RV Upgrades for my Leisure Travel Van! It's almost RV season!

[@wgreenough1919]

I have a 2021 Tiffin Wayfarer 25 RW. With Mercedes 3500 Sprinter chassis. Tiffin installs Sumo Springs at their factory on the Wayfarer Mercedes chassis to help the ride. It does help. But there’s more to the big picture for ride quality. That said, I replaced the factory Continental tires with Michelin, Agilis tires. Much Quieter, better performance on wet and snow, much nicer ride. Then at 7,000 miles I replaced factory shocks and struts with Koni, Active FSD shocks and struts. Also had the front end re-aligned. These Koni shocks and struts have same characteristics and ride quality that expensive electronic adjustable shocks have but without the high cost. They adapt to the road and provides the perfect blend of comfort and control. My Tiffin Mercedes RV now handles like an everyday van, solid, smooth, feels glued to the road, the back and forth sway when passing semis is all but gone, as is other big chassis sway motions. Very, very smooth level ride. Unbelievably improved drive and ride.

[@Pagosa]

I am going to look at Koni shocks for sure!

[@norm4907]

I believe the problem with the Lithionics is the 150A BMS on a 315Ah battery. People believe you have 315Ah battery but you don’t, they cut corners on the BMS so in rush current will overload and fry the BMS. JMO.

[@Pagosa]

The BMS certainly is the weak point, but the brand of battery doesn't matter in these cases. Battle Born is actually selling a large device to put between their battery and inverter to help with resistance. Lithionics was able to engineer a firmware upgrade within a week and with adding an on/off switch between the inverter and battery, solved the issue for Lithionics. Lithionics exterior BMS are able to handle this easily. It's the small boards that fits in battery housings that's at real danger.

[@norm4907]

@@Pagosa agree 😳

[@georger7487]

I added yellow Sumo's on back and black on front on my 2016 UTB. Makes a HUGE difference. Easy to do, just need to jack the rig up a bit to fit them in. Also added Hellwig sway bar and today installing Bilstein 4600 series shocks.

[@Pagosa]

Awesome, let me know how you like the Bilsteins

[@commshopctr]

Update… Changed OEM Shocks and added Leaf springs that made a huge difference in wind and drive by truckers… I found professional shop ( truck springs and suspension) they added extra leaf spring . Now ride is much smoother. Cost is $ 800 . Also replaced stock shocks ( firefox ) and installed supersteer track bar . Now I can drive 80 mph with heavy wind and runs perfect tuned.

[@Pagosa]

Gonna look into this. thanks!

[@ggdw6531]

Added a leaf!? Nice! After adding sumos, Hellwig sway and Koni shocks; that may be my next move.

[@patricialaferriere602]

I have LTV ubc 2016 I had sumospring black in rear and blue in front + swaybar , l add blistein shocks, is its incredible the difference of driving . I bring lots of upgrade in my LTV , insulation, radio speakers, lithium battery, awning, jack niveler , cabinetry bath room and kitchen, solar panels, tpms, tires, macerated pipe, cell booster, froli system, mattress, thermostatic valve in shower, I add to lexan in my window for better insulation and more . We live in Quebec and is very cold some time when we travel north to south

[@Pagosa]

That sounds awesome!

[@bourbontraveler]

I’ve put the sumo bump stops on It’s better but it still rolls when you pull into places Rather than knock things over it just shakes them

[@Pagosa]

Any improvement in that would help for sure

[@bourbontraveler]

@@Pagosa I see where someone was saying something about the frame and Mercedes I bought them at the dealer had Mercedes install them, guy told me they do it all the time and I may need better shocks and they sold them at the dealer as well

[@josephquadros5290]

We added the Falcon shocks designed for the sprinter instead of the sumos because the sumos will stop the the suspension travel and can be jarring. The shocks I think do a better job at removing the rocking problem. It was a game changer in my opinion.

[@Pagosa]

I"m gonna look into that!

[@GrandAdventure]

FYI we've been very happy with Tireminder. Just our $0.02.

[@Pagosa]

Awesome, I just need to not be lazy and get them installed, lol.

