Suspension Upgrades for 2017 Georgetown 364 TS

[raidernation]

I am considering upgrading the "driveability" of my GT 364 TS.

First off, does anyone know where I can get the specs for the chassis of my coach. When I was trying to get information on the BlueOx sway bar upgrades, they told me that the 2017 GT 364 TS has two different back axles. A smaller one and a larger one. Is there someone at Forest River that will disclose this information. I just want to be sure I buy the correct parts.

Also, can anyone suggest which upgrades they would recommend, Here's what I am considering:
1-BlueOx Trac Bar
2-BlueOx or RoadMaster Sway bars (front and back axles)
3-Roadmaster Steering Stabilizer
4-Sumo Springs

I tow a 2016 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk.

Appreciate any information you can share.

[AquaMan]

To be honest, my first upgrades would be the front Roadmaster sway bar and the rear Trac-bar. I put 12k miles on last year without any modifications. I don't mind the way it drives at all at the moment, not to say that it couldn't be better, but I have driven for 17hrs straight and have not felt worn out.

[raidernation]

Nice information. Thanks for sharing.

Can you let me know the part numbers for the sway bar and trac bar ?

Thanks

[RVnut]

Originally Posted by AquaMan

To be honest, my first upgrades would be the front Roadmaster sway bar and the rear Trac-bar. I put 12k miles on last year without any modifications. I don't mind the way it drives at all at the moment, not to say that it couldn't be better, but I have driven for 17hrs straight and have not felt worn out.

We also have a 2016 364 and have 11000 miles on it and have done nothing to the way it came from the factory.. The wife and I both drive and have had no issues.. We dont expect it to drive like a Camaro so we are fine with it.. I cant see paying all that money for something new and then having to put another 5-6 thousand into it.. Just our opinion so we agree with Aquaman

[paperbbill]

You will be happy when you complete the upgrades. I suggest in this order more or less.

Shocks
Rear Sway
Roadmaster steering dampner. This will be a majory safty and handling upgrade.

My wife loves to drive the rig now......thats a good thing.

Good luck.

Bill flynn
Georgetown 385

[nobckseat]

Its not 100% perfect with additions, but big change from just an alignment. Shop said it was way off. Going to put rear bar on back soon. Shop said they would of done back Trac bar first. ($750 installed). Total under 2000 miles new

[db7512]

Alignment first.

[camaraderie]

If there were two different axles used on your model coach it is a FORD issue and I would contact them rather than FR. They can probably tell you from your VIN number if there was a running production change. You'll want to go to the factory service number rather than a local dealer.

[SternHappens]

have 2015 364TS. The mod.s I've done are the CHF for the front and installed a Roadmaster Steering Stabilizer. I plan to do the CHF on the rear, just haven't gotten to it yet.

[mogman]

My rig is shorter than yours but the rear overhang is about the same. #1 get an alignment (from a good truck shop). #2 Do the CHF on the front. #3 rear track bar. #4 anything else. Do a 20/30 mile trip between each step on interstates and 2 lanes so that the tires are warmed up and 18 wheelers push you around.. See how it goes. Also, before hooking up your Jeep, get it aligned, if it wants to go left or right it will pull your coach over too.
Happy travels.

[Longshotrb]

I had a 2015 377. The Steering stabilizer made a tremendous difference. The next best improvement is the 5 Star tuner.

[Kenny kustom]

Originally Posted by Longshotrb

I had a 2015 377.
The next best improvement is the 5 Star tuner.

Just did the live wire on mine this week! Happy happy!

[manderson2228]

Originally Posted by RVnut

We also have a 2016 364 and have 11000 miles on it and have done nothing to the way it came from the factory.. The wife and I both drive and have had no issues.. We dont expect it to drive like a Camaro so we are fine with it.. I cant see paying all that money for something new and then having to put another 5-6 thousand into it.. Just our opinion so we agree with Aquaman

Yea I went the other route and was glad I did. We drove it on two trips then added the roadmaster aux sway bar, did the CHF to the front sway bar, added a track bar and steering stabilizer. It drives and handles like a different coach now. Well worth the money glad I did it and couldn't be happier.

[manderson2228]

Originally Posted by db7512

Alignment first.

This is great advice too, plus tire pressure check those too.

[Racer]

We have a 2017 Georgetown 369XL and these improvements helped alot.

1. Frontend alignment.
2. Front and Rear Roadmaster sway bars.
3. BlueOx rear trac bar.
4. Safe T Plus steering control.
5. Sumo springs front and rear.

Huge difference, nicer ride especially over bumps and the DW said it doesn't feel like we were floating and being pushed all over the place any more. Recently experienced head winds and side winds with gusts up to 30 mph, sure you could feel it, but nothing like it was before the improvements. No more white knuckles.

Our toad is a newer Ford Edge and we can't even tell it is behind us.

