SHOCKS

[Denny Wagaman]

I have a'05 40' Beaver Monterey w/4 slides.  I have experienced porposing (more than I thought it should do) since I bought it new.   The dealer said there wasn't a problem.  But now with 32K miles the porposing has worsened.  I've called several different companies for quotes and recommendations on what brand they use and most say Koni. But the prices vary.  When I questioned one Camping World as to which Koni they were using they said the "same we have been using for a couple (or) three years and is the newest one out".  They were the least expensive ($1764). Guaranty  said that Road King was receiving rave reviews and is $4400 installed. Bend Service Center quoted a price for the "new Koni"  at about $2600.  

I would like to hear about your experiences and having new shocks installed.
Thanks!

Denny Wagaman

[Joel Ashley]

I as yet haven't had new shocks installed, but perhaps can offer a little insight regardless.

There was supposedly a short period where Monroes were used at the factory, '05-'06.  Our Monterey had some issues since new, and we thought that's the shock we had.  Turned out ours were Bilsteins afterall (the colors are similar to Monroes), and the major problems were from a poor installation at the factory, including some support linkage goofs, not to mention super-bad shock mounting that was totally out of whack.  Bend's techs refitted everything and solved most of the problem, except for an improper alignment/realignment by the Redmond Les Schwab.  I've had minimal issues with porpoising since.  Goodyear in Portland used their advanced balancer to get out the vibration that had been misdiagnosed as "out-of-round" tires. The Les Schwab or factory wheel weights were waaaayyyy off.

Most seem to think the Koni FSD is the shock to have, but there are those that tell me not to spend the dough to switch out my Bilsteins until they reach their service life;  they say the difference isn't worth it.  If our shocks had been the Monroes, however, we likely would have replaced them with Koni FSDs at Bend or at Henderson's Line-up Shop.

Even though your problem is porpoising and apparently not vibration, it's possible you have the same issue we did - improper factory shock installation.  Resulting wearing at sloppy shock mounts could be making things worse with time.  Or yours may be the rare coach to get Monroes at the factory.

I'm sure others with actual new-shock experience will give you more info here.  Click on "Search" at the top of the Forum page, enter "Shocks", and you will probably find plenty of previous threads discussing the issue, including Van Huyck's post about a similar issue to yours.

-Joel

[Michael Kauffman]

[size=14]I bought a 98' Patriot 37' with 54K miles 2 months ago.  I flew to Phoenix to pick it up and drove it "as is" back to Seattle.  The first thing that I noticed was the porposing.  On I-5 in northern CA there were times that I thought that it was going to plow the nose into the ground.  

That did it for me.  I put new Michelin's and Koni FSD's on the coach 3 weeks ago.  We finally got to try it out on a short 200 mile round trip this weekend.  This was on WA freeways and it had absolutely NO porposing.  What a nice ride it is now compaired to before, like night and day.  Whether it's the tires, shocks, or both together, it just great.

Good luck to you, Mike, Issaquah WA[/size]

[215]

I put Koni's on the front end after the first year of ownership.  That put an end to the porposing.  I am very pleased with them.  The second year I put them on the rear.  It was not a noticable improvement like the front was.  Try it - you'll like it.

[Larry and Heidi Lee]

I ordered 8 KONI FSD's for my 2005 Monterey but they are on backorder coming in from Holland next week. The pricing from KONI direct is as follows. Front 8805-1004 SP1 $189 each Rear 8805-1005 SP1 $189 Each
I sure hope they are as good as everyone says...

[Larry Fisk]

I had Koni adjustable shocks installed on our 2005 Patriot Thunder after driving it over the frost heaves of the Alaska Highway. It porpoised so badly we had to slow way down to stay in our seats. The Koni shocks made a big difference on the way south. I had to have them installed because the mounting brackets on the front had to be notched out so they would fit. Also we installed them on the front only and as I said it was a noticeable difference.

[Jerry Pattison]

Koni FSD!!!

[Larry and Heidi Lee]

I just finished installing the eight Koni FSD's on my 05 Monterey 34. The bolts holding the original Bilsteins in the rear were so tight I had to use a 1" breaker bar to get them off! Half inch air guns were useless. I took the coach for a 50-65mph 20 mile test drive on varied highway surface conditions and couldn't really feel that much of a difference. I was disappointed that I didn't feel much additional sway control as I was hoping for although the porpoising seemed to be controlled much better. Maybe after a couple hundred miles I will be able to make a better assessment. Knowing what I know now I should have replaced just the front shocks and saved for a future tire purchase.

If anyone is looking for a perfectly good set of eight Bilsteins (25K miles) let me know.
Bilstein PN462093 Eye to Eye mount

[Larry Fritz]

We replaced all of our Biltstein with Koni two years ago on or 98 Beaver Patriot 37'.  I wanted to improve porpoising expecially on California roads.
The result was that "we cannot tell a stitch of difference" in the ride or handling after driving all over the western USA. So turned out to be a waste of money for us.
It was not tires because we replaced Goodyear with Toyo a few years prior and that did not do anything for porpoising either.

Larry and Grace Fritz
98 Beaver Patriot 37' Ticonderoga
Adams, NE 68301

[Mary Collins]

We have an air seat for the driver. On bumpy roads it bounced so much that it was difficult to control the throttle. The coach also tended to porpoise. We recently had 8 Koni FSD's installed and even over bumpy roads the ride is significantly smoother, does not porpoise, and the throttle control is easier.

[Jerry Pattison]

Told Ya!  

[Karl Welhart]

I just replaced my shocks with Koni FSD.  This was not an easy job.  Several nuts would not come off with impact wrench.  Had to use a long breaker bar and extension.  Also, had to cut a hole in the inside steps to get a bolt out that was put in from the wrong side.  Everything is back together and will see how it rides.  My coach took four (4) for the front but only two 92) in the back.  Koni told me it took four (4) in the back.  Anyway, this job is NOT for the "shad-tree" mechanic.  Almost forgot the worse thing, the front FSDs bolt bushing were too wide and had to be ground down in order to fit in the brackets.

[Huyck, Van]

We have an 05 36' Monterey.  From the first day I test drove it I thought the porpoising was unacceptable.  Lots of bounce and lots of sway.  At the 2009 FMCA Rally in Perry, Ga.  I had all 8 original shocks (I do not know what kind they were) swapped out by Precision Frame & Alignment from Elk River, MN.  The cost was $1449.62.  The value was maybe 10 times that much.  Before I got out of the field at Perry I knew that it was money well spent.  There's not a day goes by that I don't thank my stars that I got the KONI FSD shocks.  The part number on the front shocks was 8805-1004, and the back ones is 8805-1005.

We now have a coach instead of a bucking bronco.