Suspension upgrades

[jannnda]

Originally Posted by halfprice

Rich,
I can help you with all this. Have all the tools. Just let me know

Jerry

Jerry I have a few things I would like to do. Come on down to Magnolia, TX.

[halfprice]

Originally Posted by jannnda

Jerry I have a few things I would like to do. Come on down to Magnolia, TX.

Send me a plane ticket Jeff.

Jerry

[Golfbum18]

Originally Posted by richguess1946

So, I just got my new (to me) Thor 27.2 ACE. I got under it today, thinking I could do the CHF. This was the front bar. However, the links are about 2" short to connect with the proximal (inboard) hole on the stock sway bar. I saw on a forum that I could get Hellwig 7962 adjustable links. They're about $125. Here's my questions:

Is the CHF essentially equivalent to putting on a new sway bar? The Roadmaster is $500+. If it's better, I'll put out the cash for that rather than spend less and have less improved results.

Is the situation the same for the rear links?

I plan to put on a track bar and SafeTPlus stabilizer as well. I was hoping that the CHF, steering stabilizer, and track bar would significantly improve things.

Rich Guess

If you're going to do all the extras, do those and let the CHF go...the other things are probably going to serve you better.

[jannnda]

Originally Posted by halfprice

Send me a plane ticket Jeff.



Jerry

Jerry, I think I would need to send you two plane tickets. I will get my list of “to do” together and send it to you. We would love to have you and your wife come over anytime. You and Dino have been such a huge help to me.

[tgsmith4845]

I installed the front, two-piece SumoSprings yesterday. Easy install with the MH up on the hydraulic jacks, with jack stands for safety, of course. Took it for a test drive this morning and it feels great. Driving on a fairly rough CA road and the springs absorbed most of the bumps, much smoother ride. These were a good investment.

[Travelernet]

My new Windsport 29M blew me all over the highway on its first trip and shook so badly the new satellite dish was hanging on to the roof only by the cables within a hundred miles! The scariest trip of my rving life—which began in the 80’s. After reading this thread, I have added the Roadmaster steering stabilizer and, even in windy conditions with trucks passing me between Tupelo MS where I had it installed and my home on the MS/TN border, I stayed between the lines. YAY! Now I want to go one step further and get the front (or both front and rear?) Sumos. The RV repair shop owner is telling me the SumoSprings he gets are made for bigger motorhomes than mine since the gvwr on mine is only 18k. I’m reading here that other 29M owners are installing Sumos. What is the model number of the front and rear Sumos for 18K GVWR for F-53?

[jannnda]

Originally Posted by Travelernet

My new Windsport 29M blew me all over the highway on its first trip and shook so badly the new satellite dish was hanging on to the roof only by the cables within a hundred miles! The scariest trip of my rving life—which began in the 80’s. After reading this thread, I have added the Roadmaster steering stabilizer and, even in windy conditions with trucks passing me between Tupelo MS where I had it installed and my home on the MS/TN border, I stayed between the lines. YAY! Now I want to go one step further and get the front (or both front and rear?) Sumos. The RV repair shop owner is telling me the SumoSprings he gets are made for bigger motorhomes than mine since the gvwr on mine is only 18k. I’m reading here that other 29M owners are installing Sumos. What is the model number of the front and rear Sumos for 18K GVWR for F-53?

I can’t remember the model number but I got on etrailer website and found the info there.

[Travelernet]

Found it. Much appreciated! Looking forward to a smoother ride!

[jannnda]

Originally Posted by Travelernet

Found it. Much appreciated! Looking forward to a smoother ride!

I had the same experience driving my 31Z home. So far I have added roadmaster front and rear sway bars, stabilizer, rear track bar and front Sumos. It’s all good now. Have you had a front end alignment?

[Travelernet]

Yes. That was the first thing done. Made no difference. That’s when I got on this forum and went for the steering suspension. So glad I did. It was a great start. It’s so annoying to purchase a rig that not only isn’t road ready, it’s actually dangerous on the road. The satellite dome could’ve bounced off the roof on the freeway, caused an accident that could’ve killed someone. NOT GOOD!

[jannnda]

Originally Posted by Travelernet

Yes. That was the first thing done. Made no difference. That’s when I got on this forum and went for the steering suspension. So glad I did. It was a great start. It’s so annoying to purchase a rig that not only isn’t road ready, it’s actually dangerous on the road. The satellite dome could’ve bounced off the roof on the freeway, caused an accident that could’ve killed someone. NOT GOOD!

If you’re like me....I pick up knowledge just shortly after I need it. Like you, I would expect Thor would add some suspension items to help with the big box they put on the F53. That’s just not how it works.

[russncath]

Originally Posted by tgsmith4845

I installed the front, two-piece SumoSprings yesterday. Easy install with the MH up on the hydraulic jacks, with jack stands for safety, of course. Took it for a test drive this morning and it feels great. Driving on a fairly rough CA road and the springs absorbed most of the bumps, much smoother ride. These were a good investment.

So, you definitely feel that the Sumos smooth out the ride, got rid of some of the harshness over bumps? This is what I am after, not so much the swaying...

[Travelernet]

Based on what I’m reading here, I’ll go with the front Sumos, see how they go along with the steering stabilizer already installed, and make a decision on the rear Sumos after that. I love this forum!

[tgsmith4845]

Originally Posted by russncath

So, you definitely feel that the Sumos smooth out the ride, got rid of some of the harshness over bumps? This is what I am after, not so much the swaying...

Yes, the front Sumos smoothed it our quit a bit. The front feels much more planted now, much less bump coming through the steering wheel

[jannnda]

Originally Posted by Travelernet

Based on what I’m reading here, I’ll go with the front Sumos, see how they go along with the steering stabilizer already installed, and make a decision on the rear Sumos after that. I love this forum!

Traveler net, look for a thread “ Jerry Hurricane mods “. I just happen to find it the first time I got on the Thor forum. That thread has a ton of information AND Jerry is great about answering questions.... really everybody is good about helping.

[Travelernet]

Thanks for the suggestion to look at Jerry’s posts. Wow! What a wealth of info! While I will always have to bring my rig in to have mods made to it mechanically, I can hang up Command picture frame holders for curtain rods, etc. Great ideas! I even picked up ideas for surge protection. It’s going to take me a long time to get through all his posts though. I’ve only just begun!

[Snickers1]

ok reading all of the replies but what is CHF?

[Beau388]

Originally Posted by Snickers1

ok reading all of the replies but what is CHF?

Here is a link to 406 pages about the cheap handling fix (CHF).<http://www.irv2.com/forums/f23/cheap-handling-fix-72335.html>

[Pete'sMH]

Originally Posted by Beau388

Here is a link to 406 pages about the cheap handling fix (CHF).<http://www.irv2.com/forums/f23/cheap-handling-fix-72335.html>

Good lord! How can there be 400 PAGES on this simple change?! Since Ford calls it an owner choice it it’s just a decision to try it or not.

[Beau388]

It is about the brackets, bushings, roll centers, links, plates, bolt torque, anti-lock fluid (blue, red, green), etc. Some good, some bad, some guesses, lots of empirical data, some technical info in the post. I been reading it for 4 years for entertainment, but not for sage advice.