After coming home from a two month trip where we faced extremely strong crosswinds while crossing the prairies, and excessive amounts of daily activations of the dreaded crosswind assist and stability control “features” of the Sprinter chassis, I started thinking about those Sprinter suspension upgrades that the Internet is so fond of…

Sumo Springs, Koni shocks, Hellwig sway bars, Agile Off Road Fox shocks, Bilstein shocks… there are a number of options out there that are recommended as easy upgrades. But which to choose? The Winnebago Forum seems to have an overwhelming majority vote for the Agile Off Road Fox 2.5 shocks as a must have, and then folks seem to either upgrade the sway bar or replace the factory rubber stop blocks with Sumo Springs. I always look for well presented facts when surfing for RV mod info, and not surprisingly this particular site had a very good story for the suspension upgrade configuration that was chosen for their View:

View Navion website suspension mod explanation

The real world experience information found on the above page was valuable, and when taking into account the other information on the Winnebago Forum, it became an easy decision for us:

1 – Agile Off Road AO Fox 2.5 Sprinter 3500 rear shocks

NOTE: Since the time of our Fox 2.5 Sprinter rear shocks purchase, I see they are now offering the additional option to go with a shock that is tuned for a lighter weight Sprinter. Agile Off Road recommends the heavy shock for Sprinter Class C motorhomes.

2 – Hellwig sway bar for a VS30 Sprinter (2019 – to present) Part number 7777

(Part number 7254 for the pre 2019 Sprinter 3500 chassis)

I got lucky on the parts and found sources for each up here in Canada, and received them within a week of ordering.

Installation

Everything I had read regarding the DIY installation of both of these components had indicated that it was not too bad of a job. There are lots of videos on YouTube for each of these installations, and certainly with the capability to get the rear end elevated a bit – I’m guessing that the job is made quite a bit easier. Our installation was done with the View flat on the driveway, with no elevation of any kind. Also, I did not have a helper for either job, and I had no prior experience doing chassis mods like these.

It looks like the Newstate Nomads did these mods with their View flat on the ground too; here is the video that gave me reason to give both these installations a DIY try:

Newstate Nomads suspension upgrades

And here is another helpful video from “rv life diy” that makes the sway bar install look pretty straightforward, but note he has used his coach leveling system to get some extra room under there…

rv life diy Hellwig Sway Bar install

Here are the installation instructions for each mod:

Agile Off Road AO Fox 2.5 shocks

Hellwig Sway Bar for VS30 Sprinter

Well, I got ‘er done in about six hours – both the shock and sway bar installation. However - it was an awful lot of restricted area, extremely awkward, manoeuvring with the View flat on the driveway – tool manipulation was tough due to limited options caused by the chassis being so low to the ground – using a floor jack to compress the shock was very tricky without a helper – and that sway bar is pretty heavy to be jostling around in a confined area and difficult to get started with just one hand. Would I do it again? Probably not. No, I think if I had to do it again I would just pay the 300 bucks to have the pros at the local garage do it for me.

Performance

We’ve got a few thousand miles on these new components, and so far are very, very, happy. We tested the low speed handling over speed bumps taken on the diagonal, and the reduction in lateral sway and slow to damp wallow is phenomenal compared to what it used to be. The View handles much better in crosswinds at highway speeds, with a marked decrease in body roll - so much in fact, that the onset of the crosswind assist and corrections from the enhanced stability program are now almost non-existent. Prior to these supension mods, while cruising in stiff crosswinds, we were continually being subjected to countless activations of these annoying, distracting, systems. The real test will be spring winds while traversing the prairies, so I’ll provide some more feedback when I’ve got some. But, so far, things are looking good.

Post-modification update - Well, I’ve got nothing but good news concerning these suspension upgrades. We have close to ten thousand miles on the View since installing the new rear shocks and heavier swaybar, and improvement to the highway handling has been nothing short of fantastic. Prior to the upgrades, while cruising in strong crosswinds, it was very much a two handed operation as we had to contend with significant body roll and repeated activations of the Sprinter’s enhanced stability program and its gruesome cousin the “crosswind assist”. On some days crossing the prairies we would have in excess of twenty activations of these systems - and each time is was startling and distracting. Since the upgrades, in comparable winds, the activations have become almost non-existent. (At the time of this writing, after ten thousand miles of driving, we have had one “open air” activation and one episode of multiple activations as I passed a semi while in its protected downwind lee. That was a rough ride - as we transitioned out of, and then back into, heavy direct crosswinds. I don’t want to think what that one would have felt like with the factory shocks and sway bar…)

We are very happy with these upgrades.


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