DSDP Harsh Ride

[Route 66]

Many late model DSDP owners are complaining of a harsh ride over most bumps.

This may apply to other coaches on the Spartan chassis as well.

Yesterday, I was at Spartan in Charlotte, MI and they replaced the stock front Bilstein gas shocks with Koni hydraulic shocks.

What a difference!

An amazing improvement in the ride.

This is covered under warranty, so there is no charge.

First you go on a test ride to see if your idea and Spartan's idea of a harsh ride is the same.

Installation of the Konis is next followed by another test ride to see if you like the change.

If you don't, they will put the original shocks back on.

The Koni is about 30% softer than the Bilstein.

After driving 400 miles today, I'm a happy camper!

There is no porpoising or wallow and can find no reason for others not to make the switch.

[Route 66]

Many late model DSDP owners are complaining of a harsh ride over most bumps.

This may apply to other coaches on the Spartan chassis as well.

Yesterday, I was at Spartan in Charlotte, MI and they replaced the stock front Bilstein gas shocks with Koni hydraulic shocks.

What a difference!

An amazing improvement in the ride.

This is covered under warranty, so there is no charge.

First you go on a test ride to see if your idea and Spartan's idea of a harsh ride is the same.

Installation of the Konis is next followed by another test ride to see if you like the change.

If you don't, they will put the original shocks back on.

The Koni is about 30% softer than the Bilstein.

After driving 400 miles today, I'm a happy camper!

There is no porpoising or wallow and can find no reason for others not to make the switch.

[quikduk]

Dirk:

It would have been too much for me to think Spartan would replace mine...after a measly 80,000 miles so I did them myself.

I agree that it makes a world of difference...but correct ride height on the air bags, even loading of the coach and correct tire pressures at each corner significantly affect a coaches ride quality.

Have you thought about adding the Super Steer Motion Control Units at each air bag? I still think I may want them to ease the left-right roll going in and out of off-camber driveways and street intersections.

Ken

[Route 66]

My coach handles very well and I plan no other changes.

The harsh jolt on bumps was the only issue.

If the SSMCU prices were much lower, I might try them just for grins.

The price is exorbitant for a piece of brass with a hole drilled through it.

[tmitchell]

I talked to Bilstein and Spartan about the harsh ride on bumpy roads. They said a lot of the problem was that I don't have enough weight on my front axle. Newmar rates my front axle at 13,200, but it is tagged at 13,700. I have less then 12,000 lbs. on the front axle when I am fully loaded with both front seats filled.
I switched from Michelin 275/70R22.5 LRJ XA1 tires to 275/80R22.5 LRH XA3 tires. This took away about 60% of the harshness. My next step is to go down one level in shock weight ratings.
I would love to go with the Koni FSD shocks, but last time I checked they wouldn't work with Independent Front Suspension.
I realize you guys have larger MHs with a heavier front axle, but the same thing might apply if you are to much underweight on the front.

[Redlands Truck and RV]

tmitchell,

My Michelin tire book shows 95psi for your weights at front. Pressures have lots to do with ride comfort.

KONI FSD parts numbers are: 8805-1008 front 8805-1009 rear. Good luck and call if you have any questions or look for us at your up coming rally in Tucson.

Thanks,

[tmitchell]

Kieth,
I just got a reply from Koni stating that they don't make FSD shocks for my front axle. On Koni RV homepage , under Program FSD, they show for the Spartan MM (IFS): 8805 1008 front and 8805 1009 rear. Their reply to my e-mail was that the fronts were not the FSD model. It made no sense to me, since they are listed under FSD.
The reason I e-mailed them was because it didn't state what weight, front axle, the shocks were for.
Tom

[Redlands Truck and RV]

FSD means Frequency Selective Dampaning, a fancy name for an auto adjusting shock. Basically the FSD is the same shock as the "old" adjustable, but the adjusting is done for you as you drive down the road. With that said, try the 90-2815 which is for your front suspension and for weights under 13k. Don't panic that this is NOT an FSD as the 2815 will allow you 3 settings for your ride comfort. Please do the rears as well and those should be the FSD 8005-1009.

What setting should you try first on the 2815? Call me when you get them and I will walk you through it, it's easy and when you're all done I'm confident you'll fall in love with your coach again.

Glad we could help,

[SteveR]

Our front axle is 14,250# which requires 120 psi (cold max.)in the front tires. You talk about a harsh ride! Add to that a misaligned steering gear and bouncy shocks and you have your hands full keeping this beast on the road.

Spartan is going to replace the shocks with Koni's and put larger tires on the front (Tiffin's expense) to see if it helps. The steering gear was already fixed.

[Route 66]

I'll bet with the Koni's and the larger front tires which can run at a lower pressure, the ride will be greatly improved.

[bontemp]

The harsh ride issue seems to have been around longer than it should - are the Koni shocks so expensive that they can't be made "standard equipment"? It is distressing to see 07 and 08 units with the harsh ride problem with Newmar and Spartan after they both went thru all the problems with the 05's etc. We survived all that with new tires, larger airbags, and Koni shocks on our 05 but thought that was a "lesson learned" by them a good while ago????

[Avalondanes]

Keith,
I have a 2006 Fleetwood Revolution LE with a Spartan MM chassis with I beam front susp. Do they make FSD's for that set up?

Richard

[Redlands Truck and RV]

Hello Richard,

Yes they do, it should be 8805-1021 front and 8805-1009 rear. We have them in stock.

Call if you have any questions,

[tmitchell]

Keith,
I called Koni because they showed front and rear shocks for the MM Spartan chassis, in their FSD section. The Koni rep said the front shocks that are listed are not FSD models. The rears are FSD's, which seems very misleading. They told me that they do not make an FSD for the Spartan chassis with IFS.
That was about a month ago. I have been waiting for a few years for Koni to start making FSD's for my front axle.
Tom