Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
RV Trip Planning Discussions

Go Back   iRV2 Forums > THE OWNER'S CORNER FORUMS > Alpine Coach Owner's Forum
Click Here to Login
Join iRV2 Today

Mission Statement: Supporting thoughtful exchange of knowledge, values and experience among RV enthusiasts.
Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on iRV2
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 10-10-2014, 05:32 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
Mike & Mike's Avatar
 
Alpine Owners Club
Winnebago Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Home is between Salinas and Monterey, CA
Posts: 241
Road King shocks on a 34 foot Alpine coach?

Hi all!

I upgraded from Bilsteins to the Koni shocks a little over a year ago and I'm not as impressed as I thought I would be, after reading all the good reviews of the Koni shocks.

Living in California, where our roads are going to pot(holes), I'd like to get a better ride. We've got friends with the Road Kings on a 36 footer (hi Jim!) and they are very happy. But, the 34 and 36 foot coaches have a different wheelbase and I wonder how much "wheelbase" plays into the level of comfort.

So, have any of you 34 foot owners tried out the Road Kings and what do you think about them? Many thanks!

Cheers!
__________________
Mike and Mike (Michele)
2017 Winnebago Tour 42HD
Previously: 2004 Alpine 34 FDDS
Mike & Mike is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 10-10-2014, 06:00 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Sonora, CA
Posts: 141
Man, I don't think anything can help today's California Roads.
__________________
2001 Alpine Coach 36'
2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee Towed
GMDavidson is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-11-2014, 06:33 AM   #3
Senior Member
 
Alpine Owners Club
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Ocala, FL
Posts: 260
I replaced my Koni's with Roadkings. I like the Roadkings better. Have driven about 3000 miles. The Bilsteins were replaced by Koni's at 7000 miles. The Koni's were good for maybe 20,000 miles. We will see how long the Roadkings last.
__________________
Jim & Sandy
2008 34' FDDS Alpine
Limited SE
JLMunsil is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-11-2014, 06:38 AM   #4
Senior Member
 
Old Scout's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 7,383
Mike, everyone I know who has RKs swears by them--of course, if I had $400+ per shock invested, I'd be swearing too [smile]. Suspect there is some incremental improvement with the RKs, even with your shorter coach. Satisfaction with the increased performance vs the cost is harder to gauge.....Given Koni's lifetime guaranty--I have resigned myself to putting on new shocks every 3-4 years at shipping cost.
PS -- Check the forum--Koni is supposed to be coming out with some "RK-like" or "light" shocks[$275 range] for the fronts in Jan 15.
__________________
Old Scout
2015 IH45 Foretravel
2003 Alpine 40' MDTS [Sold]
New Braunfels, Texas
Old Scout is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-11-2014, 07:17 AM   #5
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Richland Wa.
Posts: 223
Give Source Engineering in Eugene Or. a call. 541-343-0293
__________________
2007 Alpine MDDS
MKelley is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-11-2014, 09:40 AM   #6
Senior Member
 
Jim A's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,957
Just so you know, after my recent trip my opinion has not changed! Money well spent.
__________________
Jim A
'04 Alpine Coach 36' MDDS
Jim A is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-11-2014, 11:54 AM   #7
Senior Member
 
Alpine Owners Club
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Albuquerque
Posts: 237
Ride Control plus Koni works on our 34

At 20K miles on the original shocks, the coach rode smoothly but recovery from dips was not good. Lived with it until about 40K, then installed Koni's and SuperSteer's ride control snubbers. The result was good enough for us, but the total cost was nearly as great as four RK's would have been. You pays your money and takes your choice, I guess.
__________________
Franklin & Dessa
2001 Alpine 34 FDDS
Tow a 2021 Escape
F&D ABQ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-11-2014, 05:56 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
Mike & Mike's Avatar
 
Alpine Owners Club
Winnebago Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Home is between Salinas and Monterey, CA
Posts: 241
Greetings All!

Thanks for your replies, I appreciate it.

GMD: That is the crux of my problem-bad roads, and not JUST in CA!

Jim and Sandy: How are the roads back East? I haven't been driving back there since the 80's? Do you grumble as much about your bumpy roads as we do in CA?

Old Scout: I saw the post a couple days ago about the "new in January" Koni's and I'll be interested in hearing what people say about them after awhile. When you mention new shocks for the cost of shipping, how do you know that when Koni inspects the old ones that they'll agree with you that they need to be replaced under the lifetime warranty?

