Community Forums

doug ABQ · 12-04-2005, 05:11 AM

Has anyone installed Koni shocks on front of Alpine? Do you think they are better than Bilsteins. 2001 MDS 36". Do they lessen the porpise (ms?) effect and improve steering tracking? Thanks.

doug ABQ · 12-04-2005, 05:11 AM

Has anyone installed Koni shocks on front of Alpine? Do you think they are better than Bilsteins. 2001 MDS 36". Do they lessen the porpise (ms?) effect and improve steering tracking? Thanks.

chris cross · 12-04-2005, 10:20 AM

Doug: I installed Koni's (88-1458sp2) on the front last Homecoming. I also insalled Centramatics as well as new Goodyear G670's. The Koni's were intended ( I thought) to eliminate a bothersome frame sounding rattle in the front. Didn't work, rattle is still there. I can't speak to porpoising (ms?) because it never seemed to be a problem. The Koni's seem about the same as the Billstein's. However, I must say that, since Homecoming the coach has never driven better.

htg3 · 12-04-2005, 08:42 PM

Chris: We had a right front rattle which I swore was the steps, but turned out to be a bracket for the right wheelwell cover that had become unbonded. You can't tell by looking at it. You have to grab the fibreglass wheelwell forward of the tire and try to move it.
WRV rebonded mine and the rattle disappeared.

Chet Yancey · 12-05-2005, 07:07 AM

Chris,
I had the same thing as you described and the fix was the same as previous post by htg3. I rebonded the bracket and all is well.
Good luck, Chet

EngineerMike · 12-05-2005, 10:01 AM

True porpoising is (I believe) due to shot shocks. When the front end accentuates the effect of a series of dips in the road surface, that is usually a) somewhat intended by design, and b) a good thing. A properly operating shock should dampen greatly, but allow rebound of the spring to above its static height, so if, just as the rebound reaches its apogee- you enter a new dip, the coach has farther to fall than on a flat road entering a similar dip. Then the impact of the new dip is greater than it would otherwise be. But that is a function of the road surface and travel speed, not the shock. The shock is either good & doing its job (no porpoising after a single dip, BOING, Boing, boing, or the coach settles down rapidly after syncopated dips*), or there is porposing.
W/that said, I have nothing to add about your real question. Koni's have been discussed here before; try a search on "koni."

(*not to be confused w/acapella groups)