Is there a group of Astoria Owners?

[Britcanuck]

I don't have my invoices with me but I got the shocks from Shock Warehouse in Florida. Their website walks you through finding the right shocks. Just start on the home page under Motorhomes, select Freightliner and the rest is straightforward. I'm assuming that your 2006 was built on the XC custom chassis so I looked it up. Click this link
Bilstein - KYB - Rancho - Monroe - Edelbrock Automotive Truck Shocks and Struts - Shockwarehouse.com
One thing to bear in mind is that not all bad handling is entirely the fault of your shocks. BY now a 2006 should have a 4 wheel laser alignment and if you have those lovely Goodyear 670 tires and all their issues then check them for any abnormal wear and rotate or replace as needed. The improvement I noticed in crosswinds was that although the rig got buffeted it I didn't feel that I was almost losing control and the coach quickly returned to a normal stance. It is 39 feet long and 12 feet high so that's a big profile when your are in crosswinds or get passed too close by semi's . On the whole I was very please with the replacements. Shock Warehouse was the best price of several sites I visited at that time. A local truck service shop installed them for me for 2 hours labour. There are no other parts required. It's pretty simple just a top and bottom bolt through the bushings & they're in.
I usually reply by clicking on 'quick' I must admit that it took me a while to figure out the best way to do it. Perhaps some of the senior contributors could add to that.
Good luck with your new shocks. Don't expect a miracle but things will be quite a bit better.

[Britcanuck]

Originally Posted by SteveOGilroy

We had a safetyT put on our Astoria in 2010. We now go straight and less wind impact when passed. Henderson's in Grants Pass, OR did a great job. Check them out online.

Steve

What's a safetyT. I will google it but would like to hear more about your experience

[Baldtbird.06]

Our Damon is an / Astoria Pacific very Similar at 39' 7" O/a
- Tires are recent 5 month 2014 ( yes 2015 ) Michelin w/4,000 ish miles all round. Hard to find but got a great buy locally and 2014 new...with 4 code markings.
- RV is Same 12' 7" height.

#1 My interest is.........what the $$$$ investment is going to be to possibly cure a good % of sway with Sachs or Bielstien ?

-Driving 2 lane country roads, at high elevation, in fog, and 18 wheelers who only decide to drive 75 mph at night less sway the better.
#2 Also would like to hear what Laser Balancing is all about and of course I will always ask the approx cost....At a Freightliner by Cummins ???????

thnx for any info....baldtbird.06

[Baldtbird.06]

Our Damon is an / Astoria Pacific very Similar at 39' 7" O/a
- Tires are recent 5 month 2014 ( yes 2014 ) Michelin w/4,000 ish miles all round. Hard to find but got a great buy locally and 2014 new...with 4 code markings.
- RV is Same 12' 7" height.

#1 My interest is.........what the $$$$ investment is going to be to possibly cure a good % of sway with Sachs or Bielstien ?

-Driving 2 lane country roads, at high elevation, in fog, and 18 wheelers who only decide to drive 75 mph at night less sway the better.
#2 Also would like to hear what Laser Balancing is all about and of course I will always ask the approx cost....At a Freightliner by Cummins ???????

thnx for any info....baldtbird.06

[Baldtbird.06]

Originally Posted by Britcanuck

I don't have my invoices with me but I got the shocks from Shock Warehouse in Florida. Their website walks you through finding the right shocks. Just start on the home page under Motorhomes, select Freightliner and the rest is straightforward. I'm assuming that your 2006 was built on the XC custom chassis so I looked it up. Click this link
Bilstein - KYB - Rancho - Monroe - Edelbrock Automotive Truck Shocks and Struts - Shockwarehouse.com
One thing to bear in mind is that not all bad handling is entirely the fault of your shocks. BY now a 2006 should have a 4 wheel laser alignment and if you have those lovely Goodyear 670 tires and all their issues then check them for any abnormal wear and rotate or replace as needed. The improvement I noticed in crosswinds was that although the rig got buffeted it I didn't feel that I was almost losing control and the coach quickly returned to a normal stance. It is 39 feet long and 12 feet high so that's a big profile when your are in crosswinds or get passed too close by semi's . On the whole I was very please with the replacements. Shock Warehouse was the best price of several sites I visited at that time. A local truck service shop installed them for me for 2 hours labour. There are no other parts required. It's pretty simple just a top and bottom bolt through the bushings & they're in.
I usually reply by clicking on 'quick' I must admit that it took me a while to figure out the best way to do it. Perhaps some of the senior contributors could add to that.
Good luck with your new shocks. Don't expect a miracle but things will be quite a bit better.

