Author Topic: What shocks do I need for a 1998 Beaver Patriot  (Read 4903 times)

Carl Boger

  • BAC Member
  • *
  • Posts: 433
  • Thanked: 132 times
What shocks do I need for a 1998 Beaver Patriot
« on: February 16, 2019, 05:27:59 PM »
I have a 1998 Beaver Patriot Savannah with the 8 airbag magnum chassis built in Sept 1997.  I ordered new Koni  Shocks for it from Shock Warehouse who listed the required shocks as 8805 1004 SP1 for the Fronts and  8805 1005 SP1 for the rears.

 Once they arrived I saw that the front shocks are not correct for my frame.  The top of my current shock goes through a hole in a bracket and is secured with a nut from the top in a vertical fashion, and the bottom fastens through a horizontal bolt.  The Rear shocks look like they would bolt up as both top and bottom are attached with horizontal bolts, but are these the correct shocks?

Does anyone know the correct shock numbers for my motor home, especially the front shocks?  Anyone know who might have them in stock?

I have sent Shock Warehouse both a technical support request and a return request, but being Saturday I don't expect to hear anything until Monday.  Their sight list the above shocks as the correct ones for my coach.  We will see how well they stand behind it. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I would like to get the new shocks on asap.  Thanks
Carl

98 Beaver Patriot Savannah
330 hp Cat 3126

Carl Boger

  • BAC Member
  • *
  • Posts: 433
  • Thanked: 132 times
Re: What shocks do I need for a 1998 Beaver Patriot
« Reply #1 on: February 16, 2019, 06:38:12 PM »
Just took the shocks out to the coach and the front shock will not mount on top or bottom.  The top is the wrong configuration and the bottom bolt on the motor home is to big for the Koni shock.  The front shock also is mounted vertically straight up and down.

The rear shock would slide right on the lower bolt, didn't try the top one, and it is mounted on an angle.  I think the rear shocks may be the correct ones since the bolt size and length looks correct when they are bottomed out. 

The old shocks are Bilsteins on the back, can read it, and probably on the front,cant find it.   If anyone has any idea about a front Koni crossover I'm all ears!
Carl

98 Beaver Patriot Savannah
330 hp Cat 3126

Steve Huber Co-Admin

  • Administrator Group
  • *
  • Posts: 3503
  • Thanked: 2689 times
Re: What shocks do I need for a 1998 Beaver Patriot
« Reply #2 on: February 16, 2019, 07:40:15 PM »
Carl,
You may have to call the supplier. I checked Shockwarehouse and they also show only the horizontal bolt type mount for both Koni and Bilstein for a magnum chassis, regardless of year.
Steve
Steve
2015-          07 Contessa Bayshore C9,  400 hp
2013-2015: 00 Marquis Tourmaline, C12, 425 hp
2005-2013: 01 Contessa Naples, 3126B, 330 hp
The following users thanked this post: Carl Boger

Keith Moffett

  • BAC Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1118
  • Thanked: 394 times
  • Every day is a blessing!
Re: What shocks do I need for a 1998 Beaver Patriot
« Reply #3 on: February 16, 2019, 10:20:46 PM »
Hi Carl
We used to have the 98 Pat.  At the time there was more info about the change to Koni.
Long and short is the original are Bilsteens and a change to Koni requires a new mounting system and some welding.  After some searching on this forum and talking with Bilsteen we were in process of new shocks but staying with Bilsteen when we traded it in.
Good luck
2007 Patriot Thunder
45' C-13
2006 Explorer Ltd.
DW is Carol
Safe travels and
May God bless!

Brad Burgess

  • Guest
Re: What shocks do I need for a 1998 Beaver Patriot
« Reply #4 on: February 16, 2019, 11:01:01 PM »
Hendersons in Grants Pass is good with older shock specs.

Brad Burgess

Doug Allman

  • Guest
Re: What shocks do I need for a 1998 Beaver Patriot
« Reply #5 on: February 17, 2019, 01:06:15 PM »
Carl, Call KONI NA in Hebron Kentucky and I assure you they will tell you the correct shock numbers for your coach. Have worked thru them numerous times and they always knew the correct shock for a Beaver coach chassis. Shock warehouse is best bet for best price but they do not always have correct part numbers.
If the hole in the shock is the only problem, and we got some that were undersized holes once, 1/2" and needed 3/4", Koni NA told us we could drill them to size with no problem and we did with sharp bits and had no problem doing it.
The following users thanked this post: Carl Boger

Doug Allman

  • Guest
Re: What shocks do I need for a 1998 Beaver Patriot
« Reply #6 on: February 17, 2019, 01:21:45 PM »
Steve, Maybe you can save this info somewhere for reference on KONI shocks.    shockwarehouse .com     has been the most inexpensive place to purchase but often do not have all the info on chassis that are on a Beaver       KONI NA (north america)   859-586-4100  Hebron, Kentucky     is the place to get the best accurate information on part numbers needed before ordering from any source, and that also includes the Spartan chassis on Entegra coach's from my experience.

Even though Spartan sells KONI's the parts department did not have a clue as to part number for our 2017 Cornerstone yet when talking to KONI NA they had the part numbers and indicated they sent them to Spartan 1.5 years ago for every chassis they make. The Entegra service facility even called for me and could not get a part number for a KONI for our Cornerstone from Spartan!

The coach world is a unique monster to deal with.

Carl Boger

  • BAC Member
  • *
  • Posts: 433
  • Thanked: 132 times
Re: What shocks do I need for a 1998 Beaver Patriot
« Reply #7 on: February 17, 2019, 01:28:53 PM »
Thanks Doug,  sounds like a great idea.

