Which Bilstein shock is best for my RV?
I have a '94 28ft Minnie Winnie. I think it's more like 30ft bumper to bumper. I see Bilstein offers two shocks - the HD and the Comfort. They say the comfort is recommended for RV's under 30ft and...
Forum Discussion
I'm on short trip and zoned in on the stock Ford shocks and have some thoughts.
First off there is a curious mix of boulevard ride and impact harshness. In my motorhome most of the harshness comes from the rear axle.. hitting the same bump with front and rear ends-the rear impact is very significantly more noticeable. It is my view that significant amount of that impact is not related to shock absorbers at all. It is instead the big multi leaf packs with large amounts of internal friction. In other words if the shock absorbers were not there at all, there would be a lot of impact issues remaining. The best the shock can do is not add too much to this impact harshness.
Phil mentioned above that he thought the control to be sufficient. IMO I think it is in a normal range of control, but at the softer end. It is luxurious at lower speeds, but IMO flabby at high speed cornering. The control desired from shock absorbers is truly a matter of opinion.
To Phil: I think what you're looking for is aided by not carrying one PSI in the tires above what weight tables call for. I also think some tires may ride better than others and that would be worth exploring. I think most E rated tires are quite harsh. I'll certainly fill you in on whether the new FSDs control ride harshness significantly better than stock Ford. Certainly the front Ford suspension/shocks are transmitting very little harshness relative to the rear. I hope the FSDs control harshness better than stock Ford but have limited expectations.
First off there is a curious mix of boulevard ride and impact harshness. In my motorhome most of the harshness comes from the rear axle.. hitting the same bump with front and rear ends-the rear impact is very significantly more noticeable. It is my view that significant amount of that impact is not related to shock absorbers at all. It is instead the big multi leaf packs with large amounts of internal friction. In other words if the shock absorbers were not there at all, there would be a lot of impact issues remaining. The best the shock can do is not add too much to this impact harshness.
Phil mentioned above that he thought the control to be sufficient. IMO I think it is in a normal range of control, but at the softer end. It is luxurious at lower speeds, but IMO flabby at high speed cornering. The control desired from shock absorbers is truly a matter of opinion.
To Phil: I think what you're looking for is aided by not carrying one PSI in the tires above what weight tables call for. I also think some tires may ride better than others and that would be worth exploring. I think most E rated tires are quite harsh. I'll certainly fill you in on whether the new FSDs control ride harshness significantly better than stock Ford. Certainly the front Ford suspension/shocks are transmitting very little harshness relative to the rear. I hope the FSDs control harshness better than stock Ford but have limited expectations.
