I Wore Out My Koni FSD Shocks

[Duner]

I bought my 1st set of Koni FSD shocks in 2006. For the past few years I've been noticing how much rock-in-roll there would be going out parking lots and over speed bumps. I thought I remembered just one sway sideways and then it was damped out. But I was getting sway out, back, and then out again and you'd hear the dishes sliding in the high up cabinets.

So after 105,000 miles and 16 yrs later I replaced them with 4 new Koni FSD shocks. WOW, the FSD performance is back! One rear shock was completely gone ..... I could push and pull the bad shock easily up & down. I could not force other 3 shocks up/down and seemed to have lots of damping. But my 50 lbs of force is nothing like 22,000 lbs bouncing up/down. There was zero oil leakage on any of shocks, so no indication they were worn out.

I could not find the original sales order to take advantage of the lifetime warranty. I discussed the issue with Jon at Brazel's and he told me you could ship the 4 old shocks to Koni in North Carolina and they could test them and would replace them no charge if they failed their tests. But I didn't know how long my coach would sit with no shocks and with Spring camping season coming I didn't want to miss out on any campouts. So I went ahead and bought 4 new ones from LTB Motor Sports in Florida for $170 each. My original ones from LTB were $136 each so I thought that was a really fair price.

Well, I've put 750 miles on the new Koni's and I'm really happy with the improved ride, just sad I couldn't find the original sales order receipt.

I talked to a couple of shock guys and they said a 100k miles is about all you can expect on a set of shocks. So if you've got 75k or more miles on your Koni's and you suspect the ride isn't what it used to be and you have your sales receipt, then call Koni and talk to Jason 859-586-4100. They can sell you a set of FSD's at wholesale price and you ship your old ones (on your dime) for them to test. If worn out by their standards, the will refund the charges.

Happy Trails,
Bill

[MrMark52]

I would go so far to say that anyone with a Workhorse chassis who doesn’t know if their shocks have ever been changed need to change them, Koni’s or not.

I can’t believe how many people I’ve run into on this and other websites who have no idea if the age of their shocks.
As soon as I got our previous ‘91 coach in ‘18 that had 17,000 actual miles on it - I put new shocks on it of which 2 were bad.
Then buying our current ‘02 coach in ‘21 - one of the first things I did was replace the shocks. Coincidentally - 2 were shot, and 1 was marginal.

Moral of the story - change MoHo shocks based on time, use, and environment, not miles.

[Ghost]

Good to know!

I have same parking lot/speedbump side to side rocking (sometimes fairly violent) with what I assume are the original Bilsteins, so am glad I just ordered the Koni FSDs.

[MrMark52]

For MoHo’s, it is my opinion you can’t go by mileage as to when to change - for me one should go by time. Anything g over 5 years needs to go to that great pot hole in the sky.

[Ghost]

I am hoping swapping out the Bilstein's with the Koni's is relatively straightforward. I have big wrenches and such

[MrMark52]

I ended up having to use a saws-all on mine (cut the nut off) then went to Fastenal and bought new nuts.

If I would have been more patient I would have soaked the nuts once a day with an acetone/transmission fluid mixture for 2-3 weeks.

Using the saws-all, I cut one of the flats parallel with the centerline of the bolt so as to minimize thread damage to the bolt.

[jimjenturner]

Well I changed the front shocks to the other shock first, it improved ride a little but when I put Koni shocks all the way around, WOW even my wife noticed a difference. And as far as changing them never had to even lift the RV just slid under and old off new on. Hardest part was sliding in and out to get correct tools. If I recall taking my time it took about 1 1/2 Hr.

[SteveJ.]

We bought a Safari Trek on the 1997 P30 chassis with Koni Gold shocks. It had 69k miles on it. I have no idea when they were installed. Took a trip with it and it rode pretty rough. One rear Koni was completely blown out and the others compressed way too easily. Replaced with $50 KYB Gas a Just shocks and went over some of the same roads(think I-40 in eastern OK) and the roughness in the ride was gone. Nice control on bridge deck ski jumps, also. They are currently about 18 months old and have just over 25k miles on them and are still working well. Much quieter ride without all of the jolts from the ineffective Koni shocks.

Signed: Not quite a fanboy but they really work well for less than 1/3 the price.

[Ghost]

Took me around 4 hours to swap the Bilstein's with the new Koni FSD shocks.

I took the rig to the Auto Skills Center at the Navy base where we had a spot in the Famcamp. Air ratchets !!! And a couple of mechanics that could point me in the right direction.

4 hours with tools, tech assist, etc cost $28.00.

Front nuts and bolts had to be cleaned, re-tapped, etc which was about half of the labor time.

I think the shocks were ~$760.00...

Overall, the change is dramatic.

Probably would have been significant with most brands of new shocks to be honest, but it is what it is, and we love these Koni's.

[yeloduster]

The shock absorber conversation re-emerges on a regular basis here on the forum.

The conversation usually starts something like this. "The shocks on my 15 years old motorhome are bad. The original equipment shocks are Bilstein. I replaced the shocks with Koni. What a great improvement! Therefore Koni must be better than Bilstein!