[@angelawehe4811]

Yeah!!! Isn't it great! Grew up in Los Angeles, so seasonal changes, even brief are much enjoyed.

[@Pagosa]

I do like the cooler weather for sure

[@commshopctr]

I was just reading a blog from a Winnebago View/Navion group that suggests to only upgrade to FOX agile shocks for the 2020 and up Sprinter 3500 chassis because Sumos can make your ride very stiff. If I find the blog I’ll send your way… Safe travels!

[@Pagosa]

Thanks!

[@johnsuhar6348]

Have sumo springs on my Regency Ultra Brougham and they get rid of all that sway.

[@Pagosa]

Nice!

[@BeeCreekPhotographySpicewood]

I put the yellow sumo’s on the rear of our 21 LTV unity and it made a difference in the side to side rocking and big rig shake when following behind. It is not perfect it much better than without.

[@Pagosa]

Awesome, thanks for the feedback!

[@donnabahn-anderson5454]

We have our LTV on order. With the lithium package from LTV they offer heater for batteries and inverted microwave. Is the Lithionics heater adequate? Do we need a self inverted microwave?

[@Pagosa]

Congrats on the LTV. The Lithionics battery is by far the best in the industry, so yes the heater is more than sufficient to protect the battery. If you choose to go with Lithionics instead of the LTV lithium, it's just simply moving the microwave breaker back over to the inverted side. In RVs the breaker box has two sections. One that has outlets and such that can run off the inverter as well as shore power / generator, and LTV just put the microwave on the non inverted side if you don't get their lithium. Simple process. The best thing about the Lithionics is the value for the space it takes up. With the LTV lithium, it's 200 amp hours. The Lithionics is 315ah in the exact same footprint. Plus it's about $4 an amp hour cheaper than the LTV lithium, so a fantastic value.

[@charliemorris689]

Brandon, I ordered and received a SoftStart order # 5539SS for my new 2022 LTV Unity, and when I picked it up last week I discovered it had a softstart included. therefore I need to return the SoftStart I received, it is still in the unopen box. Please send return label. Thanks

[@Pagosa]

Hi Charlie, I emailed you as well. I double checked with LTV and they do not have a soft start already. Let me know if you have any other questions.

[@charliemorris689]

I have a 2022Unity MB, can I install the 3000 watt inverter and keep my regular batteries? Second question: why would I want to can the 2000 to a 3000w inverter?

[@Pagosa]

If you are going to keep your non lithium batteries, I would stick with the 2000W. The only reason to switch to a 3000W is to run AC or run most anything in your coach at the same time. Just lot's of freedom in electric usage.

[@norm4907]

Brandon, be cautious adding Sumo springs or air bags on that frame where MB didn’t engineer the reinforcement for it. There are quite a few documented frame rail cracks on KZbin, do a lot of research.

[@Pagosa]

Thanks! Definitely gonna check that out

[@juliechurchill564]

SumoSprings (front and rear) are not sufficient. You also need to add a Hellwig 7254 Rear Sway Bar. Personally I prefer to upgrade my LTV with an air suspension.

[@Pagosa]

Air suspension would be amazing

[@carolswatches]

Have you considered changing your suspension system to Liquid Springs? I hear it really makes a difference on ride quality.

[@Pagosa]

I haven't heard of that, will look into it. Thanks!

[@tagelectric2896]

I don't know if this was asked before but did you ever consider removing the generator, building and installing a weatherproof enclosure and installing more lithium batteries for extended runtime? Is it even possible?

[@Pagosa]

There are folks who have done that. If I were to do it again, I would order without the generator and do just that.

[@20cbwestiesden50]

When you upgraded the inverter to 3000W, any software changed to the control panel?

[@Pagosa]

I also upgraded the remote panel with the Bluetooth version that allows me to much easier change charge settings and such. But the remote that comes with the LTV is plug and play

[@rleabjr]

Added sumos to our 2019 FX and when I first drove it, I really noticed a different. The back and forth rock dissipated much faster. We also added TMS after adding Borg extensions. Never had a problem. Batteries in TMS good for two years. Peace of mind traveling keeping and eye on the dualies is worth it.

[@Pagosa]

Thanks for sharing!