Community Forums

mike_tee · 03-12-2021, 04:56 PM

I have a new to me 07 45' country coach intrigue that damn near bounced off the 5 freeway yesterday. This is the exact opposite behavior from what I expected from a tag coach with new tires. Bridge transitions are/were horrible and the bounces were downright scary. My speed was always between 50 and 65, usually 62. I think the shocks are original, so I am considering ordering koni EVO for the front and koni FSD for the rear.

I drove a non tag 07 Monaco Camelot for 5 years. Year 1 had original bilsteins that were almost as bouncy as my CC. I installed road kings on that particular coach and it calmed the bounce quite a bit. I still wanted a bit more firmness, but it never came close to bouncing as much as I bounced yesterday. I think we might have even jumped once according to DW. I despise California roads, but I know it can feel better.

I read in another shock thread that tire pressure could help. I have new toyo 315s that are at 125. Maybe lowering a few pounds might help. Coach weighs 41k, so I don't want to go too low. 115?

I have until Monday to decide an action plan, so any comments and/or ideas would help. I am about to travel cross country, so I want to spend more time enjoying the road vs. slowing down at every bridge transition.

Ray,IN · 03-12-2021, 08:53 PM

Without axle weights a cogent answer is impossible, especially tag axle weight. Front axle weight can be affected by tag axle air pressure to air springs.
Since you do not have axle weights, run the air pressures specified on the Federal Tire Placard in your MH, NOT what is on the tire sidewall.(assuming OEM size/load rating tires.

mike_tee · 03-13-2021, 11:34 AM

Thanks for your information. My mistake for mentioning tires in the post/question. For me, that is the part that I know most about, but I was hoping people would share their experience on ride issues and and how they solved them. Hopefully, this thread doesn't go extinct now.

If anyone has any anecdotal experience or has additional information on the topic, I would love to hear since my decision needs to be made Monday.

Twomed · 03-13-2021, 11:50 AM

I'm running 105# with almost 15k on the front...can't imagine 125 in my 315s

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike_tee

I have a new to me 07 45' country coach intrigue that damn near bounced off the 5 freeway yesterday. This is the exact opposite behavior from what I expected from a tag coach with new tires. Bridge transitions are/were horrible and the bounces were downright scary. My speed was always between 50 and 65, usually 62. I think the shocks are original, so I am considering ordering koni EVO for the front and koni FSD for the rear.

I drove a non tag 07 Monaco Camelot for 5 years. Year 1 had original bilsteins that were almost as bouncy as my CC. I installed road kings on that particular coach and it calmed the bounce quite a bit. I still wanted a bit more firmness, but it never came close to bouncing as much as I bounced yesterday. I think we might have even jumped once according to DW. I despise California roads, but I know it can feel better.

I read in another shock thread that tire pressure could help. I have new toyo 315s that are at 125. Maybe lowering a few pounds might help. Coach weighs 41k, so I don't want to go too low. 115?

I have until Monday to decide an action plan, so any comments and/or ideas would help. I am about to travel cross country, so I want to spend more time enjoying the road vs. slowing down at every bridge transition.

mike_tee · 03-14-2021, 01:57 AM

Thanks for that advice. I had my 07 monaco at 110 and it seemed to work pretty well. Front axle was 13.5k

I will definitely be dropping down from 125. First, I will go down to 115 and see how that works.

Would you recommend going through with the new shocks? The bouncing that I am referring to is a low frequency bump, not high frequency chatter over cracks. I guess one would call it Porpoising?

RichardE · 03-14-2021, 06:21 AM

Weigh the coach and set tire pressures.

Make sure the ride height is correct both front and rear. If the ride height is too low or too high, it affects the air pressure in the bag, which effectively changes the spring rate.

After getting these two no expense items correct, decide if you need to throw money at it with new shocks.

scbwr · 03-15-2021, 11:37 AM

Can you tell if the shocks are original or have they been replaced? If they are the original, I would change them and I don't think you could go wrong with the Koni shocks.

Agree with getting axle or 4 corner weights and adjusting tire pressure to tire manufacturer's inflation table.

With the rig being new to you, I would also get the front end aligned.

And, have you had the entire suspension system checked over to make sure there aren't any other problems that need correction?

