2006 E450 front shocks?

rockhillmanor wrote:

RV friends who went that way of Billstein or Koni said it made for an unnecessary hard ride.

I'd be curious to know what specific Koni (or Bilstein) shocks those were; they each make several styles with differing characteristics. My Koni FSDs seem to work just as advertised, being comfortably gentle for minor road disturbances (taking into consideration the plushness, or lack thereof, inherent in the chassis) while being stiffer and providing nice control for bigger bumps. I wouldn't classify them as producing a hard ride at all, excepting perhaps for one's RV expense fund.

Edit: I don't want to suggest that there's anything at all wrong with opting for Monroe shocks, either; I've heard plenty of good things about them for motorhomes too.

mikebreeze wrote:
I have an E350 chassis and had my shocks replaced a few years ago because one of mine was leaking.

I went with some heavy duty Monroe Shocks. I had an independent shop install mine.

A lot of people go with Bilstein or Koni shocks.

I had some major steering control issues at highway speeds initially. However, after replacing the front shocks, ball joints, front tires and getting a front wheel alignment, my rig now is very stable at highway speeds.

X2
I have a E450 and went with the Monroe shocks also.
I watched the frame shop install them - REAL glad I didn't attempt to do it! :W

Made a big difference in handling.

RV friends who went that way of Billstein or Koni said it made for an unnecessary hard ride.

I put the FSD on my 2006 E450. DrewE has explained it well. Yes the drivers side is a real bugger, no rubber grommet on mine. I can't remember if there is enough clearance from the end of the shock mount to the sheet to get a nut on top and started. Check on yours because if the clearance is a problem it would be even more difficult to install a gas shock. I'd look at mine but it in a snowbank. I epoxied the nut to the washer so I could turn it more easily with my finger tips to get it started.

I did mine on my '98. On that year, at least, the plug/grommet did not provide any better access to the top mount. I found the tool that worked the best to remove the top nuts was a flex head ratcheting wrench. Of course, the nuts for the Koni FSD's I put on were a different size than was used on the factory OEM, so I had to buy two such wrenches.

I did notice a difference in handling when replacing them and the steering damper (which I replaced at the same time and is very straightforward to replace). The old/original ones were well beyond their use by dates, though, and not representative of how they ought to have been operating.

I did have a little bit of difficulty keeping the old shocks compressed enough to remove them; I ended up jacking up the corner (to compress the shock), looping some iron wire through and around it to keep it from extending, and then jacking down and moving the jack to the frame proper to let the rest of the suspension drop and release the shock. There's no similar problem with putting FSD's in as they do not have any spring force in them--they only damp.

The rear axle shocks are super easy to replace.

I replaced the Ford OEM shocks with Bilstein shocks on our 2003 E450 back in 2009 and wrote up my experience in this thread. It is true that the front driver's side shock is difficult. The passenger side was easy. Read the entire thread as there were several comments further down that probably would have made replacing the front driver's side easier.

The new shocks did make some difference in the ride, but my replacement of the Ford OEM sway bars last year with Hellwig sway bars made a huge reduction in the sway (side to side rolling). Replacing the sway bars was much easier than replacing the shocks.

I have an E350 chassis and had my shocks replaced a few years ago because one of mine was leaking. I went with some heavy duty Monroe Shocks. I had an independent shop install mine. A lot of people go with Bilstein or Koni shocks.

I had some major steering control issues at highway speeds initially. However, after replacing the front shocks, ball joints, front tires and getting a front wheel alignment, my rig now is very stable at highway speeds.