We are loving the ride of the new 4x4 system from Ramsey and Glen at Agile Off-Road.
The only thing that was giving me any issues was high speed cornering. By that I don't
mean slalom or "S" turn driving. I found that while driving 70+ mph on a constant or
decreasing radius turn, I had to keep adjusting the steering as the rear end was rolling
a bit. The van tracks extremely well and handles big and little bumps very well too, at
both high and low speeds, and the Fox steering stabilizer feels like it is working great.
Also, there was no real play in the steering box, despite having over 100K miles on this
truck, but the body roll was making me uncomfortable. Now, I know that most 4 Ton-plus,
4x4 vehicles don't consider high speed cornering a high priority, but I have always been a
little different.
How we got there:
Ramsey has a great desire to have his customers' full satisfaction, and he and Glen
installed some new, re-valved FOX shox for the rear, and I was surprised that they
made a real difference. The van was much more fast corner friendly now, but still
needed something to put it over the top. Ramsey and I discussed putting a sway
bar on the front. He was against it, though he has done it before, at a customers
request. His concern is that off-road performance would be lost, primarily in the area
of articulation. He suggested trying one on the rear and said he knows of many
that have used Hellwig. I did my usual due diligence and found that it really comes down to
two manufacturers for the Ford E Platform - IPD, now Roadmaster, and Hellwig. 1der has
one from IPD and is super satisfied with the results, and they seem to be big favorites with
larger trucks and Class "C" motorhomes. The price was a bit more that double the cost of the
Hellwig 7183, but it also had 1/8" greater diameter at 1 3/8". I decided to have Amazon Prime
deliver the Hellwig 7183 to my door yesterday for $200.80 plus tax, since I live in California.
Install
The installation was very easy, and the Hellwig instructions were great, dispite what I have
been reading. I pre-assembled the frame hangers by lubing the urethane hour glass bushings,
inserting them into the hanger brackets, then inserting the steel sleeves. I just pressed them
all in using a large bench vise in my shop. I used jack stands to hold the bar in rough position,
lubed all the urethane parts for the U-Bolt attachments and then loosely fitted all the bolts,
washers and nuts. My frame had the right holes in the right places, so no drilling for me.
The only issue was the hanger to frame location on the drivers side. The location was a super
tight fit because the fuel tank and some electrical and brake lines were right where the hanger
needed to be. So I texted Glen at Agile to find out how much I could get away with in lowering
the fuel tank. He said if I disconnected the filler and breather hoses I could drop it a bit. So I
did. That took a while as the front tank strap nut is on a long bolt that is difficult to access with
both a propane tank and now transfer case surrounding the thing. It needed about a thousand
turns to drop the tank. I probably should have spent some time either dropping my propane
tank or finding out how to fit an air ratchet into that tiny space. Once I had a bit of room I had
to temporarily move the brake and electrical from on top of the hole. Once those were out of
the way, it was pretty easy.
I got everything where it needed to be and slowly started getting the slack out of the system.
It was all aligned and torqued to specs, looked and felt right. Then it took me some time to get
the brake and electrical remounted on the frame rail, the tank sucked back into position (a
thousand more turns, 2 clicks at a time), re-attaching the filler and breather hoses. Overall I
would say that the install took about 2.25 hours with all but about 40 minutes devoted to getting
the drivers side frame hanger bracket installed.
Test
I took the beast out onto the freeway nearby as there are a few transitions between the 118
and 210 freeways that would be the perfect test for my issue. I took that elevated off ramp about
70 mph turning pretty hard to the left. I usually travel that stretch around 60-65 in my nice
handling Camry. I had a huge smile on my face. I got off at the next ramp and got back on going the opposite direction. There is a 30mph suggestion sign for a tighter right hander transition back onto the 118. I took it in the van through it at 55 and it cornered better than stock, before the lift, TTB Conversion and larger tires. I think this thing is dialed in.
I am sure there will be a bit of articulation lost on the rear axle off-road, but I will be happier on the highway.