New shocks- Koni or Bilstein?
It's time to change out my shocks and I'd like some feedback on folks' experience with Koni vs Bilstein shocks. What have you noticed about ride quality? How have they held up? Some older revi...
Forum Discussion
I use Koni FSD shocks in the rear of our 24 foot E450 Class C. I had them installed because I wanted stiff rear shocks for sway control .... and soft rear shocks for highway cracks and potholes so as to not add any more stiffness to the already heavy duty leaf springs back there on cracks and potholes.
The Koni FSD (gold color) shocks are the only ones I could find that acted both ways - they respond with soft resistance on sudden jolts from the rear axle when hitting cracks and potholes, and with stiff resistance from slower changes occuring between the rear axle and the chassis frame when going over dips in the road, from sideways forces while going around curves, from wind push with passing trucks, etc.. The Koni shocks were expensive, but have been well worth it in order to remove much of the "crack and pothole sting" from Ford's E450 rear leaf srpings when carrying a small Class C. I wanted the E450 for chassis over-kill on a small Class C in order to get the heavy duty chassis advantages without having to pay such a big price from having lightly loaded rear leaf springs. Full air suspension accomplishes this in the ultimate way, but of course is way more expensive than Koni FSD shocks.
To change the subject: Ron Dittmer .... I have had Sulastic rubber shackles on the rear of my 4X4 pickup for years to try and make it ride smoother when empty (installed them myself). The shackles did nothing to help tame it's rough unloaded ride. The pickup rides way smoother with a load in it's bed of course, but this is normal for pickups anyway - so I don't really know what good the Sulastic shackles did me. However, your Class C has a well loaded rear axle all the time and if it's still a bit stiff in the rear from it's leaf springs, then maybe the Sulastic rubber shackles would do some good under certain conditions of road suface or lateral (swaying) forces.
The Koni FSD (gold color) shocks are the only ones I could find that acted both ways - they respond with soft resistance on sudden jolts from the rear axle when hitting cracks and potholes, and with stiff resistance from slower changes occuring between the rear axle and the chassis frame when going over dips in the road, from sideways forces while going around curves, from wind push with passing trucks, etc.. The Koni shocks were expensive, but have been well worth it in order to remove much of the "crack and pothole sting" from Ford's E450 rear leaf srpings when carrying a small Class C. I wanted the E450 for chassis over-kill on a small Class C in order to get the heavy duty chassis advantages without having to pay such a big price from having lightly loaded rear leaf springs. Full air suspension accomplishes this in the ultimate way, but of course is way more expensive than Koni FSD shocks.
To change the subject: Ron Dittmer .... I have had Sulastic rubber shackles on the rear of my 4X4 pickup for years to try and make it ride smoother when empty (installed them myself). The shackles did nothing to help tame it's rough unloaded ride. The pickup rides way smoother with a load in it's bed of course, but this is normal for pickups anyway - so I don't really know what good the Sulastic shackles did me. However, your Class C has a well loaded rear axle all the time and if it's still a bit stiff in the rear from it's leaf springs, then maybe the Sulastic rubber shackles would do some good under certain conditions of road suface or lateral (swaying) forces.
