New f53 suspension in V8 powered motorhomes

[Quickuc57]

It's my understanding as of 2020ish Ford improved F53 suspension, as you know that f53 is under alot of class A rvs. I'd love to hear what you think for those of you that have driven an rv with the update what you think. We bought a 2022 class a with it but 1st owner put Sumos all around and I think it's a hard ride, you hit a Crack in the road and Bang ! But it's great on a windy day or feels great on a new road which are far and few.

 

[Scotty B]

Wow...if this is an improvement, am sure glad we never owned the old one. Rough roads can be brutal. We just slow way down. Sometimes I'm sure we must be leaving a trail of bits and pieces, but amazingly no...praise God

 

[Quickuc57]

That's great. Finally a good reply. We owed a 2017 winnebago vista lx 35 for a few years ,I installed air bags on front that did help alittle, but have to say the new stuff Ford did was night and day.

 

[Ted Fyden]

first time RV owner with a class A. before we bought, I asked a factory rep (different brand) at an RV show if there were always issues with RV's, he said, it's like driving a hurricane down the road. that being said I thought the ride in our new used RV was awesome compared to my first f 150 with bias ply tires. we did add a front sway bar and stabilizer.

 

[Scotty B]

Don't get me wrong, I love driving our coach. It performs really well including handling the usual concerns of passing semis, twisty roads and side winds with aplomb. All we added was a rear Trac bar.
It just doesn't like bumpy roads and apparently the previous chassis liked them even less...

 

[Jacjayco]

We bought our MH in January 2021. First class A for us. Several of our friends who have a class A had told us about the large amounts of money that they spent upgrading their handling. Some were higher end like Tiffin and some were at the other end of the spectrum.
We've been very pleased with the handling of our Adventurer 35f. It did come with Sumo Springs but we haven't made any other mods to the steering or handling. Our travels keep us mostly in the right lane with the cruise set at 62. We don't get the blow back we were warned about.

 

[Quickuc57]

That's great to hear. Does yours have the new V8 motor also? I found out yesterday the 1st owner put on Sumos all around ,
contacted manufacturer because that was an option . What exactly do you own?

 

[Jacjayco]

Quickuc:

Yes, we own a 2022 Adventurer 35f. It has the new Godzilla V-8. Lots of info here from people who have a lot of experience and knowledge that they freely share with anyone who asks!

 

[Quickuc57]

That's great, I do believe the V8 is better than the Triton v10 In many ways.

 

[Cake sniffer]

Night and Day on power and handling. Mines a 2021 adventurer 29b with the f53/Godzilla. I added a Henderson rear stabilizer bar from my dealer before I ever drove it. That being said I’m not sure exactly how it would ride without the Henderson stabilizer bar.

But! I did have a 2017 Sunstar 29b with the same stabilizer bar with the V10 and I can def say the 2021 f53/Godzilla runs, drives and handles a whole lot better in every way. Currently have 27,021 miles on the 2021.

If you are driving with the AC on and you stomp on the gas and Heat starts blowing out instead of AC…..there’s a fix for that. Seems like ford has been messing that one up for years…..

 

[Quickuc57]

Ya think maybe it's designed to turn off ac under power demand gor additional power?

 

[Cake sniffer]

Yes the A/C does slow on some vehicles.
But No, what happened is ford crisscrossed the lines. It’s not working properly if it does that. (Blows warm hot air when accelerating or accelerating up an hill.

Open up your doghouse and you’ll see 2 lines for the A/C., radiator they are actually crossed. All I did was disconnect them both and reconnect them properly. I Crisscrossed them. A tiny bit of antifreeze came out but not enough to make a mess or add more. That stopped the hot air coming out of the A/C. I wish I had done this or realized this on our old 2017 sunstar. It had the exact same issue, I’m sure lots of people do.

 

[Quickuc57]

Wow, that is something alright.

 

[ACB-WO]

It's my understanding as of 2020ish Ford improved F53 suspension, as you know that f53 is under alot of class A rvs. I'd love to hear what you think for those of you that have driven an rv with the update what you think. We bought a 2022 class a with it but 1st owner put Sumos all around and I think it's a hard ride, you hit a Crack in the road and Bang ! But it's great on a windy day or feels great on a new road which are far and few.

Lots of good responses here. This is just my experience.
We purchased a new 2022 Vista 29V about 2 1/2 years ago. Around a year or two earlier Ford had upgraded the front and rear stabilizers on the F53 chassis. Having previously owned 7 different class C rigs, I was disappointed with the ride of our new coach and slowly addd the following items, over the next 15,000 miles in this order:
Koni shocks
Safety- Steer
Rear trac bar
Sumo Springs

Each new addition has improved our ride. I can live with the ride and handling now. It will never ride and handle like a diesel or sprinter chassis but are happy with the money spent. Now at 36,000 miles and don’t regret it.

Good luck with your coach.

 

[Jim_SB]

Last summer I bought a used 2018 Winnebago Vista 32BE.

The handling is fine but the ride comfort is terrible as soon as we come across any rough pavement (which sadly is typical in California).

What specifically did Ford do to improve the ride comfort?

 

[Quickuc57]

Just curious, those upgrades was it one at a time? My main concern is sumo feel. Our came with 4 sumos, on the front the frame sits on sumo, no clearance at all.

 

[ACB-WO]

Just curious, those upgrades was it one at a time? My main concern is sumo feel. Our came with 4 sumos, on the front the frame sits on sumo, no clearance at all.

I did the upgrades in the order I listed in my previous response. The sumo springs were the last upgrade I installed, both front and rear. I had some reservations it would be too firm but I was very happy. After installing the Sumo Springs we took a 6000 mile trip from my home in Arizona, through Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and across to the Midwest and for us the overall handling and ride was better. Was the front firm? Yes, but the F53 chassis is not a comfortable chassis. We have put on 36,000 since we purchased new and both my wife and I agree the ride improved with each item installed and the Koni shocks and Sumos had the most individual impact.

Anyway, that is our opinion. We have a friend with the larger, heavier F53 chassis who installed airbags instead on his 24K rated frame. and had good success with his ride

 

[ACB-WO]

Last summer I bought a used 2018 Winnebago Vista 32BE.

The handling is fine but the ride comfort is terrible as soon as we come across any rough pavement (which sadly is typical in California).

What specifically did Ford do to improve the ride comfort?

I actually visited with the large commercial Ford truck dealer here in Phoenix. With the newer frames ( I think starting in 2020) they upgraded the front and rear stabilizer bars, which is a help. That’s it, so nothing extensive. The Ford service manager stated it was still the same, OLD design chassis. He said if nothing else, he would have upgraded shocks at the factory.

 

[Quickuc57]

I can relate ,we had a 2017 Winnebago Vista lx f35 it had air bags, I could adjust the feel with 30lb minimum to 45, anything above that was bang bang on a rough road. But of course it didn't have the upgraded factory suspension. I'm so tempted to skap some bags on the front-end of the 2022 Holiday Rambler Invicta.

 

[ACB-WO]

I can relate ,we had a 2017 Winnebago Vista lx f35 it had air bags, I could adjust the feel with 30lb minimum to 45, anything above that was bang bang on a rough road. But of course it didn't have the upgraded factory suspension. I'm so tempted to skap some bags on the front-end of the 2022 Holiday Rambler Invicta.

I like airbags , had them on my last two rigs, but found I had to check them frequently because of reduction in pressure. Even after having them checked.
So after putting 50K miles in five years, I decided to try the SUMO SPRINGS on this coach. After two cross country trips I’m not disappointed. But airbags are definitely a good option.
Happy trails.