Shock life

[Pepper2]

I have 20K on my Sightseer. Is there a general rule as to when the shocks should be replaced? And if so what shocks get you the biggest bang for your buck? The reason I'm asking is 18 wheelers are pushing me around and on some roads I do a lot of rocking.

[gaugeguy]

That's a tough question.
Generally speaking, a shock should be replaced when it is leaking or bent. You can test them on cars and pickups by putting all your weight on the bumper at each corner and "bouncing". Each shock should go down with the initial weight and then rebound and stop. If one continues to bounce, it has an internal leak and should be replaced. Tough to do on a big RV, though.
Some shocks last for tens-of-thousands of miles. Others, only a few thousand. The more abuse they take (continuous rough roads), the shorter the lifespan.
I prefer Monroe, but there are other good brands out there.
I hope I didn't confuse you more!

[LVJ58]

Pepper2, Don't know what year chassis you have, however if it isn't a late model f53 chassis it may be lacking a "Trac-Bar" on the front suspension.

Our coach is a 2000 and came without a Trac-bar, on the front suspension. Later I had one installed and it virtually eliminated the sideways shove from semi's when overtaking and passing. Now it's just a gentle nudge when they pass.

As for shocks, our factory OEM shocks were a joke so shortly after we bought our coach I replaced them with Monroe HD Gas magnum shocks which vastly improved the ride.

Later, after reading about the Koni FSD shocks I replaced the Monroe's with the Koni's for an even better ride. Fortunately we never had an excessive "rocking" problem with our coach.

There are a few folks on the forum who installed the Koni FSD's with no ride improvement, and they are expensive $150+ each.

Good luck and safe travels

[Mr_D]

I've got Koni's all around, the older adjustable on the front and FSD's on the rear. They don't make FSD's for our front axle yet even though I was told over two years ago that they were due out shortly.

I have the front adjustable ones dialed down to the lowest position and it's still rougher than we'd like.

Tempted to try the new Bilstein Comfitrac® ones on the front since they do make them for our 14,600# axle. They're only about $100 each.

[garym114]

What year ??

[WeatherTodd]

bilsteins are the best value for the cost. Roughly $85/shock for most chassis.
Come with a lifetime warranty... so save your old shocks as youll have to send them back to bilstein for service. Which brings me to another point... bilsteins can be serviced and customized to your coach weight.

[Mr_D]

I got a price of approx $100 for the Comfitrac® so they might cost more then the regular ones.

[jrd48]

Don't forget to check your rear sway bar bushings. Mine were shot at 20k. Replaced them with poly bushings from ebay.

[Topflite51]

I am one of those that got nothing from FSD's except a lighter pocketbook. Check your sway bars good improvement to the ride is new polyurethane bushings for them, the cheapest place for obtaining them appears to be from some guy on EBAY. Most likely your OEM shocks are shot or close to it, Monroe RV Magnums or Bilsteins (standard or the Comfort series). Another good ride improvement is air bags front and rear. Adding a front or rear or both trac bars will also help. A steering aid system like Steer Safe/Safety Steer can't hurt either.

Now it all depends on exactly how much money one wants to spend on ride improvemnt.

[Hikerdogs]

The OEM shocks on our 2001 Adventurer were shot at 22,000 miles. 3 had absolutely no resistance and the 4th was leaking. We replaced them with Bilsteins. The coach now has well over 90,000 miles and all the shocks are still in good shape.

In 2003 the F53 chassis came standard with Bilstein shocks (yellow as opposed to black OEM shocks that came on the 2002 and earlier chassis) which carry a limited lifetime warranty. The warranty does not cover the mounting bushings only the shock absorbers and their internal parts.

If your motorhome is built on a 2003 chassis I'm sure the shocks are still in fine shape. If it's built on the 2002 chassis (black shocks) it's probably long past time to replace them

[Pepper2]

It's a 2003. Put it in inside storage 2 weeks ago. Will have to stop by and check the year of chassie, color of shocks etc. Have been rving for three years now and still like a newbie. Thanks to all. And happy trails!