Time For New Shocks - HD Bilsteins Or Koni-FSD?

ron.dittmer wrote:
What concerns me with our rig, the front end goes up and down a lot, for the slightest of reasons. I want to eliminate as much front end up/down motion as possible. It sounds like the HD Bilsteins will cancel that motion the fastest.

Ron, as I have posted before I too have an E-350 {that I love}. Trust me, just buy the HD Bilstein's and be done with this discussion. The performance improvement in ride and handling will blow your mind {and at a reasonable price though the fronts are a PITA to install}.

Most rigs should NOT need anything but the right shocks {that would be HD Bilstein's}, proper tire pressure and maybe an alignment with a tad mnore caster. The rest of the magical after market garbage is just that... expensive and unneeded.

As always... Opinions and YMMV.

:C

Ron, that may of course be due to your E350's front coil springs not being stiff enough for the weight they're carrying or your front shocks being worn out.

My E450's front coil springs actually may be too stiff for the weight they're carrying, as the cab area still can be hit with roughness (but no bouncing) on cracks and potholes .... hence I'm wondering if I eventually should replace the front shocks with Bilstein HDs, or Bilstein Comforts, or Koni FSDs. :h

What concerns me with our rig, the front end goes up and down a lot, for the slightest of reasons. I want to eliminate as much front end up/down motion as possible. It sounds like the HD Bilsteins will cancel that motion the fastest.

OFDPOS wrote:
Back to my experience after installing the koni's ..
So when your driving down the road and hit a dip the front end does the ol dive down and according to Henderson's that's where the koni's are suppose to give the comfort ride ( what others are calling best of both worlds). I get the boat in the water drunken sailor feeling when the front end dives down in the dips and comes up soft kinda wallering .. Lack of better words to describe it.

Whereas with the Bilstein's you hit the dip in the road you get just a bit of dive but a nice firm feeling the suspension is working right unlike the koni' s where the whole front suspension feels like it bottoms out ( compresses ) then goes into full decompress and now you have this uneasy feeling in the steering until it settles back down.

That's my personal experience with the koni's.

What you're describing seems to be related to how your motorhome reacted in it's front end with the coil springs and Koni FSD shocks ... and it sounds like your Koni FSD shocks where installed in combination with other suspension work you had done, which means that there could have been some strange interaction happening in the front between the FSD shocks and the modified suspension.

There's no reasons I can think of that shock types on a vehicle can't be mixed between the rear and the front, if and as appropriate. I'm wondering if HD Bilsteins in the front along with the coil springs there, and Koni FSD shocks in the rear along with the stiff leaf springs there might be a great combination - at least on small 24-26 foot Class C motorhomes with their relatively (overly?) stiff E350 or E450 rear springs.

So far my Koni FSD shocks in the rear and stock shocks in the front have been a great combination with my main goal achieved -> very controlled and predictable lateral response in the rear, but with the sharp pounding nicely rounded off (i.e. the latch in our shower door back there now stays in place!). However, I do have a small Class C and I did have the front aligned using tapered shims to improve upon the original Ford/Winnebago alignment, as delivered.

I'll call Henderson's and listen very carefully and ask questions - before (if ever) I decide upon either Koni FSD or HD Bilsteins in the front. For some reason the stock front shocks still seem to be doing there thing (other than a bit too stiff for a small Class C) after 12 years and 71K+ miles.

OFDPOS wrote:
Well like I posted earlier , I felt I went backwards replacing the stock 7 year old gas shocks on the front with koni fsd's

According to Henderson's the koni shocks works on the rebound , so basically it works like old oil filled (hydrolic ? ) shocks of yester-year.. Newer shocks are gas charged like the Bilstein's ,,, NOT the koni's.

I had made the comment awhile back on another post how right out of the box I could easily compress/decompress the shocks by hand.

The Bilstein's among other gas charged shocks come zip tied about half compressed and you better be quick to get them lined up and bolt started through the eye hole before they go to full extend. Which is no big deal you can compress them with both hands and little grunting lol or have a small jack handy to compress them to line up the bolt holes.