Sachs Shocks to Bielsteins INSTALL $ ... baldtbird.06
Our Damon is an / Astoria Pacific very Similar at 39' 7" O/a
- Tires are recent 5 month 2014 ( yes 2015 ) Michelin w/4,000 ish miles all round. Hard to find but got a great buy locally and 2014 new...with 4 code markings.
- RV is Same 12' 7" height.

#1 My interest is.........what the $$$$ investment is going to be to possibly cure a good % of sway with Sachs or Bielstien ?

-Driving 2 lane country roads, at high elevation, in fog, and 18 wheelers who only decide to drive 75 mph at night less sway the better.
#2 Also would like to hear what Laser Balancing is all about and of course I will always ask the approx cost....At a Freightliner by Cummins ???????

thnx for any info....baldtbird.06

[dsbear]

Just noticed that this thread we started about 2 yrs ago has over 13, 000 views. I'm impressed! Thanks for all of the good info that is exchanged.

[Britcanuck]

On the shock warehouse website the have a set of 4 shocks for $360 and change. I was charged 2 hour labour for installation locally. The laser alignment (not balance) was recommended to me by a tire shop owner that I know. It cost $150 and you get a printout that shows your alignment compared to OEM specs. My rear wheels were out of alignment a bit which they adjusted for me. I think the 'Safety T' that another contributor mentioned is worth a look at as all these are parts of the whole to get sway and wander under control as much as is possible. Whether or not they minimze the problem to a drivers satisfaction can only be determined once the modifications have been done. (and paid for!)

[Raytaylor25]

Britcanuck. Can you tell me why you replaced the anti-siphon valve? I have seen it but I am not experiencing any water problems at present.

[Britcanuck]

Originally Posted by Raytaylor25

Britcanuck. Can you tell me why you replaced the anti-siphon valve? I have seen it but I am not experiencing any water problems at present.

I haven't yet replaced the anti siphon valve. I posted a problem that I was having with being unable to flush my black tank. DSBEAR replied that he had same problem and had fixed it by replacing anti siphon valve. All posting about this were in January this year. I will pick one up this week and replace it and see if it fixes problem. I was talking to a Tuscany owner who had same problem and fixed same way.

[Jim Estes]

Originally Posted by dsbear

Just noticed that this thread we started about 2 yrs ago has over 13, 000 views. I'm impressed! Thanks for all of the good info that is exchanged.

We are still learning! Impressive none the less...

[gsf35099]

Originally Posted by Britcanuck

I haven't yet replaced the anti siphon valve. I posted a problem that I was having with being unable to flush my black tank. DSBEAR replied that he had same problem and had fixed it by replacing anti siphon valve. All posting about this were in January this year. I will pick one up this week and replace it and see if it fixes problem. I was talking to a Tuscany owner who had same problem and fixed same way.

I'm going to have to check into this. Mine has not worked for about a year now. Thanks.

[Britcanuck]

Many minds exchanging ideas is much more productive than one mind that figures they know it all.
G'night all

[Raytaylor25]

I recently had an Air Force One braking system installed and to facilitate the installation of a component I had to jack the rig to the highest point. Since doing that I now have a noise which is very annoying, it is a sound similar to a loose exhaust the problem is I am parked! The noise happens when we walk to the rear of the coach but it also happens when we are sitting outside and no one is in the coach (maybe ghosts!) very weird. Anyone have comments?

[Alltooledup]

Originally Posted by Jim Estes

How much air are you guys running in your tires...I have not done a 4 corner weight...I put 110 psi in all 4 yesterday...she had been sitting for a few months and was down to around 95 psi in all 4...max is 120 on the Goodyears...I suspect I am a little high but figure they will come down a few lbs in the next couple of months...

Well I did a weigh at a cat scale and they are primarily set up to do truck weighs. You cannot pull off the scale to get a wheel weight. So what I got for my Damon Astoria 3595 Single slide 37.9 feet. That had no clothing or water (its winter here now) was 8600 front axle, 13860 rear axle. total 22480. My wife and I were not in the coach as were not my tools so with some weight transfer from the water and tools and pilot and co pilot I added 600# to the front axle weight and then arrived at 4900 for the front. Michelien XRV 235x80x22.5 on my chart just downloaded jan 15 shows 4675 max weight for this tire. So I filled to 110 to achieve the max load capacity. We may be over weight on the tires but really don't know. The FAGWR is 9350 so I don't know what we are seeing.

The rear axel was13860# so halving that to 6930 +600# for water food and clothes gives 7530# So what I put in was #110 front and #90 rear which agrees with Michelein tire guide as downloaded from the web. Hopefully the most current specs. I have not driven it yet. So am not sure how this will work. It drove great with 90-95 in various tires. The tech was more concerned about comfortable ride:-( than tire life. So we will see when we are loaded, do the greatly increased front tire pressure impact the wonderful handling that I experienced at somewhere around 90#psi

I would love to know what others have used and experienced with tire pressure and how it affected handling and tire life.