A Low Cost Heavy Duty Rear Sway Bar For The Do-It-Yourself-er

As my other post here states, I have heavy duty Roadmaster front and rear sway bars Installed on my 2007 Ford E350 chassis, PC model 2350.
http://forum.phoenixusarv.com/index.php?topic=8.0

For all with a 2007 or older Ford E350 chassis, you have a small stock front sway bar, but do not have a rear sway bar of any kind, unless somebody added one after it left the PC factory.  Without a good rear sway bar, your PC model 2100, 2350, or 2400 rig likely leans hard in turns and wanders in gusty cross-winds, passing trucks, and uneven road surfaces.  Your driving or riding experience can feel like you are on a boat.  If you get car sick, this is likely the main reason why.  The rig will also sway when walking around inside it when parked.

A low priced heavy duty rear sway bar is available from Helwig.  If you are comfortable working with simple mechanic's tools like a socket wrench, you can install this yourself with a friend.  It is a 2 to 3 hour project for someone who never did such a thing before.  Details (with pictures) of this is being shared on another forum here.
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/23837386.cfm

I installed this bar with my brother on his 1998 E350 Starflyte motor home last weekend.  We were both surprised how simple a project it was to install.  If you have any questions for me, please ask on this PC forum to keep everything together for other pre-2008 2100, 2350, 2400 PC owners to read.

If your PC is built on a 2008 or newer Ford E350 chassis, then you have a sway bar already.  But it is much less effective than the Helwig aftermarket sway bar because it is much weaker.  Regardless of year or model E350 or E450, if you have handling issues, you will want to consider upgrading your rear and front sway bars from the weaker Ford bars to the bigger, much thicker heavy duty bars from Helwig.

I had handling issues from the start so I went to a specialty shop to have Roadmaster bars added along with other upgrades to my suspension which makes our rig handle extremely well under all kinds of conditions.  Had I known then what I know now, I would have saved a lot of money and install front and rear Helwig sway bars myself.

Ron, what you describe here is how our '06 2950 handles some (most) of the time. You don't mention anything longer than the 2400 needing this upgrade. Think it would help ours? It seems like we're always fighting with the steering wheel to keep the motorhome from wandering. We've noticed that some highways are worse than others. Concrete pavement seems to be much better.

Trudy,  If you don't like the handling under "Less Than Ideal" conditions, then you would appreciate what both front and rear heavy duty sway bars will do for you.  The E450 chassis has sway bars front and back, but they are much weaker than the heavy duty bars from Helwig or Roadmaster.  Helwig bars provide the most bang for the buck.

When done, if you want a better ride yet, consider Bilstein or Koni-RV shocks, and a Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer.  All in combination and you will have much better control and comfort.  If you tow something, consider adding a rear trac bar to keep the tow from yanking your back end side-to-side..

I'm here to tell you that heavy duty Roadmaster sway bars on our new 2551 w/slide have made a great difference in handling.  Until we had those put on we felt like we were driving in jello.  In fact, the handling was so wobbly it felt dangerous to drive on uneven roads.  Phoenix USA might want to consider adding these as options. 

PJ,  I have a 2010 PC 2350 and I do feel uncomfortable with the way the RV sway on windy days. Did you install both front and rear heavy sway bar?

 I am also thinking of towing a small car behind by RV, do you think the sway bar will help ease up on the stressfull driving on windy day? Thanks for a comment.