I think that I understand why Hellwig is giving you the procedure for setting up the swaybar, but it is not the way I did ours. If everything is right with the suspension and heights, their way would be good, but it does seem backwards if you have unbalanced load. On ours, I used the airbags to level the van out before tightening the bolts, and I actually had to shorten one of the sleeves to make the bar unloaded with the van level. If I am looking at it right, if you had more weight, and sat lower, on one side, with the airbags empty, and then you tightened the bar into place, unloaded, when you lifted it back level the bag on the heavy side would also start to pick up some load from the other side do to the swaybar transferring weight to it. I would think you would want the opposite if you were trying to balance the force on the springs and bags, or neither, as as we did. I also had the front bar disconnected when I did the rear, and checked the front for loading before I reconnected it, but it was OK. Comments on this one would be appreciated.
I assume the "float" you are talking about is that very light steering feel and slow response to steering wheel inputs, with overly large corrections needed (understeer, or push). It is the same feeling you get from going over a crest in the road, when the vehicle gets lighter over the top of the crest. There was a very good discussion of what affects this in, I think, Marcos thread about his suspension upgrades. He was able to get his van much better with the work he did. In general, the front end has to be tight, as does the steering gear. Dodges do get loose quickly, especially if not greased regularly. The alignment, you would want as much positive caster as they can give you while still holding the other settings right. A little bit of positive camber is more stable. The biggest thing is the toe setting. If the toe is going out, WHILE YOU ARE DRIVING, the van will not be directionally stable. I emphasize this because as the front end gets loose with wear, you can have a condition where the toe will check as in when on the alignment rack, but be out while driving, do to the roadforce of being a positive scrub radius suspension. Good techs will push the wheels to the toe out direction when they set the toe, and will also increase toe in based on how tight the linkage is. You want only enough toe to stay toed in a bit while driving, so you don't overwear the tires. More toe in will make it more stable, however. Higher front tire pressure, lower rear will make the steering respond better. Same with stiffer rear springs, softer front. Stiffer sidewall tires like the Michelin XPS ribs are said to make a huge difference in the Dodges. Some folks have had success with using the rear wheel spacers on the Dodges, also. You really shouldn't need the stabilizer, I think, if the rest of it is right.
If you can get the alignment specs, it would be interesting to see what the set it to.
I wish you luck, this kind of stuff can be a long ordeal.