Back to my experience after installing the koni's ..
So when your driving down the road and hit a dip the front end does the ol dive down and according to Henderson's that's where the koni's are suppose to give the comfort ride ( what others are calling best of both worlds). I get the boat in the water drunken sailor feeling when the front end dives down in the dips and comes up soft kinda wallering .. Lack of better words to describe it.

Whereas with the Bilstein's you hit the dip in the road you get just a bit of dive but a nice firm feeling the suspension is working right unlike the koni' s where the whole front suspension feels like it bottoms out ( compresses ) then goes into full decompress and now you have this uneasy feeling in the steering until it settles back down.

That's my personal experience with the koni's.
Not happy with them , nor would I recommend them.

On my rig, the nose goes down then comes up and stops, the rig rolls on the curves comes back and stops. I am not experiencing what you describe and as I stated the performance has been exceptional after replacing the original shocks. I have a beefy front and rear stabilizer the original owner installed and monitor my tire pressure before each trip. I utilize my airbags to keep the rig as level as possible.
I hope that the new shocks improve your situation. With so many variables in these rigs what may be an improvement for one rig may not be for another. Keep us posted on your progress.

klutchdust wrote:

OFDPOS wrote:
Like I have posted on other threads about the koni's ,,, Save your money and get the Bilsteins !

OR if you really want the koni's PM me for address etc info... I'll remove the ones off the front on mine , has about 1500 miles on them. You order up the Bilsteins have them sent to me, I'll put the koni's in the Bilstein boxes and pay to have them shipped to you..

Yeah that's how much I'm disappointed in the koni's !!!

What was it that disappointed you in their performance. In another posting you stated you had some suspension and alignment work done. Were the shocks installed after the upgrades and you noticed they took away some of the quality of that OR the shocks came first, then the upgrades.

If memory serves me right... I replaced the front and rear anti sway bars first, next the Saf-T-Plus steering stabilizer.
Then replaced the shocks.
Finally had time to take it up to Henderson's and they did the alignment ( caster ) and installed the rear Trac bar

Other than the Anti Sway Bars, I feel the best bang for my buck was the added Trac Bar.

Well like I posted earlier , I felt I went backwards replacing the stock 7 year old gas shocks on the front with koni fsd's

According to Henderson's the koni shocks works on the rebound , so basically it works like old oil filled (hydrolic ? ) shocks of yester-year.. Newer shocks are gas charged like the Bilstein's ,,, NOT the koni's.

I had made the comment awhile back on another post how right out of the box I could easily compress/decompress the shocks by hand.

The Bilstein's among other gas charged shocks come zip tied about half compressed and you better be quick to get them lined up and bolt started through the eye hole before they go to full extend. Which is no big deal you can compress them with both hands and little grunting lol or have a small jack handy to compress them to line up the bolt holes.

Back to my experience after installing the koni's ..
So when your driving down the road and hit a dip the front end does the ol dive down and according to Henderson's that's where the koni's are suppose to give the comfort ride ( what others are calling best of both worlds). I get the boat in the water drunken sailor feeling when the front end dives down in the dips and comes up soft kinda wallering .. Lack of better words to describe it.

Whereas with the Bilstein's you hit the dip in the road you get just a bit of dive but a nice firm feeling the suspension is working right unlike the koni' s where the whole front suspension feels like it bottoms out ( compresses ) then goes into full decompress and now you have this uneasy feeling in the steering until it settles back down.

That's my personal experience with the koni's.
Not happy with them , nor would I recommend them.

Me Three. We chatted about it going on but not so much about the Out.

klutchdust wrote:

OFDPOS wrote:
Like I have posted on other threads about the koni's ,,, Save your money and get the Bilsteins !

OR if you really want the koni's PM me for address etc info... I'll remove the ones off the front on mine , has about 1500 miles on them. You order up the Bilsteins have them sent to me, I'll put the koni's in the Bilstein boxes and pay to have them shipped to you..

Yeah that's how much I'm disappointed in the koni's !!!

What was it that disappointed you in their performance.

Yes, I too would like to read the reason for your disappointment. I want to make a best-educated decision.

OFDPOS wrote:
........
As for the alignment well that's for another thread and day.
........

I am looking forward to that! :)