Replacing front shocks with Bilsteins
I am replacing the front shocks on my 2015 E-450. It's been 12 years since I replaced them on my Winnebago. I can't recall if it was a simple job or one that should be left to a shop. I have all th...
Forum Discussion
Many of the comments about the difficulty of putting Bilsteins in the front seem to come from the difficulty of holding them compressed while trying to insert them. I believe that Bilsteins are gas (pneumatic) shocks - so that their natural rest position when not mounted is the extended position.
I don't believe that this would be an issue with hydraulic shocks. If so, then hydraulic shocks probably would be a lot easier to front-mount on the E350/E450 chassis.
Top quality hydraulic shocks on an RV should match or exceed Bilsteins in performance, such as Koni's Frequency Selective Damping (FSD) shocks. Here's a link to them ... to understand how they work click on "how FSD works" down at the bottom of the page in the sentence above the last paragraph:
http://www.koni.com/car-racing/products/performance/
We just completed a 10,000 mile trip with them on the rear of our Class C and what they did for bounce control, sway control, and highway crack jolts was spectacular - and this was from them being only on the rear. We'll have a couple more installed on the front in a few months - hopefully no hassle because they can be easily pushed or stretched into any length for front-mounting. Koni has FSD part numbers for the front and rear of the Ford E350/E450 series.
I don't believe that this would be an issue with hydraulic shocks. If so, then hydraulic shocks probably would be a lot easier to front-mount on the E350/E450 chassis.
Top quality hydraulic shocks on an RV should match or exceed Bilsteins in performance, such as Koni's Frequency Selective Damping (FSD) shocks. Here's a link to them ... to understand how they work click on "how FSD works" down at the bottom of the page in the sentence above the last paragraph:
http://www.koni.com/car-racing/products/performance/
We just completed a 10,000 mile trip with them on the rear of our Class C and what they did for bounce control, sway control, and highway crack jolts was spectacular - and this was from them being only on the rear. We'll have a couple more installed on the front in a few months - hopefully no hassle because they can be easily pushed or stretched into any length for front-mounting. Koni has FSD part numbers for the front and rear of the Ford E350/E450 series.