For the front shocks they are a totally different configuration, but I would be surprised if Koni didn't have something that would fit and cross over to it.  I am not sure you could drill the bottom hole out this time and have any metal left.  I plan to try to get back under there today and get some measurements of the compressed shock height and the bottom bolt size. 
Carl

98 Beaver Patriot Savannah
330 hp Cat 3126

Carl Boger

  • BAC Member
  • *
  • Posts: 433
  • Thanked: 132 times
Re: What shocks do I need for a 1998 Beaver Patriot
« Reply #8 on: February 18, 2019, 10:14:21 PM »
To update everyone and hopefully help someone in the future,   almost everyone with a magnum 8 airbag chassis probably uses the Koni 8805 1004 SP1 shock as their front shock and the Koni 8805 1005 SP1 as the rear.

But if your front shock has a threaded stud on top and horizontal bushing on the bottom, it may well be a Monroe 65444,  Also known as a Monroe Gas-Magnum 65.  According to the data sheet this shock was designed for trucks using air springs and tapered leaf suspensions. 

It appears that at least a few coaches were made this way, but not many.  I think Beaver, or Safari might have been experimenting to see if it improved the ride since my mounts all seem to be original.  My shocks were also painted with a black strip up and down the shock that helped obscure the Monroe stamp and the numbers.  Since the shocks look original I am thinking the factory might have done this to make them easier to identify.  I can not think of any other reason someone would spray paint a 2+ inch wide stripe on the front of the shocks and nothing else including the rear shocks.  For me it took a lot of scrubbing and cell phone camera manipulation to capture the Monroe and the 65444.

Anyway, I found some of the shocks and ordered them.  Thanks to everyone who has helped with this issue here, as well as Koni NA, Braswells RV, and SuperSteer who graciously took the time to look up shocks and answer my questions.
Carl

98 Beaver Patriot Savannah
330 hp Cat 3126

Doug Allman

  • Guest
Re: What shocks do I need for a 1998 Beaver Patriot
« Reply #9 on: February 20, 2019, 06:42:01 PM »
Al, for our information did KONI say they did not have a shock for your coach? The reason I ask is that I substituted Monroe's for our 1991 Contessa back when I did not know much about anything in regards to a coach and they were not even close to what the old Koni's were that I had taken off and discarded. Finally bit the bullet and purchased new KONI's and the exceptional ride was back.

Carl Boger

  • BAC Member
  • *
  • Posts: 433
  • Thanked: 132 times
Re: What shocks do I need for a 1998 Beaver Patriot
« Reply #10 on: February 21, 2019, 01:00:26 AM »
Koni stated that they did not have anything close to the monroe 65444 so I went with the Monroes on the front and Koni's on the rear.  I figured they had been mismatched as far as brands from day one, and this had to be better than the old shocks.  I had gone to rock auto.com to check out the spec sheet and they had the shocks for $50.79.  After contacting Shock warehouse about returning the Koni's they had the Monroes, but they were about $80.00 each.  He said I should buy them as they must be discontinuing them for that price as it was less than he could buy them for.  I thought about it, and bought 4 or the 6 available from rock auto.  I may never replace the two I am going to put on in the next week or so, but if I do I won't have to go looking for something that no longer exist.
Carl

98 Beaver Patriot Savannah
330 hp Cat 3126

Elaine Sturm

  • BAC Member
  • *
  • Posts: 5
Re: What shocks do I need for a 1998 Beaver Patriot
« Reply #11 on: February 21, 2019, 11:14:10 AM »
FYI: Do not order anything from Shock Warehouse.com  . We are 3 months into trying to get a $1300.00 refund. Google reviews are consistent with our problem. We got new shocks from Ultra RV Products and were completely satisfied.
2006 Beaver Monterey Laguna IV

Adam Hicklin

  • Guest
Re: What shocks do I need for a 1998 Beaver Patriot
« Reply #12 on: April 08, 2019, 08:46:32 AM »
Were the Koni’s a direct replacement?  No modification needed to existing set up?  Also, is this something to take on myself or better left to a shop? 

Carl Boger

  • BAC Member
  • *
  • Posts: 433
  • Thanked: 132 times
Re: What shocks do I need for a 1998 Beaver Patriot
« Reply #13 on: April 08, 2019, 09:29:54 PM »
Yes the Koni's were a direct replacement. After I got the Coach in the air and the tires off I could see that I actually could use the 4 Koni's listed as fitting my 8 airbag magnum frame.  The front two Koni's were hidden by the front two tires and were not visible with the coach on the ground.  In addition to that are the 2 Monroe shocks that are in front of the front tires that are visible.  So at least on my Patriot there is a 6 shock set up.  It all looks very factory, but I guess it is possible a really good fabricator added the Monroe's and their mounts.  Since I did everything at once I can not tell you what made the bulk of the improvement, but I can say that it rides much better with 8 new airbags, 6 new tires, and 6 new shocks.

When I get it back from being checked out at a RV shop I intend to replace the strut rods to see if that tightens up things even more as some of the bushings are worn.   
Carl

98 Beaver Patriot Savannah
330 hp Cat 3126

Doug Allman

  • Guest
Re: What shocks do I need for a 1998 Beaver Patriot
« Reply #14 on: April 09, 2019, 12:49:18 PM »
As I posted earlier on this topic. BEFORE you order any shocks go to the shock distributor and get the correct part number information for your model and year. They have indepth information in regard to your coach.
As like most internet businesses Shock Warehouse is just a retailer that sells KONI shocks but does not stock KONI shocks so getting them exchanged or refunded takes a long process and gets frustrations very high.
We have always used Shock Warehouse but did homework prior to ordering and have had no problems for 20 years using them.