How to fix sway on Newmar Baystar

[swages01]

We recently purchased a 2014 Newmar Baystar 3124. (20.5 k chassis) Looking to reduce side to side sway without stiffening the ride. Any suggestions?

[mikim]

We have a 2013 36 ft. Tiffin Open Road on the Ford chassis and when my wife started chemo she could not ride in the coach. We spent $ 7,000, which is less than a new diesel and these guys worked miracles: https://www.hendersonslineup.com/

No sales tax in Oregon.

[Stim]

I owned a 1974 Winnebago Indian (can I still call it that?) on Dodge Chassis in the low 80's.
If/when a semi passed it you would be moved over a 1/2 lane!
It handled horribly in the wind too.
The problem with it was the gen and 2-40 lb propane tanks were behind the rear axle with a lot of overhang and made it tail heavy.
Hopefully your MH builder was smarter than that design. ??

[blknomad]

You can put all of your money on those other "fixes" but none will stop the tail from wagging the dog until you install a trac bar. What it does is keeps the diff centered in the frame. If you do a search on Irv2 you will find a lot of info. A lot of people build there own as I did. They are not rocket science, you can buy one and have it installed but its kinda pricey around $500 I think. Most any welding shop should be able to help. good luck

[mike_brez]

Jim@HiTek wrote:

Heisenberg wrote:
How will they look after 10 years?

Probably about the same since they are UV resistant as I recall. I've since seen them on 10's of RVs but seldom have the chance to ask the owners how old they are. But I've yet to see a set that looked 'weathered', as in splitting, tattered, or yellowed.

Snake oil 😉

If they returned a 5% in mpg you would see every trucking company using them.
These come up a few times a year and most admit it keeps the toad and rear view camera cleaner. Do a search for air tabs on the forum. They have been around for years.

[Dog_Trainer]

I also have a Baystar itis however on a 24,000 lb chassis. I added a helwigg rear Sway bar this is and additional rear sway bar. This will get rid of alot of the body roll. I also did the CHF on the front and added safety steer.I have 22.5 tires and that helps.

[Jim]

Heisenberg wrote:
How will they look after 10 years?

Probably about the same since they are UV resistant as I recall. I've since seen them on 10's of RVs but seldom have the chance to ask the owners how old they are. But I've yet to see a set that looked 'weathered', as in splitting, tattered, or yellowed.

[Heisenberg]

How will they look after 10 years?

[Jim]

mike brez wrote:
....and they look good too :R

I get the sarcasm, that picture was taken before the V-spoilers were all put on though so it does look marginally better now. And I did learn that I could have put them in front of the end cap seam rather than behind so that would have improved the look too. But really, after having them on my RV for a year, really happy with how the rig handles. And the 5% improvement I'm seeing in fuel mileage helps them look better too.

[centerline]

I agree with 10forty2....

I bought a 38' bounder on a ford chassis, 30,000 miles, and it had the heavy duty rear sway bar, AND a track bar as well as an aftermarket oversized front sway bar... it had a wander when driving and a terrible sway when passing a truck....

check all tire pressures.. max pressure is usually the best and it helps, but what I did to cure the problem is to replace all the rubber end bushings in the track bar and sway bars with poly bushings. Im not sure how much the ploy bushings actually helped over new OEM bushings, but when the seemingly good bushings were removed, it was obvious they were wore out (the rubber looked perfectly good on the outside, but was breaking down inside)... after replacing them, there was no longer a problem, and was a pleasure to drive down the highway. it also helped the ride and as long as stuff was stowed away properly, it would corner like my pickup, as it was a lot stiffer and didnt lean.. but it did not make the suspension firmer, but only removed the slack from the anti sway components, which re-integrated them into the system properly.

[Passin_Thru]

I'd bet airbags are mushy. I would go for the heavy bushings tho. They use the cheapest. I wouldn't drive a MH that didn't have sway bars front and rear.

[mike_brez]

....and they look good too :R

[Jim]

There's another inexpensive and easy 'sway' fix that I used and really like. That's those plastic vortex jobs that stick to the back edge of the RV. I really like the handling improvements they made to my Journey.



Here's my write up of the installation and my thoughts about their performance while driving in all sorts of conditions: V-Spoilers

[10forty2]

Is this your first experience driving a motorhome? If so, it may be your perception that is throwing you off. But yes, many of the Ford chassis RVs are prone to excessive sway, IMHO.

First and foremost, check the pressures in the tires against your actual loaded weight to make sure they are inflated according to the tire manufacturer's load chart.

If you're referring to body roll...feels top heavy, rolling from side to side....then verify that you have front and rear sway bars. If you don't, then you'll really want them. If you do, then you might benefit from the Cheap Handling Fix that can be readily found by doing a Google search for it by name. I would think that the unit is too young to have deteriorated sway bar bushings, but that is something to consider as well. Might want to consider upgrading the stock bushings to the poly bushings too.

If you're referring to what feels like the tail wagging side to side then you might benefit from a rear Track Bar that ties the body more securely to the chassis.

THere are several causes of "sway" so start with the easiest and work your way up from there.