MKelley: Please tell me more about Source Engineering and why you suggest I call them. Do they have a great price on the Road King's? Their website (Source Engineering Inc | Custom RV Chassis | Eugene, OR) sounds like they've got a bunch of goodies that they say will give you a better ride. Have you tried any of their products and got any "before and after" comments about them?

Jim A: Hi Jim...I knew you'd say that!! <grin>

Frank and Dessa: I bought a pair of those Henderson ride control snubbers (that is the little gizmo that fits in the airline to the air ride shock, right?) I asked Henderson's whether they suggested mounting in the front or rear for only one pair and followed their recommendation, whatever that was I can't remember right now. At this point, I'm starting to put items on my "wish list" for the Pomona FMCA Convention in 2015 and I'm thinking strongly about the Road Kings.

Cheers!
__________________
Mike and Mike (Michele)
2017 Winnebago Tour 42HD
Previously: 2004 Alpine 34 FDDS
Mike & Mike is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-13-2014, 06:54 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
DrDaveMA's Avatar
 
Alpine Owners Club
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Lake Wales, FL
Posts: 3,113
Mike & Mike, While we were at the Redmond show I had Redlands Truck install the Source Engineering ride Comfort Control Valves. THEY WORK! We drove from the show to Seattle and then back home to Cape Cod, you can really tell, there is no sway!
__________________
Dave, Bobbi and Fenway
2005 38' FDTS Alpine Limited, 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited
Lake Wales, FL
DrDaveMA is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-14-2014, 06:46 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
Rusty Bear's Avatar
 
Alpine Owners Club
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Big Bear, Ca
Posts: 392
We had Road Kings installed right after we bought the coach and have been very happy with them since. The coach had about 6K miles and Koni shocks when we bought it and when we changed 1 of the shocks was already leaking.
__________________
Jim & Vivian
2007 Alpine Apex
40FT FDFS #75725
Rusty Bear is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-23-2014, 10:27 AM   #11
Member
 
Cookiejar's Avatar
 
Alpine Owners Club
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 49
I installed Road Kings 5 years and 96,000 miles ago and they are still working great. They ride better today than my original shocks did after 20,000 miles. Road Kings would be my suggestion.

40FDTS
Cookiejar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-23-2014, 05:41 PM   #12
Senior Member
 
Rich and Cork's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,163
Just a question for the other 34 footers out there. I seem to remember some years ago a discussion that the later model 34s had weights added to the frame rails and that was to help the porpoising. Comments? I am thinking it was around 600 lbs?

I have about 95,000 on ours and put Koni's on around 30,000. Stll seem to be ok. I have never turned up the damping to the highest level. One of these days I will do that.
__________________
2014 Phaeton 36gh
2008 Jeep Rubicon or 2012 Ford F150 4x4 Lariat towds
or a couple of different trailers
Retired in Apple Valley, California
Rich and Cork is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-23-2014, 05:45 PM   #13
Senior Member
 
Old Scout's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 7,383
Interesting--dont think Koni made/makes the 1021/1022 [gold colored FSD] for the Alpine in an "adjustable" model.....
__________________
Old Scout
2015 IH45 Foretravel
2003 Alpine 40' MDTS [Sold]
New Braunfels, Texas
Old Scout is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-24-2014, 04:32 PM   #14
Senior Member
 
DrDaveMA's Avatar
 
Alpine Owners Club
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Lake Wales, FL
Posts: 3,113
Old Scout, yes the FSD is adjustable, I just had a set installed.



Sent from my iPhone using iRV2 - RV Forum
__________________
Dave, Bobbi and Fenway
2005 38' FDTS Alpine Limited, 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited
Lake Wales, FL
DrDaveMA is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
shocks



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
King Dome 3000 - DO NOT BUY f14av8r Technology: Internet, TV, Satellite, Cell Phones, etc. 24 06-13-2014 10:19 AM
Thor Motor Coach Ranks #1 Motorhome Brand US & North America DriVer RV Industry Press 9 06-11-2014 11:26 PM
Road Trip, First time in a Motor Coach! WReeder Navigation, Routes & Roads 16 06-09-2014 02:50 PM
99 36FDS Alpine coach ??? Justinmartin Alpine Coach Owner's Forum 3 01-19-2014 03:59 PM
New guy here! King of the Road Genesis?? AA7GS Class A Motorhome Discussions 5 10-15-2013 09:26 PM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:48 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.