A real pleasure to drive now.

[270S]

'have a 2017 270S. Came from a TT. Long story short, GT, Dealer, ... doesn't matter tires were set to 100 vs 82 psi. Rode, Drove like a Flintstones rock vehicle. Investigated and purchased suspension upgrades before I discovered problem was tire pressure. I had not installed them yet, but went forward anyway - No regrets.

1. Added 2nd Rear roll/sway bar
2. Safe T Plus steering stabilizer.
3. Sumo springs front and rear.

Had I realized the PDI dealer lied to me that he set the Tires to the correct 82PSI as he took his hand off the bible, I may never have ordered or installed my upgrades until later or ?ever. The tire pressure fix probably improved everything 80-90%, but even the additional 10-20% from the upgrades was worth it.

I will have a post with a link to a detailed webpage post covering all of my upgrades and PDI problems. Everything is done and perfect now, but th list is 50-75 items in total. This is why it will be a dedicated separate webpage(s) I am creating. Stay tuned.

[mogman]

Tire pressure is a big factor. I run 92lb front and rear. My tires are Bridgestone 245/70 R19.5 H rated. I have no mods other than alignment and front chf. It runs fine---its a truck with a house on top!! We drove to Alaska and back last year with 0 problems.

[tamdle]

I just did an upgrade 3 weeks ago with the following:

1 - Blue Ox front Sway Bar
2 - Blue Ox TrueCenter Stabilizer
3 - Road Master Rear Sway Bar because Blue Ox does not have the rear sway bar bracket to support my chassis.
4 - Blue Ox Avail Tow Bar
5 - Blue Ox Base Plate for Jeep Grand Cherokee
6 - Blue Ox Patriot II 2016 Model

When you ordering the rear sway bar, be cautioned that there is 2 difference rear sway bar for 2 difference differential. To find the correct one, you need to look at your read differential from the rear of your RV. If the differential has bolts around it, then it is the SMALL differential. If not, then the differential was welded, and that is the LARGE differential. That is all the manufacturer need to send you the correct one. This holds true for both of Blue Ox and Road Master.

To me, I would rather use the Blue Ox rear sway bar if they had the correct U-Bolt for my chassis. Their U-Bolt was too short even I have ordered the longest possible. They said maybe my chassis came from Canada and it made the different.

As for the Steering stabilizer, it worth extra money (x2 the cost) to have the Blue Ox True Center. The installation was such easy by just mounting the stabilizer while your front wheels at the neutral position (straight forward). Once connect all properly, you just drive the coach, then push the button to re-aligne the center as you needed. Due to the road condition change between your destinations, you could make adjustment as often as you need without having to stop the coach and break out the tool box.

For towing, I tow my 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee. I use the Blue Ox Avail 10,000# with the Blue Ox base plate. The installation of the base plate is very straight forward, just make sure that you get the right tool for the job.

For the braking, I used the Blue Ox Patriot II 2016 model (the latest), it was really simple to hookup and use. It also has the remote monitor that I hooked it up to my front dash to monitor the brake action as well as make the adjustment if needed.

The driving experience: So far I only 3 test drives
1 - For about 60 miles without the tow and the empty coach, the drive shows a lot of improvement between the before and the after sway bars and steering stabilizer installation.

2 - The same 60 miles with the tow of my 4500# jeep and empty coach, it đi makes a tiny bit different on the drive, not very much. I assumed that because the traction of the tow vehicle makes the rear of the coach move a little which the moving transfer to the front steering which makes me have to pay a little more attention to my steering.

3 - The last test was the 500 miles drive round trip between Willis, Tx to Corpus Christi, Tx.

It was a bad test because of the bad weather. That was last weekend when the whole Southern part of the US was experiencing the tornado watch which including my driving range from Texas to Louisiana and up all the way to Georgia. The wind was bad enough that it blew up many homes. The cross wind was reported at 20 to 25 miles per hour. For that, I have to bust the hell out of my knuckles to hold down the steering. Also, the I-69 going down south around the Rosenberg, Tx was under construction, the lane was tight, and the road surface was uneven, along with the 20-25mph crosswind on my 36.5 foot GT XL 352QS, you can imagine how bad it was. But I can tell you, I did make that same trip in November 2016, drove without any upgrade, no steering stabilizer, no towing, and no wind, and the drive control was the same as this time around. What I was saying if I tow the vehicle along with the wind condition of last weekend without the upgrade, it would be a nightmare to drive.

In conclusion, the upgrade was the best thing to do for me. I will report again on my finding when my wife and I will be on a 2 months road trip in May and June to the West through New Mexico (Large Array), Arizona, California, Nevada, Silverton Colorado and back to Texas. It would be a great test for both of the RV alone and the upgrade. The trip will go through all type of terrains, and I may experience with different weather condition during the two months as well.

Cheer!