HELP!! new Bilstein shocks unacceptable to us...what to do?

[tallguy]

After 50K miles I decided it was time to replace the original Monroe shocks on my 2004 W-22 Pace Arrow. What a mistake! The ride is so hard I'm worried about damage to the coach...doors and drawers that haven't come open since our trip to Alaska have been coming open, the braces holding the corners of the shower enclosure have broken, so many squeaks our 110-pound Golden Retriever climbed onto the dash to escape them...you get the idea.

Is such a harsh ride typical of Bilsteins?

I had these installed by Camping World. Checked with Bilstein Customer Service to be sure the correct shocks were installed; they were. The old shocks have been thrown away, so aren't available for re-use.

Any advise for how to proceed will be gratefully accepted. TIA.

[tallguy]

After 50K miles I decided it was time to replace the original Monroe shocks on my 2004 W-22 Pace Arrow. What a mistake! The ride is so hard I'm worried about damage to the coach...doors and drawers that haven't come open since our trip to Alaska have been coming open, the braces holding the corners of the shower enclosure have broken, so many squeaks our 110-pound Golden Retriever climbed onto the dash to escape them...you get the idea.

Is such a harsh ride typical of Bilsteins?

I had these installed by Camping World. Checked with Bilstein Customer Service to be sure the correct shocks were installed; they were. The old shocks have been thrown away, so aren't available for re-use.

Any advise for how to proceed will be gratefully accepted. TIA.

[Brazels RV Performance]

Get your money back & we can get you some Koni's...

[Belgian]

We replaced our Monroes with Bilstein shocks also. About 2 months later they came out with the Koni's. After 6,000 (hard) miles I changed the Bilsteins for the Koni's. The Koni's are the way to go.

[Jeepster47]

Ditto... I'v got a set of 4 Bilsteins for sale.

Ed

[Rocky 2]

Ditto...Ditto, I have a set of 4 for sale, oh heck, I'll give them away.

[tropical36]

It absolutely baffles me as to how a shock can be so stiff as to overcome the spring suspension itself. I mean thats the only way, I can see this happening. How do they do an install with something like this? Must have a special machine press to open and close them until the fit is just right...would be my guess. I even hear of this on the rear. Now, it's really gonna be hard to convince me that they are stiffer than a set of leaf springs...mercy!
Anyway, I have them on my coach, and don't have a problem, but then P32 coil springs (front) are pretty wishy washy anyway, so a little stiffness is a helper. We're talking a couple of gas tubes trying to minimize the bounce of way over 2 tons here. Granted the Koni's are the shock of preference, mainly because they seem to collapse easily and stiffen greatly on opening, which is a great design. The Bilsteins are stiff in either direction, it seems.

[tech@brazelsrv]

We have found that the Bilstein shocks, being gas charged are alway pushing upward, and dampen on the downstroke, this transmits the shockwave all the way up through the shock and to the chassis. The Koni's use hydraulic dampening on the upstroke instead, generally giving a softer ride and absorbing that shockwave.

[Marty & Yani]

Koni's have a Much better ride.

Marty

[tallguy]

I took my coach back to the shop that installed the Bilstein shocks, as the first step in getting my money refunded. They claim the hard ride isn't the fault of the shocks but rather by weak springs. They showed me how the chassis is sitting on the bump stops. I had the coach weighed today; it's well within the published load limits on each axle.

Should a coach on a W-22 chassis, within the weight limits, sit on the bump stops?

[DriVer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by tallguy:
They claim the hard ride isn't the fault of the shocks but rather by weak springs. They showed me how the chassis is sitting on the bump stops. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>The bump stops you are referring to are not that at all but are "like air" auxilliary springs. They are designed to trap air inside the chamber and cushion severe blows to the suspension.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Should a coach on a W-22 chassis, within the weight limits, sit on the bump stops? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>It isn't all that out of the ordinary for the suspension to be sitting on the like air springs. The harshness you are feeling with the Bilsteins may be inherent to their design. You may want to consider alternatives.

[Korryp]

Had the Koni's installed yesterday and the ride is 100% better. Can't believe I waited this long to change.

[tallguy]

DriVer,

My service writer (at my dealership) gave me a Workhorse document that described the "Like-Air" auxiliary spring system. This document also states that since late production 2004 model year custom tuned Bilstein shocks have been installed. Do you know, or can you find out, if these are special shocks, different from what Bilstein suggests for the W-22 chassis and what Camping World would have installed? Maybe I've got the wrong shocks, which would certainly explain my problem.

Thanks!