Tag Axle Shocks

[HoboBob]

Hello Everyone,

This is my first post after recently buying a (new to me) 07 DSDP 4304. So be gentle, OK?

I want to thank all of you who have been posting valuable information about your experiences and knowledge of your Newmars. I have found many answers to questions I had while navigating this steep learning curve of being a new owner of a DP.

I have taken my coach into a shop to have the front end alignment checked before I decide to bite the bullet for new tires. During their inspection they found a few other things as well. A worn/chewed up torque arm bushing on the drive axle, a leaking inner wheel seal, dry king pins (apparently they need to be lubed with no weight on them to ensure the grease gets to the parts under load) and finally, two of the shocks are leaking and they suggest I replace all the shocks.

So in my reading, I have decided to go with Koni FSD on the drive axle (part# 8805-1009) and Koni Reds (part# 90-2890) on the front end.

I called and talked to Spartan Parts and they said I would NOT need the lower shock mount brackets on my Mountaineer Chassis.

Here is the problem...Spartan could not give me a part # for the Tag axle shocks. All they had was the stock Monroe #66636 and there was no cross reference for a Koni. The Parts guy I was speaking with brought up a good question...why would I want to put expensive Koni's on the Tag axle when I would probably never tell the difference? The most important was the steering axle, then the drive axle, and a distant third was the Tag with a max weight of 10K pounds.

So my questions to those of you with knowledge and or personal experience replacing shocks on a tag axle, what did you do? Which and what shock should I mount on the tag? Is it important to buy a very expensive shock for the tag?

Thanks in advance for any help. I look forward to sharing my experiences in the future. Like the one about a overfull grey tank, the floating cat litter box in the shower, and a cat who looks like he still has some psychological issues about ever using a litter box again.

Bob

[GaryKD]

Hi HoboBob,
I have not dealt with a tag axle. However, I am posting in your thread because there is a bigger issue here. Whenever as person tells me the response you were given, my reply is to ask if they will pay for premature wear because of the torture the original shocks provide the chassis? The manufacturer puts the cheapest parts allowed on the chassis. This has been shown to be true for shocks for years. My advice is get the Konis (call Koni, they have excellent support). One last point is regardless of the story mentioned by the Spartan person, their story always leads you to buy something they have. Anytime somebody has their revenue involved in providing me advice, I take their advice with a grain of salt.

[HoboBob]

UPDATE!! When I spoke to Koni, they said they did not have a replacement shock for the Mountain Master chassis Tag. Only the K2 and K3. So I then called Precision Frame & Alignment and without a pause he rattled off Koni part # 8805-1013 for the tag. When I told them Koni didn't show a cross-reference he assured me he has sent out over a dozen sets for the Mountain Master chassis and that was the one I needed for the Tag.

Gary - thanks for the advice and feedback.

["007"]

Welcome to the forum & irv2 HoboBob.
Congratulations on your Newmar many safe miles for you.

[bucks2]

The tag axle tires wear just like all the others. If they are bouncing due to bad shocks you should replace them. Tag axle tires cost the same as steering tires on my rig. If I'm changing all the others, I'm changing the tags too.

[ottffss]

The Koni's up front made night and day difference (due to softer compression valving of the Koni over the Bilsteins). Bilstein allegedly has a softer compression valved shock now. I don't know the Monroe valving profile.

If your rears (tag/drive) are NOT leaking/damaged/worn, no need to replace - why? I am still running the rock hard Bilsteins on the drive/tag (80,000 miles) and don't even notice them. I suggest you won't know any difference in changing them out either.

Save the bucks until you NEED to replace them. This is not something I'd even call a preventive maintenance task and I do tend to over PM.

[HoboBob]

ottffss- The mechanic said I had a couple of leaking shocks and suggested they all should be changed. So I went ahead and ordered two for the tag as well. It will be interesting to see how the ride feels after thay are installed.

bucks2 - Yeah, I ended up thinking the same way.

007 - Thank you!

[HoboBob]

Thought I would post an update on the Koni shocks. I had 6 new Koni shocks installed on my coach. When I drove it home from the shop, I did notice some improvement but not a vast improvement. I was hoping the cost of the Koni's would have really been noticeable.

So, today I pick up the coach from storage to prep for a trip up to the Good Sam Rally in Phoenix. Before leaving the storage facility, I checked the tire pressures. You know what I found? The shop had apparently checked the tire pressures and aired all of the rear tires to about 110 psi each, including the tag. So I dropped the pressures to 90 in the drive axle and 80 in the tag.

In the short drive to my house, what a great ride! I really felt a difference. I am excited to see how it feels during the drive to Phoenix tomorrow.

I hope the difference was the tire pressures and not my feeble mind playing tricks on me.

Bob

[Dick L]

Bob,
You have done things correct and are benefiting from your research. Air pressure is critical to ride quality. More air than you need to safely support your load will only beat your coach up and cause premature failure in other areas of the coach. As I told you when you called, I have many customers who have done the 6 Koni shock upgrade to their Mountain Master Chassis and all are completely satisfied with their purchase price versus ride quality improvment. I am happy to hear that you are satisfied as well. drive safe and happy.

[HoboBob]

Thanks for the response, Dick.. You can add me to the list of Koni-satisfied customers. I put about 400 miles on the trip to Phoenix and Wickenburg this past week. The ride was noticeably smoother. I especially noticed the difference in the front end response when traveling over expansion cracks and other abrupt changes in the road surface.

It's too bad I need to run so much air in the front tires. I think the ride would improve more if I could drop the air pressure some. I tried to get corner weights at the Rally but the parking site was a few degrees too much off level for the vender to accurately weigh. So I will wait till I can get a good weight recording before I change the air pressure.

Bottom line...I would recommend the Koni's to anyone looking to improve the ride quality of their coach.