so I got my new forest river 3010ds all set up with steering stabilizer, sway bar, bilsteins etc, because I had them on my prior unit. Really helped the ride, but I hadnt aligned the front end on the first unit because it rode so well. On the new unit, I went ahead and got it aligned before taking delivery. The alignment was done at a reputable truck shop owned by a friend of mine who also did the alignment, and he said the thing was so far out of aalignment that he actually took pictures to show me. I can't beleive that a new vehicle could be delivered that out of alignment but he said its pretty common because they get aligned before the box gets put on. Word to the wise, even if the unit drives like a dream, an initial alignment is well worth it and could be very surprising.
Thanks for the post, I had not even considered alignment issues on a new rig. I got a lot of paperwork with mine, but I don't recall a warning regarding the alignment. It is now first on my list for the spring commissioning. If I may ask what kind of stabilizer and sway bar did you go with? Sway bars front and back?
Thanks have a great day.
Part-Time-RVr
1 Wonderfully Fantastic Wife
2 Really Great Kids
1 Crazy Black & Tan Cocker Spaniel
2011 Sunseeker 2860DS 6.8L Triton V-10
2012 Jeep Wrangler
SDTruckSprings.com seems to have the best prices on sway bars. I did front and rear, installed my self, and they made a world of difference on my E-450 with a 30' house.
They sell Hellwig bars and they were a true bolt on system.
i did not see any sticker or label for an alignment. i figured it ouit reading this forum. it was not mentioned to me at my delivery walk through on either motorhome. i think my first motorhome had a sticker saying have it aligned.
regarding sway bars, i went with the roadmaster rear. you can get a roadmaster front sway as well, but then u have to use a safe t plus steering stabilizer, not a steer safe steering stabilizer. i have a steer safe and like it a lot. it really helped the steering
the sway bar really connects the box to the chassi and helps the sway.
i just had a rear trac bar added as well because the new motorhome is 32 feet and has more overhang. (For the uninitated, a sway bar and a track bar are different items, which I didnt know until I did some research on this site. ) also added bilsteins and they helped as much as the sway bar. i would recommend at least bilstein shocks, a rear sway bar, and steering stabilizer of some kind on any class c. you can get by without, but the difference to me was night and day with the additions. well worth the money.
since i just purcdfhased the motorhome, the alignment and installs were done and then it went back into storage (I'm in Illinois). So I havent been able to take a test drive and see if the alignment and rear track bar made a notcieable difference, but they wont hurt, thats for sure.
there is an entire thread on sway issues, etc in the frequently answered questions area that really helped me get started. if I hadnt made these changes, I would have sold my first rv and gotten out of rving completely, the ride was that bad stock off the floor. I bought my first rv , took delivery, and took it straight on an 800 mile trip. Couldnt believe how badly it handled, how much it wandered and swayed, and I was used to driving a large ups type stepvan. doing all these changes wa expensive but worth every penny for comfort and for safety.
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