Koni’s or Bilsteins
I have a 2015 class C 32ft give me your opinions, Koni shocks or Bilstein shocks
Forum Discussion
We own a 24 foot rig built on a 2007 E350 chassis with roughly 11,000 pounds weighted on trips.
I feel the Koni-FSD shocks offer the best design with high-tech valving, but when it came time to replace the shocks, I went with Bilstein Heavy Duty RV shocks. The Koni-FSDs were priced way too high and do not offer a lifetime replacement guarantee of which I understand Bilstein does. Had I bought Bilsteins the first time, my second set would have been free. But had I bought Bilsteins 11 years & 37,000 miles ago, maybe I would not have needed to replace them in the first place.
The shocks that went bad were Koni-RV adjustables, gone bad due to the hardware. Look at these pictures comparing the hardware. The Bilstein shocks are truly more heavier duty than the Koni-RV shocks.
Note the larger diameter stem, grommets, and washers of the Bilsteins.
The loss of the lower grommet caused this stem wear along with the loss of operation during small movements.
Here is a picture comparing the front shocks. The rears had the same differences, though the rear Koni's had no issues with worn grommets or stem-wear.
Lifetime guarantee or not, I am happy with my Bilstein-HD choice. During the trip that followed the installation, I immediately noticed the improvement in the handling of the rig and paid very close attention to ride-harshness. To be fair to our old Koni's with worn-away grommets, any comparison would be mute. But I can say the harshness of ride or lack there of was about the same.
Compared to the old style Koni-RV adjustable shocks, I highly recommend the Bilstein-HD for value and durability. I wonder if Koni is using better hardware today on their FSDs. If not, then I would say the Bilstein-HD is surely the better choice.
I feel the Koni-FSD shocks offer the best design with high-tech valving, but when it came time to replace the shocks, I went with Bilstein Heavy Duty RV shocks. The Koni-FSDs were priced way too high and do not offer a lifetime replacement guarantee of which I understand Bilstein does. Had I bought Bilsteins the first time, my second set would have been free. But had I bought Bilsteins 11 years & 37,000 miles ago, maybe I would not have needed to replace them in the first place.
The shocks that went bad were Koni-RV adjustables, gone bad due to the hardware. Look at these pictures comparing the hardware. The Bilstein shocks are truly more heavier duty than the Koni-RV shocks.
Note the larger diameter stem, grommets, and washers of the Bilsteins.
The loss of the lower grommet caused this stem wear along with the loss of operation during small movements.
Here is a picture comparing the front shocks. The rears had the same differences, though the rear Koni's had no issues with worn grommets or stem-wear.
Lifetime guarantee or not, I am happy with my Bilstein-HD choice. During the trip that followed the installation, I immediately noticed the improvement in the handling of the rig and paid very close attention to ride-harshness. To be fair to our old Koni's with worn-away grommets, any comparison would be mute. But I can say the harshness of ride or lack there of was about the same.
Compared to the old style Koni-RV adjustable shocks, I highly recommend the Bilstein-HD for value and durability. I wonder if Koni is using better hardware today on their FSDs. If not, then I would say the Bilstein-HD is surely the better choice.
