Rear Sway Bar - October 2020 ($350)

In the continued pursuit of better handling, especially at low speeds, I decided to purchase a heavy duty rear sway bar.  I ordered it from SDTruckSprings.com.

It truly is heavy duty, at 1 1/2" diameter it is quite heavy. 

Installation was pretty easy and I was please that it not only helped the low speed handling but definitely keeps the LTV more flat during high turns. It was a good investment. 

Front Hitch ($410) and Horn ($35)

 When we travel we are usually towing or carrying something on the rear hitch.  When I was a kid, my dad built a custom front hitch for the front of his F250 truck so he could carry his 200cc motorcycle on the front while having his pickup camper on the back. Lucky for me, today there are several pre-manufactured solutions for a front hitch. I purchased mine from Torklift International. 

The install requires removal of the front grill and bumper cover, but overall was not too difficult. 

 

Since I had the grill off, I took this opportunity to replace that horn. The factory horn on the Sprinter sounds like a scooter, very meek.  I replaced it with a Wolo (419) Bad Boy Air Horn from Amazon. It is not a great horn but at least it is not embarrassing. 

I did provide some feedback to the manufacturer about improvements in their documentation. They said they would pass it onto their development team :-).

Here is some feedback on the install, in general the instructions are OK but some things could be pointed out.

- All new sprinters have a DEF tank to deal with, there was no mention of this in the instructions. Fortunately the bolt you provided was long enough to reach through the DEF tank mount and the hitch, but it could have been a bit longer. 

- Removing the bumper takes lots of pull, not a gentle process, it would be helpful to provide a picture of the clips just in front for the wheel well. I actually had to pull the inner fender lining on the passenger side to access a fender screw that was preventing the clips from releasing. 

- I was only shipped one bolt fish wire, there should have been two, I made due, but it complicated things. 

- The star washers need to be better quality or gauge.  One of them did not prevent the bolt head from spinning in the frame, it got tight but it would not fully tighten. I am hopeful that after some time I can re-torque it and it will tighten. 

- I had to cut significantly more of the bumper out than the 5" the instructions stated to prevent the bumper from having a serious frown. It still has a bit of a frown. 

The finished install looks good and works well, we use it all the time. 

With bikes on the front, the fuel efficiency and night visibility are somewhat impacted. I just try not to drive in the dark if possible. 

Overall, the front hitch has been a great addition. 

Rear Bed USB Ports and Organizer - July of 2020 ($50)

In the Serenity rear lounge/bed there was not a convenient place to plug in a phone without running the inverter. I installed a dual USB port in the rear storage compartment (under the lounge) and purchased two gap filler organizers to put between the wall and the bed on each side. I then ran a USB cord to each of the organizers so it is easy to plug in your phone and store it in the organizer.  The organizer is a good place for TV remontes and it has a cup holder that is too small to be really useful. I added one of the stick on folding drink holders to June's side of the bed.  

This is the gap filler.

USP Port.

June's side of the bed with the organizer USB cable and drink holder.  

Spare Tire Carrier - May of 2020 ($0)

 We replaced our tires in April, the old tires were pretty shot but I piked the best one to use as a spare tire. The LTV doesn't come with a spare, instead they include a can of fix-a-flat in the jack compartment.  

We have been discussion for a long time driving to Alaska and we don't want to take such a long trip with out having a spare tire.  I decide to fabricate a spare tire carrier from an old Thule bicycle rack. 

If was basically free and came out reasonably well. 

It also allows access to the rear compartment if needed. 

Well...the trip to AK got tabled due to Covid, we are unsure when we will get the chance. 

New Tires - April of 2020 ($1300), August of 2024 ($620)

August 2024 - After another ~35K miles the front tires on the LTV were getting loud again, they were still legal but the tread was getting down and they were wearing on the edges.  At 63,780 miles, I had Sleepers replace the two front tires. He could not fit them on his balance machine, so I took them to Pete's tire to get balanced.  Rich Sleeper also did an old school alignment and the LTV drives straight as can be, we will see how the tires wear. 

Spring of 2020 - When we returned from Key West in March, the LTV had 30,814 miles.  The tires had some tread but they were getting quite loud and needed replacement. I think 30K miles on a set of RV tires is probably not that bad. 

After some research we settled on Michelin tires and ordered them trough FMCA at a discount.  They were put on by Pete's tire. Pete's was not entirely a positive experience, the valve stems are not what I had asked for and are very hard to access.  I should have just gone ahead and bought the Borg system myself, but I am stuck with what was put on until my next tire change. 

New Sneakers on at 30,381 Miles. The new tires are much quieter and a make the Serenity Falcon a pleasure to drive again.