Suspension system on 2000 Roadtrek Versatile 200

[Horseshoecat]

Our RV is in the shop right now to address some of the electrical and battery issues we were experiencing. One system down and more to go.

The next project is the suspension system. Since my RV is not here, does anyone know if the Chevy 3500 single axle came with a stock sway bar, front or rear?? :nonono:

What improvements have others made to increase the road worthiness of their 200?

I am thinking a front end alignment, Bilstein shocks all the way around, and a sway bar. I had read some issues with the rear sway bar and the generator needing to be moved slightly.

Any comments on helper springs??

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

HorseshoeCat

 

[mkguitar]

I''m happy with bilsteins on my 2005 chassis Chev 3500 2006 Pleasureway ( many RV's the chassis model year is 1 year older than the RV model year) mine is not a widebody and I don't have the dropped floor many R/T's have.


If you are handy, changing both front shocks is a 40 minute job


the rears took me about 2 hours- 1:45 of which was crawling out to try a different adapter to get around some of the RV systems


searching for "shocks" and "mkguitar" in advanced search, you can find a thread where I detail the parts numbers, cost and install



Mike

 

[booster]

The 200 is on a cutaway van so different than the full bodied ones like the rest of the Chevy Roadtreks. The rear shocks may be easier to get at, but even on our 190 they weren't too bad. We like our Bilstein shocks.



It is likely you have a front sway bar and no rear bar as that is how they tend to them for safe handling in unloaded vans. In a converted, heavy rear weight, RV adding a rear sway bar will very likely be a big improvement. I put a big rear bar in our 07 190P years ago and it was a big improvement.

 

[wny-pat]

Horseshoecat, Email socialmedia@gm.com. Give them the vin number and they will email you the build sheet. It will have engine, gears, etc - every thing you would want know!! They reply within a couple days usually.

 

[jb1965]

Just installed 4 Bilstein and hellwig rear sway bar transformed my RT into something I enjoy driving.

 

[Hammernine]

I did frontend service, bilstein shocks, but the real fix was 4” spacers on the rear wheels. A small bonus is how it looks too. The frontend service got rid of the steering wheel play, the bilsteins really softened the ride, the spacers eliminate the wander which was a nightmare. 2004 RoadTrek 200 Popular.

 

[Horseshoecat]

Horseshoecat, Email socialmedia@gm.com. Give them the vin number and they will email you the build sheet. It will have engine, gears, etc - every thing you would want know!! They reply within a couple days usually.

I emailed GM and here is the response I got on my 2000 Roadtrek:

We appreciate you reaching out. Due to the age of your vehicle, we do not have access to this information. You may be able to purchase a copy of the build sheet for your vehicle by visiting GM Media Archive. Please feel free to reach back out if you have any additional questions.

Going to check out the archives and see what they have.

HorseshoeCat

 

[markopolo-ClassB]

You can create the specific build sheet for your van by entering the RPO codes from the Service Parts Identification (SPID) sticker on your GM vehicle into a RPO decoder. See this post: https://www.classbforum.com/forums/f5/gm-rpo-code-lookup-and-decoder-1748.html

My vans SPID sticker is on the passenger door.

Some info:

Springs: https://www.classbforum.com/forums/f8/1997-2002-express-savana-coil-springs-4136.html

Shocks: https://www.classbforum.com/forums/f8/bilstein-shocks-upgrade-2719.html