts of solar, which might be useful on the trip to Big Bend. Batteries were an issue on maiden voyage to Death Valley. I hate running generator and rarely stay in places with power.

[wrapperman]

All I did was an alignment, CHF on front and rear axles and then properly inflate the tires per Michelins spec after weighing each tire and axle. Proper air pressure is very important and highly recommended.
Our coach drives great. And at no cost.

[IDguy]

Still no one able to say what CHF is. Research comes up with several things that are anything but cheap such as replacing sway bars and steering stabilizer. The only cheap thing I have seen is using the alternative holes on the front sway bar.

I did crawl under my 2019 30x3 to get a better idea of what is there. There are front and rear sway bars. I didn’t see them first try because they are in front of the axels. I can see the alternative holes on the front sway bar. My installation uses the longer holes on the front axel. Seems to me that use provides most leverage so I don’t see how using the other holes should help.

Anyhow, I’m happy with how she handles so do not plan to do anything in this department prior to next trip. Next trip will be over 3,000 miles so we shall see.

[Swag]

Originally Posted by Darrens02

I started with a front alignment, then did the CHF, and finished with the sumo springs. It is handling great now, just still doesn't like side winds. Oh well, you can't have it all.

Did you install koni shocks.

[Swag]

Did alignment,
New tires,
Sumo springs,
It’s better, hoping shocks do the job.
Also reattached front side walls with 5/8’s bolts.
Thanks for your input.

[NXR]

Originally Posted by IDguy

Still no one able to say what CHF is. Research comes up with several things that are anything but cheap such as replacing sway bars and steering stabilizer. The only cheap thing I have seen is using the alternative holes on the front sway bar.

Yes, that's it. If you have a few days to kill start here: Cheap Handling Fix - iRV2 Forums

In a nutshell:

• Moving the REAR sway bar to the other hole IF you do not have Z-Brackets is the easiest and least complicated way to do it because the sway bar angle does not change.
  
  
• Some of the newer chassis's use a Z-bracket that is splined on to the rear bolts and it is more complicated to do the rears because you need to remove both the top and bottom bolts, remove the brackets, put it back together and get the Z-bracket back on the splines. People with the splines usually just decide not to do the rear sway bar. No one has reported ill effects and I'll bet most people just do the fronts anyway.
  
  
• Moving the FRONT sway bars to the other hole changes the angle of the sway bar and may lead to reduced vertical travel. Meaning the tires may come off the ground 2" sooner than otherwise. Some people have had to flip the bolt because the relocated bolt would hit on the springs. Almost everyone starts off doing the front sway bar and pretty much everyone reported very noticeable improvements.
  
  
• A fellow who goes by TeJay is a retired teacher and welds up a set of brackets for $60 that allows you to change the front sway bars and maintain the same angle without modifying the existing links. His brackets make it very easy to switch to either position as long as you have a torque wrench. Most people just seem to move the bolt without TeJay's brackets and do not worry about it.
  
  
• In almost ten years only one person has reported a broken sway bar link up front. It was because his sway bar bolt, when moved to the alternate hole, hit on the springs and he did not catch it.
  
  
• In almost ten years, no one has reported a problem with a broken or damaged sway bar after moving to the alternate hole.
  
  
• The nuts MUST be torqued to 66 ft lbs or the bolts will loosen up, resulting in clunking noises.
  
  
• Before even moving the sway bar links, many people with older F53 chassis's have found that the REAR brackets holding the sway bar to the frame had severely deteriorated bushings or had missing bolts or had missing brackets because the bolts fell out and were lost. If you have this condition it's best to replace the bushings with polyurethane bushings, which Ford seemed to start using around 2012. If you check the torque on the bolts it should also be 66 ft lbs.
  
  
• To move the bolts easily the coach must be as level as possible. Otherwise one side will be slightly higher than the other and there will be tension on the bolts. Either re-level or install the bolt that is highest first. That way you can use a bottle jack to push the lower end of the sway bar up so the bolt aligns with the hole.
  
