Ford F53 Suspension

[Smiley123_]

I have a 2000 Infinity 32 foot F53 V10 and I am looking for ways to improve the ride. How about Sumo Springs? Any other suggestions?

[DFord]

Koni FSD all around to remove the bone jarring ride.
IMO money spent on the Hellwig sway bars was a waste - see CHF.
To each his own and its your money to do as you please.
Happy trails.

[Smiley123_]

Sorry guys been busy and didn't get back on here. Thanks for all the great info. I had already put Hellwig sway bars front and rear and a Safety Plus steering Shock. I learned thru you people to check and set the tire pressure. The new tire shop had set them at max 100 lbs plus. After lowering them to 85 it is late better.
I am trying to get a little of the road Jarring smoothed out. every time we go over a small (or large) crack in the road my teeth smash together. I just replaced all 4 shocks and you are right two were leaking and not working. Thanks for all the help.

[Cider]

Ray,IN wrote:
You can throw all the money you have towards obtaining a smooth ride to mimic air springs. IMO the only remedy that is practical is the https://liquidspring.com/

Yep - for $15K, after market, you can get the Liquid Springs. As an upgrade at the Tiffin Factory, it is a $13.5K option. All reports is this is a real good ride, but you are now in the vicinity of of new, or 1 year old diesel pushers when it was all said and done.

[Cider]

bsheet2 wrote:

Cider wrote:
Sumo springs do help and are an easy install. Koni FSD shocks really help too. We just did a full bore upgrade to our F53: 1 3/4" Roadmaster replacing factory front anti sway bar, added two additional forward facing rear anti sway bars for a total of 3 on rear, rear trac bar to prevent tail wag, Saf-T-Plus steering stabilizer, and quad Koni FSD shocks all around. Also had a 4 corner weight done which stated adjusting tire pressure down to 88 psi and a laser alignment. I could not believe the difference in handling and ride comfort the changes made. No longer whipped after 4 hours of driving and fighting the coach! If you were to take a piecemeal approach - do the shocks, front sway bar and possibly the rear trac bar, then as time and money allows, follow up with the rest, or, just a piece at a time. We decided to just bite the bullet and do it all at once rather than making 3 or 4 trips back and forth over time to get the upgrades.

So did you put the Sumo Springs on also?? Or just the items you listed.

Mine came with Sumo Springs. It was like driving a bread truck! I have a 35' Tiffin Open road on the 24K F53 chassis.

[10forty2]

I've done similar upgrades to chassis on mine as well, with similar results as listed here. My very first suggestion (outside of proper tire pressure for weight) is to check/change the sway bar bushings. On my rig, they were completely gone. I replaced them with the poly bushings and it made a world of difference in the body roll. Next, I added Firestone Ride Rite air bag helper springs to all 4 corners. Another big help in handling and ride quality! Next, I replaced the worn out leaf springs on all 4 corners and replaced the Bilstein shocks. A slight improvement overall by doing so, but a necessary repair since my springs were so completely worn out that they were in a negative arch and teh shocks were shot. I now run about 60psi in the driver's side air bags, (HEAVY side/slide side) and about 20psi in the passenger side and overall the rig tracks straight with very little steering input. About the only things I haven't done is a steering stabilizer and track bar. Might do that next season.

You may want to consider an alignment as well. I tried to get a truck shop to align mine, but they wouldn't do it citing that the king pins were worn enough to lose the alignment in short order. They said there was no safety concern, but they couldn't guarantee the alignment without replacing the king pins, and didn't want to take a chance at it reflecting on the quality of their work.....which I can totally understand. Plus, I didn't want to spend the money and have it go back out after a few hundred miles. I compensate for the king pins being slightly worn by keeping the front end packed with grease frequently. That's also another good thing to increase handling/decrease wandering.

[dodge_guy]

My 12 class A had the front and rear Sumos on it when I bought it. With proper air pressure in the tires it rides very nice for a 30+ year old chassis. I only feel the harsh jolts from very bad highway expansion joints and repaired sections.

[allbrandauto]

I just put sumo springs on my workhorse w22.It has its pros and cons.It handles much better a lot less body sway but you feel the bumps in the road a little more.For the money and ease of install I would do it again

[Ray_IN]

You can throw all the money you have towards obtaining a smooth ride to mimic air springs. IMO the only remedy that is practical is the https://liquidspring.com/

[bsheet2]

Cider wrote:
Sumo springs do help and are an easy install. Koni FSD shocks really help too. We just did a full bore upgrade to our F53: 1 3/4" Roadmaster replacing factory front anti sway bar, added two additional forward facing rear anti sway bars for a total of 3 on rear, rear trac bar to prevent tail wag, Saf-T-Plus steering stabilizer, and quad Koni FSD shocks all around. Also had a 4 corner weight done which stated adjusting tire pressure down to 88 psi and a laser alignment. I could not believe the difference in handling and ride comfort the changes made. No longer whipped after 4 hours of driving and fighting the coach! If you were to take a piecemeal approach - do the shocks, front sway bar and possibly the rear trac bar, then as time and money allows, follow up with the rest, or, just a piece at a time. We decided to just bite the bullet and do it all at once rather than making 3 or 4 trips back and forth over time to get the upgrades.

So did you put the Sumo Springs on also?? Or just the items you listed.

[Cider]

Sumo springs do help and are an easy install. Koni FSD shocks really help too. We just did a full bore upgrade to our F53: 1 3/4" Roadmaster replacing factory front anti sway bar, added two additional forward facing rear anti sway bars for a total of 3 on rear, rear trac bar to prevent tail wag, Saf-T-Plus steering stabilizer, and quad Koni FSD shocks all around. Also had a 4 corner weight done which stated adjusting tire pressure down to 88 psi and a laser alignment. I could not believe the difference in handling and ride comfort the changes made. No longer whipped after 4 hours of driving and fighting the coach! If you were to take a piecemeal approach - do the shocks, front sway bar and possibly the rear trac bar, then as time and money allows, follow up with the rest, or, just a piece at a time. We decided to just bite the bullet and do it all at once rather than making 3 or 4 trips back and forth over time to get the upgrades.

[LVJ58]

I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Ford. I installed the FSD's on my front suspension and it greatly enhanced the ride comfort.

[DFord]

I improved the stability of our MH by moving the links to the swaybars closer to the axles. It's called the "cheap handling fix" and it works great. I had to replace the bushing on the swaybar right afterward because the fix put a heavier load on them. Highly recommended.

https://youtu.be/iWPIXOhrdMQ

[DFord]

The single most cost effective way to improve your ride is to replace your shocks with Koni FSD shocks. The cost of the shocks are around $170 each for a total of close to $700 but if you don't want to feel every tar strip on the highway, they're the way to go.

Check your fitment but these should work depending on the GVW of your chassis.

https://www.ultrarvproducts.com/Koni-RV-Shocks/Koni-Shocks-Ford/Koni-8805-1019-Ford-F53-Rear-(98-19)

https://www.ultrarvproducts.com/Koni-RV-Shocks/Koni-Shocks-Ford/Koni-8805-1018-Ford-F53-Front-(88-19...

[Chum_lee]

Sure. Inspect/replace any/all worn bushings with new parts. If they haven't been replaced, chances are your shocks are tired and in need of replacement. Have the alignment checked. Put the suspension back where it "was and should be" when it was new before you start to modify anything.

What do you mean, specifically, when you say, "improve" the ride.

Chum lee