Hellwig Anti-Sway Bar Isata 5?

[TrailWayz]

Does the Isata 5 have the Hellwig Anti-Sway Bar factory installed?

I was looking at an older thread and I saw Mr. Clemens mention they were already doing the Hellwig on the Isata 3 at the time (2018) but was wondering about the Isata 5 as I don't see it listed in the specs.

I would check my I5 myself but its back at the dealer getting the final PDI work done and the powered theatre seats installed.

Also, if not has anyone done the upgrade and gotten appreciable results in handling?

 

[Whalenss]

My 2017 model had factory front and rear sway bars.

Why do you think you need a heavier duty sway bar? ( Just assuming the one you mention is stiffer than stock )

Pat

 

[TrailWayz]

I'm not sure that I do. I've only driven this RV back and forth to the dealer which equates to a few hundred miles on NJ highways.

On my trip down to the dealer on Monday when I was trying to pay closer attention to the handling, I noticed that the steering felt a bit 'loose' with some travel in the wheel and that I was over steering. This is coming from a background of driving more performance oriented and tighter steering vehicles with more responsiveness.

I don't and never thought the I5 would drive like a car but I started to do a little research today about RV handling and ways to improve it. It was more out of curiosity than anything else. The Hellwig Anti-Sway Bar came up repeatedly in my searches about being an easy and cost effective handling improvement. So I started searching the forum for who might have done the upgrade and their thoughts. I found several people had done the upgrade on their M2's, that it might be stock on the I3's but nothing that I could find from any I5 owners.

I'm not sure it will do much in the way I would like to improve responsiveness - if possible – but for a little more than $250 it could improve handling in other ways and is an easy bolt on replacement. Just food for thought for now.

 

[Whalenss]

I understand the need as I have a couple of performance cars as well.

I just tell myself I'm driving a 20,000 lb rig that is 12+ ft high.

Couple of thoughts. Check tire pressure. The manufacturer stick says 95 psi but I run at 100 psi. The road conditions can make the unit track if there are grooves, etc in the road.

You could have the front alignment checked although not likely out of alignment as it is a new unit.

Spend more time driving on different roads. The Ram chassis does handle well.

 

[BLT4SPD]

First, I’ll answer your question: No, the Isata 5 does not have a Hellwig sway bar. To my knowledge, Dynamax never installed them on any model year.

Second, I have installed one on our 2019 I5 35DB. I also come from a performance car background, so it seemed like a worthwhile upgrade and it was reasonably priced. The bar is really, REALLY thick and I certainly noticed a stability improvement. I wouldn’t call it a monumental change, but for the ~$300 that it cost and minimal installation effort, I would do it again for sure. My only real complaint at the moment is that when I crawl under the coach, it’s the only component that looks like it’s aging pretty quickly. The end links have plenty of surface rust and I liberally coated the threads with anti-seize. The finish on the bar itself (don’t know if it’s powder coat or wet paint) is coming off in several areas and starting to rust as well. I’m not upset about it, but it’s something to note.

 

[mickanddon2]

Fox shocks

We installed Fox 2.5 shocks from Agile offroad in California, on our sprinter chassis. It was an incredible difference. We lost a lot of the wobble.