I run across this a couple times a week on various forums and in RV parks… Owners complain how the motorhome is squirrelly when driving in crosswinds or being passed by large trucks. Before doing these things, driving my Mirada or Southwind was a two handed white knuckle adventure in crosswinds. After these modifications and adjustments, driving was single handed.
If you’re on an F53 chassis there are a few couple things to check and do to improve the handling.
1) Cheap Handling Fix (CHF) – Make the adjustment on the front and rear sway bars to stiffen up the side to side sway. If possible, modify the front links to make the 3 inches longer.. The CHF was the single best improvement I made on 2001 Mirada and my 1999 Southwind., AND, it didn’t cost anything.
IMPORTANT – On 2006 and up, the bolts on the rear torsion bar to axle mount have a habit of falling out.. Verify they are installed, use blue locktite and torque them to 65 ft-lbs
CHF – Cheap Handling Fix – Fix for sway and handling – 1999 Southwind 35S
2) Verify / adjust the front end alignment to a small toe-in.. This is a reasonable easy DIYer job to measure and adjust if necessary.
If you’re front end is out of alignment, particularly toe-out, this aggravates the handling problems
F53 chassis front end toe-in adjustment – 1999 Southwind 35S
3) If your chassis is older than about 10 years, consider replacing the shock absorbers.. Bad / weak shocks aggravate handling problems. Other than the CHF, this was the most gain in handling I got when I replaced my shocks (Mine were wore out, no resistance at all)
Replace Shock Absorbers – 1999 Southwind 35S
These three things will greatly improve the handling of any F53 chassis…
Thanks for the CHF info especially the 3 inch extension for the front links. The extension helps to minimize stress to the chassis when setting up/leveling on less than flat parking spots. I used your info to modify my 2000 F53 chassis on the Newmar Dutch Star.
We think alike… I extended my struts w/chf shortly after noticing they were binding when the front tires came off the ground. Also tried bilsteins but switched to koni after consulting my dentist…
My latest setup on a 37′ 99 pace arrow 22k is: toe adjusted, quad koni shocks, heavy duty front and add-on rear sway bar from roadmaster, chf on factory rear sway bar w/bushings upgraded, homemade track bars front and rear, safe t plus pring loaded steering stabilizer.
Now oncoming semis are nearly imperceptible, bumps are contained, bridge seams are significantly less jaring, you can hear the wind but not feel it, any onramp or curve can be taken at posted speed and chassis remains flat. The biggest impact was the addition of the huge 1 1/2″ roadmaster rear anti sway bar. The next item will be getting the caster adjusted to 4-6deg to hopefully prevent the final handling issue of wandering.
I’ve spent 3 yrs adding parts and probably $3500+. Not getting blown around is priceless, especially when it keeps your family safer.