Koni shocks & Steering

[Mwoodofd]

Pat, I'm not sure - it is confusing tying to look on line for Koni for my model. The Koni Web Site shows the front shocks for a 96 - 04 year model, and hopefully calling them will produce a better list than that.

I will call Koni and find out what is available for my front end. I would like to try them if one is available. I see the posts that others Aspire owners post about Koni's, but have not see a post about the 2013 year (unless I missed it).

[FreshAir]

Originally Posted by Mwoodofd

Pat, I'm not sure - it is confusing tying to look on line for Koni for my model. The Koni Web Site shows the front shocks for a 96 - 04 year model, and hopefully calling them will produce a better list than that.

I will call Koni and find out what is available for my front end. I would like to try them if one is available. I see the posts that others Aspire owners post about Koni's, but have not see a post about the 2013 year (unless I missed it).

Mark, I'm not sure if the 13 and 16 have the same shocks. If not it may be because of a change in front axle load weight change in 2016. My 2016 I-beam axle has this shock. BTW, you'll never find it on line as Koni never had a cross to our Aspire Bilsteins until I got Spartan and Koni talking last year.

Front , Bilstein PN 24-187015,= Spartan PN 0546-SS5-001,= Koni PN 8805-1018.

You can verify this by crawling under the front and if you have a Bilstein shock then look at the lower portion of the shock for a black labeled # of 187015. It may be dirty and will wipe off if not careful when you try to clean it. Also, EC support should be able to tell you the shock type and PN on your 13. Spartan assigns their own PN and can tell you that. You need the VIN #.

If you have the same Bilstein # or the same Spartan # then your good for the above Koni #
Be careful when talking with Spartan parts as they will likely not be able to cross any numbers and will say they can't help you. I've been there. Here is a good contact and the E-mail sent to me from Spartan. Talk to David as he did the research with Koni to come up with the Koni #. Also the price included free shipping.
Good luck and let me know if your 13 is the same as the 16. Hope this helps.

Pat

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: David.Martens@spartanmotors.com
To: patmtgreen@aol.com
CC: Todd.Lahr@spartanmotors.com
Sent: 5/19/2016 1:39:45 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time
Subj: Koni Shock Part #

Pat,
The part number for the front Koni shocks is 8805 1018, the price is $165.50 each, and they will need to be ordered from us. There is a lead time on those shocks.
When you are ready to order, please contact Todd in our Parts department @ 800-722-3025.

Regards,

David Martens

Customer and Product Support (CPS) Technician

OFFICE 800-543-4277, Option 1 RV

EMAIL david.martens@spartanmotors.com

WEB Spartan Motors Home - Command Your Road

Spartan Motors Home - Command Your Road

[gjw]

Originally Posted by Mwoodofd

Greg, I will be a Spartan Thursday/Friday - let us know how those work for you. Chuck1957, glad to hear - I will most likely add to my work order.

Haven't had that much road time on the new shocks yet but so far they were a dream to drive with. Of course spartan also found that our ride height was off and our coach was out of alignment so between the new shocks correct ride height and correct alignment the coach is driving like it never has before.



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[gjw]

Quick follow up. After getting our corner weights from Spartan it turned out we were doing really well. Our side to side weights were only out about 50 pounds max between one axle or another. Based on the Michelin charts-we were over pressurized on all of our rear axles. We were under pressurized on the front axle. Based on our weight, and Spartan recommendations, and the Michelin charts for our size tires, we should have placed mid 70s on the rear axles. And we should have placed 125 psi on the front axle. Spartan indicated that pressures in the 70s for the rear axles was not something they would recommend. They suggested 80 to 85 psi. I placed all of my rear axles at 85 psi. I pumped my front axle up to 125 psi. I was expecting an extremely harsh ride because I had been traveling with 115 in the front axle. I never experienced that harsh ride the new koni shocks appear to be doing their job.
It's slightly hard for me to put a finger on which fix was the best fix. While spending about a month in the Elkhart area we had quite a few things done to the coach. Gone are the worthless Villa seats-these were replaced by Flexsteel's-oh so much better. The suspension work the spartan people did I believe has made A world of difference-a ride height was out our front end alignment was out spartan fixed both of those for us. Also we added the koni shocks... so between all of those things now I only have six hours of butt time in the seat but I'm a happy camper-driving has never been more pleasurable… I feel I need still need to investigate the difference between tag axle pressures and drive axle pressures but that's the next phase so far so good…


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[Mwoodofd]

Update on my steering, had the laser alignment & weigh at Spartan. The technician said that the front needed a slight toe in on each side, and the drive and tag need slight adjustments. I can definitely tell a difference in the steering and tracking of my coach. I have not had a chance to look into a Koni for my chassis. We drove in some 20 mph cross winds coming home, and I suppose a cross wind is something you cant fix when it is that strong. Very happy with my service trip there and the Spartan team.