Best Shocks

[J Stemler]

Will be replacing shocks on my 99 35C, F53, this year. Any info on which is better, Monroe Gas magnum or the Blisteins. Seem to remember seeing something a while back about Monroe being better for the Ford chassi...any comments or suggestion will be appreciated

[J Stemler]

Will be replacing shocks on my 99 35C, F53, this year. Any info on which is better, Monroe Gas magnum or the Blisteins. Seem to remember seeing something a while back about Monroe being better for the Ford chassi...any comments or suggestion will be appreciated

[abn]

I have not had them put on yet, but I purchased Bilsteins for my 02 SunCruiser. It has the Ford chassis.

From what I was told the Monroe's provide a softer / bouncer ride whereas the Bilsteins provide a firmer ride.

I wanted to reduce the side sway so I went with the Bilsteins.

[ichn2go]

I went with the Monroes. While they are said to be softer than the Bilsteins, I found them to be a lot stiffer than the original equipment. The Monroes will be a great improvement and I think you would be happy with them. They are not bouncy at all and stiff enough to stop the sway.
I was and I know several people that used the Monroes and liked them just fine. They are cheaper than the Bilsteins..I loved my 35C and I know you enjoy yours also....Good Miles

[ISLAPP]

Moved to Ford Forum for better exposure.
Mike

[ISLAPP]

I personally think it is almost impossible to say which is best unless you have tried both on the same rig. I went with the Bilsteins because I liked them on a F350 dually that I had. Now having said that, I have not tried the Monroes so they may be just fine also. I do believe the Bilsteins will give you more a firmer ride. But is that good or bad? Define "firmer". Bilsteins claims is that you will not get that up and down movement as much as you would with the Monroes. But I think it comes down to your personal preference and that is hard to determine without trying them both.
So I guess you will be fine with either ones. Anything is better than the OEM'S!
Mike

[Mark Bento]

I think that around 01 or 02 ford changed the shocks that they were placing on the F53 unit. they went this the Bilsteins as oem's I would think that this was done because of all the bad reviews they were getting with the shocks that they were using. awhile back on this forum this topic came up and I think it came out that the monroes were best for the workhorse and the bilsteins were beter for the ford as the ford unit had more wgt.

I have not had any of these put on my unit as of this time. I feel that the ride so far is ok with just some tire pressure ajustment on mine. I feel that this for you will be a choice you will have to make based on what you feel is right for you and how you feel about both com. that we are talking about

just my 2 cents
Mark

[ISLAPP]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mark Bento:
I think that around 01 or 02 ford changed the shocks that they were placing on the F53 unit. they went this the Bilsteins as oem's
Mark </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
It was very late '02 that they switched. I think my chassis missed it by about 2 months.
That's shy when I bought the rig in Nov 03,
I complained to the Ford service center of excess side to side sway and porpoising. They put the Bilsteins on free under warranty.
Mike

[N8XV]

I've had both Monroe and Bilstein on a 2000 35U. Yes the Monroe ride softer, but handling IMO was poor (cross winds, passing trucks, body roll on corners, etc.) The Bilstein much stiffer ride on rough pavement, but again IMO handing was no more an issue. As rough pavement is a small percentage of our travels, I'll take the Bilstein over the Monroe any day.

[J Stemler]

Thanks for all the info....and thanks to the moderator for putting my post in this new forum....I was not aware of it...thought my post got lost...so I posted it again before I got your email

[ISLAPP]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by J Stemler:
thanks to the moderator for putting my post in this new forum....I was not aware of it...thought my post got lost...so I posted it again before I got your email </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's quite alright. As you have probably seen, this forum is new this week. We are hoping to keep the forums topics specific to that forum header, so sometimes we like to move things around so that you get better exposure to your post. Like I mentioned earlier, that also helps others that may be thinking about the same as you.
Mike

[tom wilson]

i had rancho adjustable shocks on a previous motorhome and love the adjustable feature. i now have bilstiens on my 1996 kountrystar and wish they were stronger on rebound control.

[LVJ58]

Our 2000 coach on the F53 chassis had an extremely harsh ride up front until I replaced the front shocks with the Monroe HD gas magnum RV shocks. It resulted in a gratly improved softer, more comfortable ride. Will most likely replace the rear shocks with bilsteins.

[ajbjrvers]

TO: Tommy Wilson;

The only shock that I know of that has more control than Bilsteins are the KONI'S. If they have a shock for you unit it will cost, but the results will amaze you, the other option and probably the better one, if you have a Ford, would be to add a leaf to your springs. This would solve rebound and improve over-all handleing. Your rig is 10 years and metal fatigue has set in.

Let me know if this info useful ..


Thanks==== AJBJRVERS++++++ AIME