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Old 06-15-2014, 10:10 AM   #29
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The Bilsteins on a new F53 are junk the day you drive it off the lot. I change ours to Konies after 700 miles, which was 700 miles too long! So if you have the cheap junk Bilsteins like came on our 13 Baystar, I would say any mileage over 1 would be the average mileage when they need replacing. I would never again drive a F53 off the lot unless the dealer replaced the junk Bilsteins out for new Konies on their dime. Other wise I would walk away. The first time I was ignorant, and thought the nice pretty Bilsteins looked like a good shock. The pretty paint job is all they have going for them. You will never have nothing but a pounding rough ride with brand new Bilsteins on a rig. They are junk the day Ford bolts the cheap pos things on. Konies are a vast improvement, its like night and day. Makes the ride tolerable, which is a vast improvement over the cheap factory supplied worthless Bilsteins!
I put 4k miles on those POS Bilsteins before changing them to the Konis. With the Bilsteins it felt like a truck. With the Koni it rides like a big luxury car. That's only changing the front ones. I still need to do the rear.
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Old 06-15-2014, 02:52 PM   #30
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A shot of a 2014 with the 700 Cat.
That's pretty, clean, and really easy to work on...
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Old 06-16-2014, 03:27 PM   #31
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KSCRUDE,
You've got to lighten up on those Bilstein shocks. They are a shock. They do fit and yes they are pretty. We ALL understand that you don't like them but you've got al2ride posting like you now.

Just kidding guys!!! If we can't laugh about life we are taking it WAY to serious.

I've e-mailed Mike at 5-Star about the awful down shifting of the V-10 tranny and that is on my wish list. Yes you two have me convinced that I really do need to get some Koni's. I wonder if I can paint them blue and yellow??

Who knows, maybe after I get them installed I'll be just as passionate about the Koni's as you two are.

Nice pictures of your PB.

Enjoyed & Thanks,
TeJay
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Old 06-17-2014, 06:44 AM   #32
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KSCRUDE,
You've got to lighten up on those Bilstein shocks. They are a shock. They do fit and yes they are pretty. We ALL understand that you don't like them but you've got al2ride posting like you now.

Just kidding guys!!! If we can't laugh about life we are taking it WAY to serious.

I've e-mailed Mike at 5-Star about the awful down shifting of the V-10 tranny and that is on my wish list. Yes you two have me convinced that I really do need to get some Koni's. I wonder if I can paint them blue and yellow??

Who knows, maybe after I get them installed I'll be just as passionate about the Koni's as you two are.

Nice pictures of your PB.

Enjoyed & Thanks,
TeJay
What! You still have Blistered...oh, I mean Bilsteins? Come to the dark side...we are waiting.

I have to admit that I didn't like the ghetto gold paint on the Koni. Wish they were blue, green, or any other color than gold. However, after the first trip you soon forget about the color.
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Old 06-17-2014, 12:44 PM   #33
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Are you both serious, why if them Konis werent gold they would not be up to standard to what they cost.
You ever seen a Cady with a plain ol paint job, no, they are gold or silver & sometimes black & only time you see one yellow or blue, it belongs to a pimp to go with that lepard skin jacket hes wearing.
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Old 06-17-2014, 12:59 PM   #34
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Are you both serious, why if them Konis werent gold they would not be up to standard to what they cost.
You ever seen a Cady with a plain ol paint job, no, they are gold or silver & sometimes black & only time you see one yellow or blue, it belongs to a pimp to go with that lepard skin jacket hes wearing.
Neil
LOL. I got lucky and got them for 119 ea., but I thought for sure the paint had real 24k flakes for the normal cost. To be honest, even at nearly 200 bucks each they are still worth it.
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Old 08-09-2014, 11:43 AM   #35
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Sooo...in 'general', if wanting a 'softer' ride on highways, should the rear air bags (don't have front ones) be LOWER pressure? I mean that makes sense right? Oh, and with lower pressure the coach rides lower, so that would mean less sway and a better ride, right?

(All other things being set properly such as tire pressure and load placement)

I'm just asking because I'm about to head out on a short trip and as I was filling the air bags I saw high much higher the coach rose as I was putting in pressure and thought, "Jeepers, maybe I should keep the pressure much lower, say, 25 lbs, to see if there's less side to side movement, since it will ride lower". Does that make sense?

Thanks!
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Old 08-09-2014, 12:09 PM   #36
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so that would mean less sway and a better ride, right?
Hi TriMoot,

Afraid I can't answer your question but noted the age of your RV which is similar to mine. I installed new bushings on the sway bars (front and rear) and this made a massive improvement to my rig. However; I understand that they are all different - just a cheap/easy idea for you.
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Old 08-09-2014, 02:02 PM   #37
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TriMoot,
As with any suspension upgrade every coach will react different to any mod. There are few (if any) improvements that will consistently give similar results. That is because of all the variables between coaches: Length, overhang, tires, pressures, loading etc, etc.
On our last coach I installed them on all 4 wheels. I also had the compressor and dash mounted gauges. I could add or remove air on the go. It was added on fronts or rears. That's the way to go But today it is a lot more expensive that what I paid back in 2000. These days I'd just install the air bags and make it so each bag is filled individually. Here's the reason why.

If you install the fronts and put a "T" so you can fill both fronts at once there's a problem. If you hit a dip or bump with the left front tire and compress that air bag what happens to the air being pushed out?? Because of the "T" It is forced into the other air bag which will raise the coach. Raising the right side of the coach really does nothing to the ride except cause it to rock and roll. IMHO if the left bad compresses and that side dips then the right bag expands and raises that side. It's amplifying the roll and making it worse. The left side goes down and the right side goes up. I don't think we want that. They have/had check valves ($100 each) to prevent the air from a compressed bag effecting the other bag. Why not just run separate lines to each so that won't happen.

Now on to the air bag pressures. I read that 20-25 in the front is good. And around 30-50 in the rears. Just experiment with different pressures as see what fits your situation best.

Those bags are really designed to level your coach due to loading/sagging spring etc, etc. It will improve the ride and handling as well. I will add them sometime to improve the ride. We'll see.

TeJay
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