Sumos or Sway bar

[T_bone1]

i am wondering which will give me a better handling rig,Sumo Springs or a rear sway bar. Opinions and experience are welcome..Thanks.



2017 Georgetown 329-----20500 lb chassis.

[falconbrother]

I put Sumos on the Suburban and I love them. Easy to install and they work as advertised. Never tried them on a motorhome but, I suspect that they will od what they say they do.

[wgoldman]

I had the LiquidSpring system installed on our 2017 Tiffin Allegro Open Road 32SA, and I've written up a series of blog posts about the experience. If you're interested, here they are in order:

https://openroadscapes.com/blog/2017/10/14/from-springs-to-liquidspring-part-1-why-and-why-not
https://openroadscapes.com/blog/2017/10/17/from-springs-to-liquidspring-part-2-the-transformation
https://openroadscapes.com/blog/2017/10/21/from-springs-liquidspring-part-3-road-test

-- Bill

[wolfe10]

To date, (certainly on the one I drove)just the rear. There is not that much "variable weight" in front compared to the rear axle. And a properly loaded front leaf spring is fine. Yes, the addition of Koni FSD shocks in front helps with both softer ride AND better control.

[wildmanbaker]

wolfe10 wrote:

Winnipeg wrote:

wolfe10 wrote:
If considering significantly upgrading an F53 suspension, look at this one:

https://liquidspring.com/rv-suspensions/

The liquid spring system looks cool, and looks VERY expensive to buy and install. Certainly not a DAY project.

Totally agree.

I see their market as the owner who loves their gas coach-- everything except its ride and handling.

Expensive, but sure cheaper than going to a diesel pusher.

I drove an F53 with the Liquid Spring rear suspension at the Chandler FMCA Convention and was very pleasantly surprised by the huge difference in both ride and handling.

There is no ideal spring and shock rate all the time. Over small bumps/expansion joints you want VERY soft. But over big dips, particularly when crossed at an angle, you really want it to control sway. The Liquid Spring allows BOTH.

Is this system on the front and back, or just the back? It would seem that the front is just as important as the rear. I have done mods on ours, and it has to be a complete system, both front and rear to get the best possible results. Modifying the rear does have a noted improvement, but doing similar improvements to the front, gives a total improvement. Getting rid of the bump stops in the front will make the best ride improvement, but you must do something to improve the spring rate on the F53 chassis. The cost of the liquid spring system it more Engineering and development that actual costs.

[wolfe10]

Winnipeg wrote:

wolfe10 wrote:
If considering significantly upgrading an F53 suspension, look at this one:

https://liquidspring.com/rv-suspensions/

The liquid spring system looks cool, and looks VERY expensive to buy and install. Certainly not a DAY project.

Totally agree.

I see their market as the owner who loves their gas coach-- everything except its ride and handling.

Expensive, but sure cheaper than going to a diesel pusher.

I drove an F53 with the Liquid Spring rear suspension at the Chandler FMCA Convention and was very pleasantly surprised by the huge difference in both ride and handling.

There is no ideal spring and shock rate all the time. Over small bumps/expansion joints you want VERY soft. But over big dips, particularly when crossed at an angle, you really want it to control sway. The Liquid Spring allows BOTH.

[Winnipeg]

wolfe10 wrote:
If considering significantly upgrading an F53 suspension, look at this one:

https://liquidspring.com/rv-suspensions/

The liquid spring system looks cool, and looks VERY expensive to buy and install. Certainly not a DAY project.

[wildmanbaker]

Sumos/Timbrens are set and forget, and have a life-time warranty. Air bags are an active system, and if you want finger tip control, it will require an
on-board compressor and a 4 way control panel, which is more expensive. The install is also more complicated. There could also be more maintenance, as the air lines could be damaged, or just age out, and need replacement. The compressor could also give problems, but most are pretty robust now. I do not believe the air bags have a life time warranty, but I could be wrong.
Its your choice, you know the saying, "pay me now, or pay me later".

[wolfe10]

If considering significantly upgrading an F53 suspension, look at this one:

https://liquidspring.com/rv-suspensions/

[rgatijnet1]

Air-Lift also has provisions to make air bags for custom installations. On their website is a link to send in a specific request.

[Ductape]

Kelderman makes complete air suspension for F53.

[Winnipeg]

rgatijnet1 adds a good point that air bags is another option. I like having more control over the settings and don't mind extra installation components. But, are airbags obsolete?

I haven't looked extensively, but I don't see sizes for airbags after about 2012 (per Airlift website). Similar results at reseller websites.

From what I see, there are active comments & videos about Sumo Springs and lots of purchase options. Air bags have few comments / videos and the purchase options don't exactly jump out.

So, maybe airbags are "old school" and sumo springs are the way to go?

[rgatijnet1]

Rear or all four air bags are also another thing that will minimize sway. The air bags also have the ability to adjust the air pressure according to conditions. I have four corner air bags which allow me to continue driving in some fairly high cross winds just by airing them up to 90 PSI. When the winds are light, I lower the pressure down to 20-30 psi for a smoother ride. They also allow me to raise the rear end of the coach a few inches when I need extra clearance to get in to my steep driveway. All of this is done with a push button on the dash that can raise or lower the air pressure as I drive. After using the air bags for 50,000+ miles, I have no need to add SumoSprings or a track bar with the air bags. This is on a Workhorse W22 chassis so the air bags may or may not do the same thing on a Ford chassis.

[wildmanbaker]

I have installed Timbrens before and I did not have to remove any wheels/tires. There is enough room to install them from underneath and the inside to not have to remove the tires. As for track bars, I seem to get more wag with the toad on the back than without it. The little amount of play in the receiver hitch, tow bar movable joints and the attachment to the toad, all add up to a bit of movement from the toad, following the road surface. I have tried to eliminate the movement by tightening the joints, but you cannot move the tow bar, and the you can feel the toad pulling at the back with it that tight.

[Winnipeg]

Lots of good information here, although much of it is not quite on-topic according to the OP's topic title. I appreciate gutfelt's clarification of the purpose of a rear track bar vs sway bar.

As for track bars, I would guess that it would be especially suitable when towing a car. The car can be a very big tail that wags the dog. Maybe someone could confirm this?

When you focus ONLY on reducing lean, the choices (mostly) are adding larger sway bars or Sumo springs. Both choices are similar costs. It sounds like Sumo is the better choice.

How abut DIY install of these options at home? I could install the bars myself, but the Sumos require the wheels off. Not sure I want to remove wheels in front of my house.