  
• People have done this change on all GVWR weights and all F53 ages.

HTH,

Ray

[NXR]

Originally Posted by Swag

Did you install koni shocks.

I had four Koni FSD's installed on a 2019 22,000 lb chassis on a GT5. An immediate very noticeable improvement in hitting bumps and bridge expansion joints and even less sway. They were installed at around 800 miles so there's no chance the original Sachs shocks were bad.

Ray

[Darrens02]

Originally Posted by Swag

Did you install koni shocks.

Not yet, I'm thinking of doing the shock change. I'm happy with how it is driving now.

[IDguy]

Originally Posted by NXR

Yes, that's it. If you have a few days to kill start here: Cheap Handling Fix - iRV2 Forums

In a nutshell:

• Moving the REAR sway bars to the other hole IF you do not have Z-Brackets is the easiest and least complicated way to do it because the sway bar angle does not change.
  
  
• Some of the newer chassis's use a Z-bracket that is splined on to the rear bolts and it is more complicated to do the rears because you need to remove both the top and bottom bolts, remove the brackets, put it back together and get the Z-bracket back on the splines. People with the splines usually just decide not to do the rear sway bar. No one has reported ill effects and I'll bet most people just do the fronts anyway.
  
  
• Moving the FRONT sway bars to the other hole changes the angle of the sway bar and may lead to reduced vertical travel. Meaning the tires may come off the ground 2" sooner than otherwise. Some people have had to flip the bolt because the relocated bolt would hit on the springs. Almost everyone starts off doing the front sway bar and pretty much everyone reported very noticeable improvements.
  
  
• A fellow who goes by TeJay is a retired teacher and welds up a set of brackets for $60 that allows you to change the front sway bars and maintain the same angle without modifying the existing links. His brackets make it very easy to switch to either position as long as you have a torque wrench. Most people just seem to move the bolt without TeJay's brackets and do not worry about it.
  
  
• In almost ten years only one person has reported a broken sway bar link up front. It was because his sway bar bolt, when moved to the alternate hole, hit on the springs and he did not catch it.
  
  
• In almost ten years, no one has reported a problem with a broken or damaged sway bar after moving to the alternate hole.
  
  
• The nuts MUST be torqued to 66 ft lbs or the bolts will loosen up, resulting in clunking noises.
  
  
• Before even moving the sway bar links, many people with older F53 chassis's have found that the REAR brackets holding the sway bar to the frame had severely deteriorated bushings or had missing bolts or had missing brackets because the bolts fell out and were lost. If you have this condition it's best to replace the bushings with polyurethane bushings, which Ford seemed to start using around 2012. If you check the torque on the bolts it should also be 66 ft lbs.
  
  
• To move the bolts easily the coach must be as level as possible. Otherwise one side will be slightly higher than the other and there will be tension on the bolts. Either re-level or install the bolt that is highest first. That way you can use a bottle jack to push the lower end of the sway bar up so the bolt aligns with the hole.
  
  
• People have done this change on all GVWR weights and all F53 ages.

HTH,

Ray

Thanks for the clarification.

My new 2019 30x3 seems to drive fine and so far has been pretty good in wind, which I had plenty of on initial 1,300 mile maiden voyage. An occasional wobble in steering wheel feels mostly like tire balance. I avoid Interstate but had a couple hundred miles on maiden voyage with no issues. Speed limits here are 80 but I drive 65. No issues with passing trucks. Maybe because of toad.

I’ll have the dealer do the CHF on my first oil change. I’ll mention for them to check clearance on rear.

I am considering the steering stabilizer, mostly for safety. But for now TPMs higher on that list.

[Jim G]

My suggestion would be like the others,

many people spend a lot of money on stuff just to find that the tire inflation, balance or alignment was wrong. I have had 5 rv's on the Ford chassis, by checking these things and doing the cheap handling fix, which costs nothing, you will likely find that the RV handles pretty good. I put Sumo springs on my new one because I carry 900# on a class 4 hitch and did not want the springs taking all the weight, but would not have had do do so otherwise.