Ford F53 Chassis

[Southernman]

I have a 2015 Precept 31 UL, bought 2 years ago. When I first got it it swayed more than I liked, but by adding Safety Steer, 90 lbs in the tires and the CHF the handling was MUCH improved.

I always see denigrating comments that this chassis was meant for garbage trucks but I have yet to see a garbage wagon that looks like it is on this chassis. Frankly the UPS/Fed-ex vans look like they might run on a similar chassis. In fact, when first learning how to drive my rig it helped me to think of it as a delivery truck and not some massive cube rolling down the road.

I might feel differently if I had a longer unit, but for me it's not a bad marriage. I know the chassis got upgraded around 2017 with bigger wheels. Is the newer wheelbase longer? Anyone here traded up from my chassis to the newer version have an opinion? We're pretty happy with our unit, although still upgrading things we don't like. Not sure I'll trade in the near future, but like to be thinking ahead.

[315Precept]

We have a 2019 Precept 31UL and after getting an alignment and making tire pressure adjustments are quite happy with ride and handling. Our previous coach was a 2017 29’ FR3 and after installing a safety steer and sumo springs all around wasn’t a bad ride either. I do believe the larger tires and longer wheelbase on the Precept makes a big difference at highway speeds.

[hawkster]

I have a 2016 31ul. I believe in 2017 larger chassis and longer wheelbase. But have heard several complaints on driving that one too. It seems that fewer complaints on the ride now. Jayco switched to Sachs shocks a couple of years ago. My bilsteins were replaced by konis and I haven't looked back. So I did alignment, chf, konis, and a Trac bar. It's pretty good and I think I'm done with chassis mods.
But in reality it's a 1930s chassis design.

[NickM]

I agree with Hawkster, the chassis design is old. Think bread truck, MAC tools truck, etc. While it is probably OK in many applications Ford supplies it to many different body builders in a very basic condition. It is the responsibility of the body builder to finish the product and make it roadworthy.

Tiffen uses the same chassis as Jayco, Thor, Forest River, etc. While I have not pursued comments on Tiffen drivability online the owners I know have not complained about drivability or ride. I would like to drive one with the liquid spring though just to see for myself.

The biggest change to mine came after a professional front end alignment. I had done the CHF and steering stabilizer previously. Added a track bar after the alignment and I'm done. Still running the stock Bilstein shocks but ride has been much improved by lowering tire pressure.

[Micikas]

what is CHF

[Foretm]

The CHF is the "Cheap Handling Fix", which refers to changing the bolt position on sway bars to put them in a tighter position and increase the rate of torsion when the body attempts to sway. You can google search it and get a ton of hits, but basically the following youtube video shows how its done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWPIXOhrdMQ

There's plenty of other as well, and this is simply on the front, you can do it to both front and rear. What it does it make the sway bars more effective by increasing the amount of torsion (twist) that is applied to the sway bar as the body moves, thereby reducing the roll of the body.