BAC Forum
General Boards => Technical Support => Topic started by: Darrell Terry on April 12, 2022, 01:45:27 AM
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I'm sure this post will stir debate.
Plan to replace shocks on our 2004 Beaver Monterey Laguna/4 slide this summer - Roadmaster M series Chassis.
What brand shock should I consider, Bilstein currently on RV.
Bilstein or Koni or something else ?
Darrell Terry
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Place the word "shocks" into the search routine above and you will get 140 hits. Of course, not all of the hits will be about answering your question but many will aid in answering your question.
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Darrel I ran out 06 pt with both Bilstein rear or Koni front
they both offer a life warranty to the original buyer the Koni on the front did add a better ride on the rear the Bilstein are fine
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Koni FSD (frequency selective dampening) cost more but will NOT disappoint. Your Bride will be smilin' Fred
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Darrell,
Curious as to why you are replacing the shocks. Bilsteins are normally close to a lifetime shock. Replacement reasons are usually failure (oil seepage) or porposing after going over bump. My experience with Konis differs from most. I replaced Bilsteins with Konis on the front of our 01 Contessa to reduce porposing and improve ride. After install porposing was fixed but there was no noticeable improvement in ride quality. Current 07 Contessa has original Monroes with IMHO, a good ride.
Steve
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Henderson’s replaced our stock Bilsteins with Koni FSD’s, added a Saf-T-Plus and Super Steer motion control units, and tweaked the steering gear, among other things. The ride and handling improved noticeably. Was it the new Toyo tires? Maybe some, yeah. Was it due to the Koni’s? Not likely all of it, obviously. But it never porpoised again, which it had before on rare occasions. It was nice also to not need to micro-manage the steering so much, a malady which, for a guy with neck and shoulder issues and occasional “highway/traffic anxiety”, can spike stress levels.
My decision to change shocks was based on perusing many reviews, here and elsewhere. The Bilsteins probably didn’t need replacing in actuality - I’d assumed the rare breath-taking porpoise was native to the animal, or my not better avoiding road impediments. But I’d opted for a multi-pronged attack at getting the “Cadillac” handling I figured a higher-end coach should’ve provided from the get-go, and seemed lacking since new. A shock change was just part of the overall approach to an all-at-once chassis improvement.
Joel
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Steve,
Mainly due to side to side roll. Waiting on offramp due to heavy traffic when 18 wheeler passed and felt like it nearly blew me over. That and rearranging all my cabinets when entering and exiting driveways.
Darrell
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Check out this site; Monaco Watts. A simple fix to handling issues.
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Bill
Be aware that the Monaco Watts system will not fit the Magnum chassis on Beaver motorhomes. They call it the Roadmaster M chassis, but the "M" tells you it is in reality a Magnum chassis and is NOT the same as the Roadmaster RR8S chassis that the Watts system is built for.
Richard