Good luck and enjoy!

rvbiker45 · 03-16-2021, 07:16 AM

It sounds like the tire pressure is very high for your MH to ride comfortably. On my aluminum wheels there is a caution to not inflate the tires over 120 #. Different coach, I realize, but check your wheels for that caution as an indication that you are over inflated.
You can get the MH weighed at any big truck service station. There is now an app for CAT scales so you can get the weights without having to get out of the coach. As others have stated, you need the weights to correctly set tire pressure. Very good chance that is where your hard-hitting issue is located.
I could be wrong, but the MH is riding on the air bags and the shocks have little or nothing to do with the ride comfort. They are there to dampen the porpoise that is created when hitting an impression in the road. If getting more than about one porpoise, you may need to change shocks.
Safe travels on your trip.

mymyst · 03-16-2021, 07:40 AM

I highly recommend new Koni EVO99 shocks for front end at the least. I had a horrible ride on my brand new Entegra Cornerstone, 1000 miles in I changed out the crappy front Bilstein's for the EVO99's, it calmed the porpoising down remarkedly so.

vito.a · 03-16-2021, 11:55 AM

I would first weigh the front axle. My guess is with an Intrigue and 315 front tires you should be in the 105psi range. The difference is dramatic.

Then I would install Koni shocks on just the front and test it.

Dutch Star Don · 03-16-2021, 04:34 PM

I replaced the shocks on both my 2014 Dutch Star and my 2019 Dutch Star in the first three months. Both got Koni EVO's up front and Koni FSD's on the rear and tag. It was a big difference in ride quality, especially eliminating the short freeway chop in the front end.

My 2005 Monaco Diplomat with 8 shocks, got Koni FSD's all the way around and really changed how that coach handled.

Change the shocks, get it weighed and adjust the tire pressure.....it should handle really well after that. Being an older coach, I would also get a three axle alignment so you know everything is correct.

mike_tee · 03-31-2021, 11:42 PM

I finally have an update after traveling from Vegas to Houston. Before leaving, I replaced all 8 shocks. Koni EVO up front, Koni FSDs on drive axles, and whatever CC recommends for the tag. To be honest, I am not really thrilled with the difference. The previous shocks were originals with 75k miles on them. I lowered tire pressure to 115.

My alignment seems good. On average/smooth roads, I am pretty straight and find the ride as good or better than my 40 ft Monaco Camelot. In 20ish mph winds, I am still pretty good and have no complaints. Road cracks and potholes are no issue at all. Really good, in fact.

My main issue is when I hit bumps, and when I say bumps, I don't mean speed bumps, I mean the long slow roller coaster like bumps that you frequently get at the end of a bridge transition, or the occasion "whoop" in the southwest desert highways. One example, on the 10 in Houston, there is a section of elevated freeway that has "joints" every 100 feet, or so it seems. I had to slow the coach down to 40ish mph and I still felt like I was sitting on a kids bouncy ball. I think that is the best description that I can think of to describe what I would like to fix. Sitting and bouncing on a kids bouncy ball. I must be going up and down almost a foot!

I will weigh my coach in the next week, but for now, Country coach says that I weigh 43,600 with full water, full LP, and 4 passengers. I travel with full gas instead of full water. With that, I have 4,000 lb ccc. I know I have about 2k on board, so within the limits, but not saying much since I don't know front vs back weights. On the intrigues, the fuel is midship, or just ahead of the drive axle, so not adding much front weight.

I drove my monaco across country with bad shocks that were eventually replaced with road kings, but even with the bad shocks, I didn't have nearly as much bounce, probably half.

Any ideas? Thank you for all comments so far

RichardE · 04-02-2021, 06:43 AM

Hmmmm, sorry the new shocks didn’t improve the situation. Not saying this is the problem, just asking if it could be a possibility. Could it be the air ride seat is different than what you are used to? Mine has different damper settings to control the rate of rebound. If I set it up too loose, I ride the bouncy ball as you describe.

Twomed · 04-02-2021, 07:14 AM

Can only guess that you passed close to 500 CAT scales on that trip...get it weighed for $12 instead of guessing on tire pressures. CAT has a good " how too" on their web site.