Hoping someone can help me with this.I have a 1992 E350, it is an Intervec Falcon camper conversion, and has a lot of weight up high (including a rooftop mounted aircon unit) and the thing rolls around like a dinghy in choppy seas

I have a set of Bilsteins on the way, which is a start, but I would like to fit a larger front bar as well as a rear sway bar. At the moment it has what looks like about a 1" front bar, (quite pathetic given its girth) and no rear bar at all.

I have emailed Hellwig to ask which bars I need, and they did not reply. The lack of customer service from American companies seems to be getting quite bad, it used to be the UK companies that were the worst offenders! Anyway, I digress. The bars I have found on Summit that look most likely are:

http://www.summitracing.com/int/part...-350-econoline

http://www.summitracing.com/int/part...-350-econoline

http://www.summitracing.com/int/part...-350-econoline

http://www.summitracing.com/int/part...-350-econoline

http://www.summitracing.com/int/part...-350-econoline

http://www.summitracing.com/int/part...-350-econoline

Looks like some of these are for the cutaway models, and not sure if they would fit my van, or are for the larger rear axle type. I would like to fit the largest diameter bars available. Does anyone know which ones I require?

thanks Conrad

 

Digressing from your main questions at first............

Make sure your coil and leaf springs are in near-perfect condition before throwing money at secondary suspension control parts. Sway bars, Bilstein shocks et al are all great additions but only after your springs are known to be up to their task.

Hellwig bars, both front and rear are installed on my vans---their engineering concept is far more sound and results in better control, at least in my experience and not-so-humble opinion. The method of attaching to the I-Beams is so far superior to the stock-like installation where the bar ends stab through the I-Beam utilizing some form of elastomeric bushing that are highly subject to quickly wearing out.

The rear bar is absoltely essential, again in my not-so-humble opinion---it's an amazing difference, even the rather small stock rear bar. There is another rear sway system from Roadmaster Active Suspension that's highly interesting although I don't have any direct experience with those---still worth looking into, especially for your application.

Next up (but from from least important is making sure your entire front end system is also in perfect condition. Ball joints, tie rod ends, wheel bearings, radius arm and axle pivot bushings all need to be checked and replaced as needed. Ball joints with Zerk grease fittings, bushings of urethane highly recommended.

Because you have a '92 E350 the cutaway bars will still work, assuming they're NOT for an E550. Contacting Hellwig via email can be a PITA---call them.

HTH

 

Might want to look at Addco, their customer service is up to snuff. I recently had to contact them to buy new hanger brackets for the front bar I bought for my van, they were on the way first thing the next morning, at no charge to me at all.

 

thanks for the fast replies guys, you are both far better than the customer service I have received so far

I have looked at the Roadmaster system JWA, that works by applying a secondary spring across the front part of the leaf spring, so although it looks kinda fancy, all it does is increases the spring rate, nothing more, and yes that will work to decrease body roll, but it will be at the expense of ride quality. Might as well just add an extra leaf, it will have the same effect. This van already has massive springs, and I don't want to increase the spring rate. A sway bar will do a better job of controlling lateral weight transfer in corners, which is exactly what a bar is designed to do.

BTW, van has only covered 36K miles, and ride height looks normal, and springs look good according to the eyecrometer Same with bushes, ball joints etc. I am confident there are no secondary problems giving this rolling effect. Check out this pic, there has been a big lump of weight added on the roof of this van in the form of the fibreglass top, it is really heavy & thick fibreglass, and that Dometic air con unit weighs 50 kgs (110lbs in your currency) I know because I weighed it!



Given that I have read several times on here how you guys think the standard vans roll around a bit, imagine adding what I reckon must be 300-400lbs on top of your roof, and the effect that would have

I will phone these guys and report back.

thanks again for your help
Conrad

 

Without offense I'm gonna step outta this thread---when I see concern for "ride comfort" IMHO its a lost cause. "Ride comfort" shouldn't be a major consideration when we're talking body/chassis control.

Best of luck with your search for something workable!

 

HUH ?
wallowing isn't comfy

 

Okay I think we are quibbling over semantics , but I will try to explain what I meant. I don't think ride quality (I didn't say comfort ) is mutually exclusive with chassis control and handling. Generally speaking, keeping springs relatively soft and increasing bar diameter (or fitting bars where none are fitted) will result in a vehicle that sits flatter and has better traction in corners, than just upping spring rate to try to control body roll.

I have seen situations where springs have been replaced with a much higher rate to try to control body roll, and this results in a vehicle which, although now sitting flat in corners, will experience a sudden loss of traction (especially when unloaded) when hitting bumps mid corner. Nothing comfortable about that!

The main purpose of this thread was not so much a discussion about the pro's and con's of various systems (although always happy to discuss!) but to identify which the correct bars were for my van.

Conrad

P.S. just spoke to Hellwig, front bar I need is a 7604, (1 1/8") and rear bar is 7183 (1 1/4")

 

my e150 has severe body roll. Replace front shocks per mechanic friend with little difference. I installed Monroe reflex. Noticed my rear leaf springs are flat. Can these be rebent?I don't want to install sway bars until every else is fixed.

 

Is that picture is with the body raised or sitting flat on the ground, on the wheels ? If the latter, the springs are not flat and do not need to be re-arched.

 

it's on the ground. Other 150's have more arc.

 

Friend of mine has a 94 E150 conversion van. It rolls around nearly as much as my camper. The springs are a lot softer in the E150 than my E350.