Van Sway / Top Heavy

[mbachani]

Peacemaker Pete, which Bilsteins did you use?

Jage , SMB says it's Quigley,

John, thanks for the advice on the suspension liks.

Sounds like I'll be spending some money.

Bob in Tucson

[mbachani]

Also Jage, It's stamped Quigley, so I hope you are wrong. No offense.

Bob in Tucson

[jage]

What I meant is the Sportsmobile brand of 4x4 conversion... I've never seen a Quigley underneath so I wouldn't recognize it.

[peacemakerpete]

Hi Bob in Tucson
For the record, our 1998-EB 350 Ford appears to have been shipped to Quigley in Penn. before Sportsmobile West in Fresno did the coach work, so I guess our 4 X 4 conversion may be different than the newer ones done in Fresno. That would explain why it did NOT have a rear stabilizer at all.

The Bilsteins we put on were from camping world, and they are pretty stiff shocks. The rear part number was B46-1614 and the fronts were B46-1720. Those part numbers are from 2004. Our van appears to have been lifted 3'' by Quigley.

By the way, we still have the Rancho 9000 ones available, if someone wants a real deal. Shipping would be from Spokane, WA. They might be OK for a ligher coach than ours (we have full marine toilet, 2 holding tanks, full frid and stove W/Oven and solid fiberglass voyager top. Our Empty weight is around 9,000 lbs. )The shocks were only on for a few thousand miles. E-mail me if you want photos.

Peacemakerpete

[peacemakerpete]

For Bob in Tuscon
I found the old card from the parts used for the front sway bar. My front bar is only 1''. I believe yours is fatter, except where the donuts anchor the ends.

The parts came from Central 4Wheel Drive, "Energy" suspension, Ford Front Sway Bar bushing set, 92-95 E 250-E 350, is what it says on the package, part number 4.5142R. (our van is 1998).

The donuts should work fine. They are red poly-urethane, much firmer than the stock black rubber. I just lubed them with a little silicone grease, removed the ends, and hammered them in place with a rubber mallet.

The bases in the center clamps would need to be hogged out for your fatter bar, (dremmel tool), but I think they were under $20 bucks for the 4-piece upgrade in 2004. Maybe they have an application for the fatter bar too??

Peacemakerpete in Spokane

[mbachani]

Hello Pete,

Perhaps our rear sway bar was added by the orginal owner. Not sure if it was put on by Quigley. I keep on forgetting to call or e-mail SMB to find out what exactly my vehicle had on it when it left their shop.

Thanks for your info. I'll have to do some research on what shocks I'm going to put on.

Bob in Tucson

[daveb]

Quigley suspension does not have front disconnects. To tell the truth the SMB conversion is stiff and I have a hard time telling that my disconnects are actually disconnected when I pull them. On the other hand I have heard of complaints about sway in the SMB conversion. My 06 has never had this problem but I do have a full floating rear axle. My van has 3 solaris panels on top plus a load warrior and I can pull corners well over the stated speed limit with BFG 285-15 tires. My van weighs over 12K. The 08 Quigley suspension is a vast improvement on the older models from what I have been told. There are some pictures of the 08 Quigley front ends in my album.
Dave B

[skrivan]

i read most of this thread and didnt see any reference to the rear spacers. i got a pair of these and saw a huge improvement in the sway. My 4x4 conversion was done by Advanced 4-wheel in salt lake city and they do not include spacers. i dont know if SMB or Quigley put the rear wheel spacers on or not. I subsequently added a rear sway bar as well and my van sticks to the road quite well even with a fully loaded cargo box on the roof. Spacers make a really big difference---as much as the sway bar for sure. they spacers bring the rear wheels out to roughly the same dimension as the front wheel spacing. it took less than an hour to install them.

http://www.mrtruck.net/spacer.htm

they claim the compnay doesnt make them anymore, but i bet they are available somehow.

[jage]

SMB adds spacers. Beware of tire shops- most people have had good luck but Discount refuses to service my van (I'm going to go in with the "they are factory spacers" and the number to the Discount that works with SMB soon for another go round).

[Greg In Austin]

We drove in some heavy duty winds in Eastern Colorado and Western Oklahoma on Sunday. We felt it in our gas mileage, and we felt it in some buffeting, but given the strength of the wind, we did not think the slight buffeting was a big deal. ....and we had no sway or roll with the wind...