shock upgrade?

[rjv1210]

The 2002 alpine 36 I just bought has brocken shocks in the rear and the front are wore out. The coach has 32000 mile on it. Are there upgraded shocks I can install? Thanks for the help. rjv1210

[rjv1210]

The 2002 alpine 36 I just bought has brocken shocks in the rear and the front are wore out. The coach has 32000 mile on it. Are there upgraded shocks I can install? Thanks for the help. rjv1210

[Stretch]

Seems to me that the shocks are gaurenteed for life. I read that somewhere.

[Tom and Patty]

OE shocks are not guaranteed for life. I replaced our fronts with Koni's. Now they have the FSD shock available.

http://www.konirv.com/cgi-bin/search.pl/mhcat?ap_list

Koni's up front really improved our ride.

[Dave Fernandez]

Hello & Welcome RJV1210:

I would like to welcome you to the Form and to the world of Alpine. As for Bilstien shocks I found out something at the 4 Wheel Drive Wholesalers Truck Fest last weekend in Ontario CA. I was talking to the Bilstien representative and he said that OEM Bilstien Shocks are not life time warranty, but if you send them your old shock they will re-valve your shock to OEM specs or they will increase or decrease the valving to your specs for $65.00 per shock and they will return them to you with a Life Time Warranty. He said that there is a week or two turn around time. I hope this information is useful to everyone.

[Gary Arnold]

I felt the original Bilstien on the front axle were to soft on large bumps. So last year I changed to the Koni adjustable shocks. We took a trip to Alaska and the change was much better.

The shocks are adjustable from 0 to 2 1/2 turns. I found 1 turn too harsh and 1/2 turn just right. Now as the shocks wear with time,I can readjust them.

[iron mike]

Gary do you have the Koni adjustable shock part number? Called Koni and they only offered me the FSD. I like the idea of adjusting the shocks as it will give me the ride of my choice and not the factories. Living here in Alaska and having road conditions (frost heaves etc) that are different than the lower 48 does require some adjustments.

Do you know if the 2002 will also fit the 2003 Alpine 38' front axle.

Thanks for any info. Iron Mike the other guy.

[Gary Arnold]

Mike - All Koni shocks are adjustable. Just this year they introduced the FDS (Frequency Selective Damping) for the Alpine. This is an even better improvement. What it does is provide a very small amount of dampening for things like expansion joints. Then when the bumps are more severe like the frost heaves the dampening is firmer. The FDS was introduced last year for the Foretravel and other high end coaches with a promise to upgrade all RV shocks in the future.

My shocks do not have the FDS and work great. I am sure the new FDS are even better!

There web site had a good explanation of the FSD and appears to not be working.

They are made in the Netherlands.

[Stretch]

Tom:

I stand corrected. The Bilstein shock is NOT guarenteed for life on original Equipment. It is however guarenteed for the life of the vehicle when we replace the OEM installation with their aftermarket shock.. Sort of crazy since it seems they are the same shocks.

[rmmpe]

Actually Stretch, not so crazy. Just "Cost effective".

OEM customers often get price-breaks on what they buy because they are a "Volume user".
Quite often the guarantee that goes with them is good for a more limited time than if the product is purchased privately at a higher price.

Standard business practice for many manufacturers.