Community Forums

coachmanrvr · 06-30-2009, 07:50 PM

Got my Koni FSDs in the mail today. Probably going to be a couple of weeks before I can get them installed. I am very excited to see if they perform as well as the last Motorhome magazine article described on the Rexhall motorhome. If you are interested....8805-1021 on the front and 8805-1002 on the rear. I only ordered the front for now to see if they help alleviate the porpoising on bumpy roads.

I'll follow up with a trip report when I get them swapped out. I currently have 25K on the chassis. Still pleased with the platform!

coachmanrvr · 06-30-2009, 08:07 PM

Anyone know the bolt and nut size for the front shock? If I have the tools, I would not mind doing the swap myself. However, I think the hardware is going to be too big for me to deal with. ( I would check myself, but I leave my rig in Memphis when I travel back home every couple of weeks.)

womps · 06-30-2009, 09:15 PM

Will be very interesting to hear if it makes a big difference to the ride. I have an 2008 Monaco Cayman that I should take to the fair and charge a fee to take a ride. Hard to beleive Monaco can brag about their riding coaches and produce something like this!! Harder to believe I bought it!!

coachmanrvr · 07-01-2009, 05:28 AM

Womps, sorry to hear about your Caymen experience. My Vacationer MH is based on the UFO chassis and is not a Roadmaster product. The FSDs are supposed to improve the porpoising effect on the UFO. Maybe others can offer suggestions for your Roadmaster chassis.

Good luck.

nodine · 07-01-2009, 06:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coachmanrvr

Womps, sorry to hear about your Caymen experience. My Vacationer MH is based on the UFO chassis and is not a Roadmaster product. The FSDs are supposed to improve the porpoising effect on the UFO. Maybe others can offer suggestions for your Roadmaster chassis.

Good luck.

coachmanrvr,

The rear shocks are just as important as the fronts when it comes to stabilizing movement of the body in relation to the axles. In my humble opinion you should go ahead and order the rears and do them all at once. I replaced all 8 on our coach at the same time ($$$$

). To this day my wife and I think that to be the most important and worth while modification to our Diploamt. The ride and handling was significantly improved over the junk Monroe shocks that were stock.

Bob

Bill2 · 07-01-2009, 06:58 AM

I have a 06 HR Endeavor and have been experiencing a lot of what I call bouncing. I get a slight bounce in the front seats and on the steering wheel. The pull down window shades in front also bounce a little. I was told maybe the ride height may need adjustment. I think it is the shocks. What do all of you think???
Bill O'Dell
2006 HR Endeavor 32,000 miles

nodine · 07-01-2009, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill2

I have a 06 HR Endeavor and have been experiencing a lot of what I call bouncing. I get a slight bounce in the front seats and on the steering wheel. The pull down window shades in front also bounce a little. I was told maybe the ride height may need adjustment. I think it is the shocks. What do all of you think???
Bill O'Dell
2006 HR Endeavor 32,000 miles

Bill,

There are several things that help. Our coach rides and handles much better now than when we first got it. Putting the 8 Koni's on made a huge improvement but there was also improvement by adjusting the ride height and improvement to wander by having the front wheel bearings packed. I think this was a result of having the bearings snug after the wheel bearing pack. I believe the front wheels may have had a little movement from bearing slop before the pack.

We have the same chassis and before the Koni's we would get the same bounce when we hit bumps and also got a lot of rock and roll when exiting our driveway. Also get your coach weighed and make sure you are not running to much air pressure in your tires.

Bob

rex · 07-01-2009, 07:46 AM

You should use an air impact tool to remove the nuts. On some coaches, don't know exactly which ones, the bolt size is smaller than the hole in the Koni shock. For those you will need to make a shim from conduit.

If you have a 1/2" socket set, removing the nuts can be done, but will be much harder. It is just hard to get enough leverage, especially on the top bolts on the rear shocks. The air impact works fine and a 3/4 air impact is best. If you don't have one, perhaps you can rent one.

coachmanrvr · 07-01-2009, 08:28 AM

OK, can of worms time. I posted about the Koni's mainly for our UFO brethren, but I see suspension / ride quality is the discussion at hand. I try and do all the maintenance I can, therefore would prefer to swap my shocks. It is relatively simple, just huge by comparison with normal hand tools.

Anyway, I saw someone talked about "repacking" the front bearings? On any coach of size, the bearings will be oil lubricated and not packed with grease is my understanding. I have changed the oil in my front hubs once, due to the maintenance schedule, not ride quality. If hub bearing installation or lubrication is playing a part in your ride quality, I would think you have bigger issues at hand.

Where is Gramps when I need him....

Lash · 07-01-2009, 12:06 PM

Coachmanrvr:

I replaced my Bilsteins for Konis when I was in Bakersfield in March and the ride home to Houston was significantly improved. Love the shocks----agree though that the rears should be changed also.

Good hearing from you again and glad you still like the platform. We love ours and am glad we were able to purchase one before all went south.

Regards

nodine · 07-01-2009, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coachmanrvr

......Anyway, I saw someone talked about "repacking" the front bearings? On any coach of size, the bearings will be oil lubricated and not packed with grease is my understanding. I have changed the oil in my front hubs once, due to the maintenance schedule, not ride quality. If hub bearing installation or lubrication is playing a part in your ride quality, I would think you have bigger issues at hand.

Where is Gramps when I need him....

Not trying to start a fight here but you need to re-read my post. I mentioned that my coach had less wander in the steering after the wheel bearing pack. I believe this to be because the front hubs were not as tight as they should have been before the pack causing side to side play in the wheel. All coaches do not have hub oilers. My coach is not extremely large but is 40' 10" and weighs 31,500 lbs. That post was directed at Bill O'Dell as he has the same chassis I do and the subject was handling as well as ride quality.

I still maintain you should change the rear shocks at the same time you change the front. All the bolts can be removed with the common sizes found in a 1/2" drive set. When I changed mine out I did it myself and used a 3/8" air tool with a swivel connector for the air hose. This was a must reaching and removing the top bolts. Yours may be more accessible than mine.

Bob

-Gramps- · 07-01-2009, 08:20 PM

After talking to the rep from Precision Frame at the Gear rally a few weeks ago, I learned that changing out the front shocks on the UFO with Koni FSDs would improve the ride eleminating a lot of bounce, changing out all four would improve it more.

Bill2 · 07-02-2009, 06:56 AM

Thanks for the replies to my post about the bouncing. I am going to check the ride height first and then probably replace the shocks.
Bill

glennb100 · 07-02-2009, 03:25 PM

Don't forget the importance of proper front-end alignment and tire balancing.

I recently replaced the front tires on my coach. They were spin balanced with weights (the tire and alignment shops were adament about not using the "sand in your tires" method of balancing") and the front-end was aligned and ride height checked.

The improvement in driveability and ride comfort was dramatic