Vista Rough Ride

[AREA51]

We are having a tough time trying to get a smoother ride from the Ford F53 Chassis, 18000 lbs. I am wondering if anyone has heard of or tried a process called Road Force Balancing and if it helped.
Thanks.
AREA51

[powercat_ras]

It looks like the machines assist a mechanic in being able to tell if the combination of wheel and tire when mounted are enough out of round to impact the ride of the vehicle...

Road Force Balancing | MotorWeek

Sorry but you may have to adjust your expectations - a Class A RV on the Ford Commercial F53 chassis is never going to ride like a passenger car or light truck. The main thing anyone can do to make the RV ride smoother is to drive at lower speed on bad roads.

So far as smoother ride goes, the only easy DIY thing is to maintain cold tire pressure only slightly higher than the Winnebago label says. I run my tires cold pressure 5% higher than the Winnebago label. If you run them way higher than the Winnebago label the ride will be come quite harsh.

[creativepart]

Load up your coach, full-tank of gas, fill fresh water and hook up your toad. Then head to a CAT scale and weigh your coach front axle, drive axle and toad.

Then look at the tire chart that your tire manufacturer lists for your exact model and size of tire. That will tell you the tire pressure you should be running. Add approx 5 to 10% to the pressure that chart shows

You’ll be shocked how much better you coach rides and handles.

The Winnebago sticker in your coach shows a maximum recommended tire pressure. That TP makes for a rough ride.

My Winnebago tire sticker says 95 psi front and 105 psi rears. This was teeth rattling hard. After a full year I finally got my coach weighed - I had it weighed all 4-corners which is most accurate because you can then use the highest weight on each axle rather than a side to side average.

After weighing, my Michelin chart said I could drop my pressures to 75 fr and 80 rear. Now I didn’t try going that low but ended up at 80 front and 90 rear. This made a huge difference in both ride but also in driving comfort.

BIG improvement for very little cost.

[Reniram]

We added the Firestone airsprings to the rear axle and run with appx 40psi..just enough to raise the rear about 2 inches and it does give you an extra softer bounce before the actual leaf springs come into effect...CHF both front and rear...Really got on well with the 26HE.Loved the rear storage area...But the hyd jack motor burned up..expensive rebuild!..We have just purchased a 2018 Vista 29 ve and are hoping it performs as well as our previous rig...Have not put any real miles on it yet, but according to most other reviews I anticipate a few similar modifications to the F53 chassis..

[moonie]

If you want a better ride and better handling on the F53 frame the fix is to go with KONI Shocks all around. I also like the steering dampener for safety.
Also, get weighed with all you gear ready to go and adjust the air pressure in your tires to what that weight calls for. I would guess its somewhere around 65-70lbs in the front and 75-80 lbs in the rear.
KONI shocks give you the ride.... they really work.
Moonie

[Sunstar 2012]

I have a 2012 Sunstar 35F. I had after market bilstine replacement shocks installed, 1 1/2 in front and rear sway bars installed. Steersafe on front and run my tires at 80 psi front and rear with a full coach load of 19,600. Smooth ride all the time.