I think Bilstein shock absorbers are getting a bad rap on the forum. Ironically it may be because Bilstein is the original equipment on many motorhomes. Shock absorbers wear out! The original Bilstein shock wore out...BAD BRAND OF SHOCK! I'll replace it with something else!

The OP of this thread is testament that Koni shocks wear out too!

When I bought my 2003 Workhorse W20 the original Bilstein 15 year old shocks were wore out. I noted the consensus on this forum Koni was the best shock for bounce, sway and ride. I also did other research for actual comparison of NEW Bilstein against NEW Koni. Click on this ARTICLE. This test found that the Sachs shocks were inferior. Bilstein, Koni and Road King delivered about the same bounce, sway and ride control but the Bilstein provided a better ride.

I bought Bilstein. My new Bilstein shocks are a HUGE improvement over my worn out Bilstein shocks! I'm sure I would be just as happy with Koni but the Bilstein cost a lot less. Same control, better ride, less money, what could be better!

[Daveinet]

Originally Posted by yeloduster

The shock absorber conversation re-emerges on a regular basis here on the forum.

The conversation usually starts something like this. "The shocks on my 15 years old motorhome are bad. The original equipment shocks are Bilstein. I replaced the shocks with Koni. What a great improvement! Therefore Koni must be better than Bilstein!
...

My current motorhome had the OEM shocks replaced with Bilstein by Tiffin. I remember very well when they were replaced. While it improved the handling somewhat, they did not ride all that well, tended to be a little harsh and only a limited improvement on handling. This was when my Dad had the coach. Now I have the coach and have replaced the shocks with FSDs. I can tell you, they improved the handling noticeably, better than when the shocks had been originally replaced. The FSDs are less stiff than when the Bilsteins were new, but yet improve the side to side rocking more than the Bilsteins.

There is a logical reason for this. The Bilsteins are a conventional design. Just dampen the movement. The FSD is Frequency selective damping. What this means is that the damping is INVERSELY proportional to the rate of movement. So for bumps, where the motion is fast, the damping is light. leaning, where the motion is slow, the damping is heavy. You will find the FSDs compress fairly easy, but are difficult to extend. As I understand it, the FSD action is mostly in the rebound. This significantly helps the side to side leaning, as it prevents the inside spring from lifting the inside of the coach, keeping it more level. I've also noticed that the FSDs tend to dampen out vibration much better than conventional designs. This is likely because conventional designs, usually have light damping in the center of the travel, and get heavier as you get towards the ends of the travel.


Just another comment about wear. I found with my previous motorhome, the FSDs can be damaged by hard extending and topping out the shock. Certian coaches should have straps to limit the shock extension, as that will make the shock last much longer.

[bruceh]

My two front Konis were replaced under warranty by Redlands. No receipt was requested. I bought the original Konis from Hendersons and installed them myself.

[Ghost]

You make an excellent point - regardless of manufacturer - essentially any brand of new shock will make a significant difference particularly when the OEM shocks are prolly the shocks that came with coach new!

I opted for Koni FSD based on my research, but I am confident your new Bielsteins are as good or better!

Having new shock absorbers is just such an amazingly pleasant difference. Phew!

Now I am going to replace front bump stops with Sumo.

And I still have the rear track bar to install.

However, it is 32 degrees f and I'm old and worn out, so that won't happen until I get to Florida after Thanksgiving!

Regards and happy holidays!

Originally Posted by yeloduster

The shock absorber conversation re-emerges on a regular basis here on the forum.

The conversation usually starts something like this. "The shocks on my 15 years old motorhome are bad. The original equipment shocks are Bilstein. I replaced the shocks with Koni. What a great improvement! Therefore Koni must be better than Bilstein!

I think Bilstein shock absorbers are getting a bad rap on the forum. Ironically it may be because Bilstein is the original equipment on many motorhomes. Shock absorbers wear out! The original Bilstein shock wore out...BAD BRAND OF SHOCK! I'll replace it with something else!

The OP of this thread is testament that Koni shocks wear out too!

When I bought my 2003 Workhorse W20 the original Bilstein 15 year old shocks were wore out. I noted the consensus on this forum Koni was the best shock for bounce, sway and ride. I also did other research for actual comparison of NEW Bilstein against NEW Koni. Click on this ARTICLE. This test found that the Sachs shocks were inferior. Bilstein, Koni and Road King delivered about the same bounce, sway and ride control but the Bilstein provided a better ride.

I bought Bilstein. My new Bilstein shocks are a HUGE improvement over my worn out Bilstein shocks! I'm sure I would be just as happy with Koni but the Bilstein cost a lot less. Same control, better ride, less money, what could be better!

[CamJam1]

Also, keep in mind that the aftermarket Bilsteins are not necessarily the same as what came on the coach from the factory, as the chassis manufacturers may have specified what they wanted. Supposedly, a Bilstein engineer passed this tidbit along to a forum member here. It was mentioned somewhere in an old thread.

I have never tried the Koni FSD, but the Bilsteins I bought three years ago seem to ride fine (except for I-40 between Kingman and Flagstaff ).