Safe-T-Plus

[Wyatt]

We have a different version—same result. We put on the Roadmaster steering stabilizer and it does make a significant difference, especially if you catch an outside shoulder edge. That’s when this stabilizer really helps with getting the rig back to center.

It also helps with road wandering when big rigs pass you.

It was the hardest suspension addition we did, as the U bolts were essentially frozen in place. That said, I’d do it all over again, with a beer break in between.

The front and rear Roadmaster stabilizers also helped, and the Koni shocks made for a much smoother ride, as they self-adjust to the terrain. We did all of this within one week of buying the coach. I learned from renting ones without, you don’t want to be without these improvements...

https://www.roadmasterinc.com/products/rss/reflex.php

[DesertRatt]

Never heard of Safe-T-Plus until this moment. After watching all the videos and so on, I am wondering how this is different than the steering absorber/damper on my E/450?

When I put the new Bilstein shocks on last month, I added the Bilstein steering damper as it was only about $150. I also installed front and back heavy sway bars.

Handles well, but there is that slight "push out/suck in" when I am being passed on the left by a truck. Not bad, but it is noticeable.

The Safe-T-Plus is quite pricey. Is it that much better than a damper?

[Terraymike]

About how much does it cost, including labor?

[1237dmctlc]

Originally Posted by Terraymike

About how much does it cost, including labor?

The stabilizer with mounting brackets are about $600 while labor, predicated on where you live or go to, can run $200 up to even $600 as I was quoted by the dealer I bought my DP from. In the end I put got roadmaster bc I had it on my gasser which is a little cheaper. I also installed it as I did with my gasser it took about a half hour IMHO very simple.thxs

[DavidM]

The Safe T Plus seems to be a steering damper. Does anyone have any experience how this benefits steering performance compared to a damper and centering spring like the Roadmaster Reflex?

Or how the Safe T Plus compares against a preloaded steering spring like Steer Safe which has no damper.

David

[Rapid Robert]

Originally Posted by DavidM

The Safe T Plus seems to be a steering damper. Does anyone have any experience how this benefits steering performance compared to a damper and centering spring like the Roadmaster Reflex?

Or how the Safe T Plus compares against a preloaded steering spring like Steer Safe which has no damper.

David

The Safe T Plus does have a centering spring, it is incased in the unit instead of on the outside. So the result is the same.

[creativepart]

Originally Posted by DesertRatt

Never heard of Safe-T-Plus until this moment. After watching all the videos and so on, I am wondering how this is different than the steering absorber/damper on my E/450?

In general the Safe-T-Plus is just a beefier steering damper with a spring loaded centering feature.

Some Class Cs come with OEM dampers I believe, but they are puny compared to the SafeTPlus or the Roadmaster Steering Stabilizer (RSS). I installed the RSS because it was slightly less expensive.

I think it was about $850 installed on my RV. I ordered the part online and took it to an independent shop to have it installed.

By the way, they didn't torque down the ubolts properly and the unit came loose on a tight turn out of a campsite. I had to hold the steering wheel at a 45 degree angle to steer straight. But I was only 60 miles from home. When I took it back to the shop they found that after the device slipped it hung down low and it must have clipped something because it bent the steering rod. They replaced everything for free and it's been a great addition ever since.

[creativepart]

About shocks and sway-bars... shocks tame suspension oscillations. When your suspension expands and contracts on your leaf springs over bumps big and small it's the shocks that limit the up and down movement. With bad shocks you'd bounce up and down uncontrollably.

Sway-bars or anti-sway bars connect the left and right sides of your solid axle to each other with a solid spring-steel bar and lever system. This helps control the side to side rocking from the high center of gravity that your coach has.

Track bars or Panhard Rods locate the solid axle front to rear with the chassis. This keeps your axle geometry from changing slightly as the suspension rides up and down on your leaf springs. The F53 chassis comes standard with a front track bar, but not a rear track bar.

The culprit in our horrible riding truck chassis is the solid axles and the leaf spring suspension. Leaf springs were first used on horse drawn wagons and buggies. They are crude but effective and eminently durable with heavy loads.

The reason diesel pushers have so much better ride is that they replace the leaf spring with air bags and all but lower price DPs usually have independent front suspensions.

PS. I'm not exactly sure how Sumo Springs effect things. It "seems" they act both as bump stops and spring helpers. I have them but I suspect they are stiffening the ride and actually doing more harm than good ride wise. I also suspect that they help with side to side loading and give the leaf spring more control. It sure seemed like a good idea when I installed them.

[DavidM]

Originally Posted by Rapid Robert

The Safe T Plus does have a centering spring, it is incased in the unit instead of on the outside. So the result is the same.

I didn't realize that. You can't tell it from the pictures although maybe the features description does tell you that it has an internal spring.

You would think that the Roadmaster Reflex with its wider external spring might do a better job????

Thanks, David

[1237dmctlc]

Originally Posted by creativepart

About shocks and sway-bars... shocks tame suspension oscillations. When your suspension expands and contracts on your leaf springs over bumps big and small it's the shocks that limit the up and down movement. With bad shocks you'd bounce up and down uncontrollably.

Sway-bars or anti-sway bars connect the left and right sides of your solid axle to each other with a solid spring-steel bar and lever system. This helps control the side to side rocking from the high center of gravity that your coach has.

Track bars or Panhard Rods locate the solid axle front to rear with the chassis. This keeps your axle geometry from changing slightly as the suspension rides up and down on your leaf springs. The F53 chassis comes standard with a front track bar, but not a rear track bar.

The culprit in our horrible riding truck chassis is the solid axles and the leaf spring suspension. Leaf springs were first used on horse drawn wagons and buggies. They are crude but effective and eminently durable with heavy loads.

The reason diesel pushers have so much better ride is that they replace the leaf spring with air bags and all but lower price DPs usually have independent front suspensions.

PS. I'm not exactly sure how Sumo Springs effect things. It "seems" they act both as bump stops and spring helpers. I have them but I suspect they are stiffening the ride and actually doing more harm than good ride wise. I also suspect that they help with side to side loading and give the leaf spring more control. It sure seemed like a good idea when I installed them.

I actually installed Sumo's all around on my 2018 Georgetown 31L5 and I was very happy with the ride improvement. Although I already felt the 31L5 had a good ride on the highway and with tractor trailer flying by me I also felt the 19.5 tire size was a disadvantage on overall read stability. Sumo's stiffen the ride up as well as soften it some instead of slamming the leaf spring stops going over bridges and bad roads it seemed to ease it up and down more. After installing the Sumo and the RSS I noticed a lot better ride and a lot less white knuckle time when tractor trailers flew by me. The longest trip form Mass to Florida last year it handled pretty good and I found myself not feeling that exhausted after a day of driving. Granted I've now moved up to a DP in May this year and find the ride even more relaxing with the engine in the back. Though I did add the RSS to it just recently.

[Rapid Robert]

Originally Posted by DavidM

I didn't realize that. You can't tell it from the pictures although maybe the features description does tell you that it has an internal spring.

You would think that the Roadmaster Reflex with its wider external spring might do a better job????

Thanks, David

The Safe T Steer is actually available in at least 3 different configurations for chassis specific applications but as I remember the E350 and E450 took the same one.I can't speak for the Roadmaster but the Safe T Steer made a vast improvement on my E350. I was just thinking, back in 1976 I installed a similar system on my Pace Arrow P30 chassis. It had two springs and was a bit more complicated but the result was the same, a world of difference with passing trucks!

[Rapid Robert]

Sorry, I think that Pace Arrow was a Dodge chassis, I also put something like this on a 1989 Winnebago Super Chief I had, that was P30.