How good are Road King shocks?

[CountryFit]

gents, i need your firsthand info - how are the road king shocks?

i recently bought a pair of koni adjustable shocks for my front suspension. my oem shocks were koni fsd (gold). on koni's website, it shows 88-1641sp3 adjustable shocks (red) for my neway front end. i talked to an engineer at koni, he said the fsd was weak and unadjustable, it'll have shorter life comparing with adjustable ones. so i ordered the adjustable ones.

well, after installed, it's so disappointing. the whole adjustable turns are 1.75 turns (only 3.5 half turns although doc says 5.5 half turns. called koni they said it's normal). i started at 1 full turn. my rig was porpoising violently, not much better than my oem shocks after 13 years. i turned it to 1.5 turns, well, slightly better. now i turned them to the stiffest (1.75), still not enough damping force. on highway rough surfaces, it just kept bouncing up and down almost made me throw out.

i am not sure if this is the pattern of their products or just my items being defective. i talked to their cs, they said the shocks were for many applications, it may not be suitable for every vehicle... now i would really like to look into other brands. one of them is road king. if you have hands-on experience, i really like to hear from you. thanks.

[racersedge]

best shocks you can buy for a Rv but very exspensive

[laj]

absolutely agree. put them on mine never looked back. one trip you'll forget all about the cost. far as i'm concerned you can't buy a better shock for a cc.

[Southpark]

Could folks with the Road Kings list their coaches? I've heard they are better with heavier coaches.

Moreover, could anyone with the 3" list that as well?

And are we talking smooth ride but well damped, or well damped but very firm ride?

Thanks in advance!

[CountryFit]

thanks guys for the info. at this moment, i pay less attention to cost, as i believe you get what you pay for. i'll call them tomorrow, hopefully they can tell me what model# fits my coach.

[laj]

03 resort, 3" shocks. it just floats along, very smooth well dampened. it doesn't jar the coach when hitting a bump, corners very well with no surprises. mine also greatly improved handling cross winds.

[MandG-Fun]

I put them on my coach in March, total transformation from the Bilsteins that were on there. The damping is very smooth and progressive. They are not harsh at all or overly dampened. For this reason the coach will still move around some side to side and front to rear based on the road conditions, but it is very controlled. I am very happy with them so far. I plan to keep my coach for a long time so knowing that they are rebuildable means I will never buy new shocks again.

BTW... My coach weighs in at 29K lbs.

[Dr4Film]

You may want to review this article published by Motorhome Magazine called "Shock Therapy: RV Shock Absorber Test" back in 2009 where they evaluated four different manufacturers shocks.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[MandG-Fun]

Richard,

I just took a quicks look at that article (admittedly I skimmed only) and have to question whether the valving and damping design used today v/s 5 years ago has changed at RK. These shocks are anything but harsh. I would place them more on the cushy end of the scale and my coach is probably a lot lighter in comparison to most of the guys installing the RK's.

Glenn

[CountryFit]

Originally Posted by Dr4Film

You may want to review this article published by Motorhome Magazine called "Shock Therapy: RV Shock Absorber Test" back in 2009 where they evaluated four different manufacturers shocks.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

richard, this review really helps. big thanks!

[dons2346]

I got talked into installing the Koni FSDs, waste of $$. After 25,000 miles they were no better than the Konis I took off.

Switched to Road King, huge difference and in my opinion, for a heavy coach they are the only way to go.

Made the ride feel more controlled on my 40ft CC Intrigue

[CountryFit]

Originally Posted by dons2346

I got talked into installing the Koni FSDs, waste of $$. After 25,000 miles they were no better than the Konis I took off.

Switched to Road King, huge difference and in my opinion, for a heavy coach they are the only way to go.

Made the ride feel more controlled on my 40ft CC Intrigue

super!! i remember i saw a thread that you installed rks in 2011, so your experience is time tested . will call rk soon.

[Dr4Film]

Originally Posted by MandG-Fun

Richard,

I just took a quicks look at that article (admittedly I skimmed only) and have to question whether the valving and damping design used today v/s 5 years ago has changed at RK. These shocks are anything but harsh. I would place them more on the cushy end of the scale and my coach is probably a lot lighter in comparison to most of the guys installing the RK's.

Glenn

You are probably correct in that it's time for another study of at least the main three that most people talk about for their bus style coach, Bilstein's, Koni's and Road King's. Monroe's are not even in the same ballpark and I have never heard of the Sachs shocks.

They may have come out with some new models in each brand.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[pumper9x9]

2002 36' Country Coach. Gott'em Love'em all 4 corners