Road King Shocks

rgatijnet1 wrote:

Goldencrazy wrote:
Does anyone have experience with Road King Shocks. They promise better ride and stability.

Better than what...no shocks at all? :B
If they are gas charged, like Bilsteins and Monroe, they will tend to transfer more of the small road joint bumps back through the steering wheel to your arms. That is why I liked the Koni FSD shocks which are not gas charged which means they do not have that initial resistance.

Really? Transfer all the way back to your arms, I just put new Monroe gas charged and feel none of that

Our Beaver Marquis (~43,000 lbs)came with 2 yo Road Kings (4) on the front and Koni (6) on the rear. The front rides and handles like a dream while the rear is a bit choppy at first than smooths out after driving a bit. There isn't any noticeable roll or porpoising on any road surface

Don't know if this helps the OP but I'm happy with both and hopefully will never have to replace any of them in my lifetime.

As Wolfe said it is better to have the dampening on extension than compression for ride quality. Roadking suggests that their larger shock has more dampening on extension thereby keeping the wheel on the ground more and keeping the bumps at the end of the shock as much as possible. At the same time this basic concept is designed to provide more stability and prevent the roll that driveways and similar situations create. I have had Koni FSD shocks and they do improve the ride quality. At the same time I think they do allow a bit more roll. I gladly compromise for the better ride. I had Kelderman on my last two motorhomes and like the air ride. They installed monroe shocks with it. I could make the handling tighter by inflating the bags. In the south I did run with more air as the roads were better than the north. I have traded motorhomes for one that is 26,000 lbs. I wonder how it will ride. Heavier is generally better. I will add the steer safe quickly just for safety. If the ride is not to my desires I was considering options short of the Kelderman air ride. The Roadking advertising seemed impressive and changing shocks is not as drastic as adding air ride. I know they are at the top of the line in cost so fewer will have added them but hopefully there are more folks with experience with the Roadkings. The one testimonial response here is impressive. Thanks to all for your interest.

It all comes down to how the shock is valved and port sizes. The piston on the small shock could conceivably flow more oil than the larger shock depending on port size in the piston. Theres alot more to it than just shock body size.

Kayteg1 wrote:
Now we can talk if 1 lb of cellphone will work better than 2 oz cellphone.

Sorry but I don't understand. Did you post on the wrong thread by accident?

Now we can talk if 1 lb of cellphone will work better than 2 oz cellphone.

4.1 square inches of piston for Roadkings and 1.5 square inches for normal OEM shocks is the info from them.

Goldencrazy wrote:
I was wrong, it is a gas shock. The argument used by Roadking is that the size of their piston is much larger and as such being 4 times larger provides greater control and dampening with less effort. Sure makes sense to a novice.

But, larger than WHAT. I know over the last 15 years and three coaches, I have had three different size (piston diameter) Koni shocks on our coaches.

Current shocks are 99 series Konis in front. They are double the piston diameter of the 88 series shocks.

I was wrong, it is a gas shock. The argument used by Roadking is that the size of their piston is much larger and as such being 4 times larger provides greater control and dampening with less effort. Sure makes sense to a novice.

I have first hand experience. I installed Koni FSD shocks and after 25,000 miles they weren't any better than the ones I took off. I installed Road King and the ride is much better now. Don't really know how long they will last as I only have 50,000 miles on them now.AS far as I am concerned, RK shocks are the best for a heavy front end coach.

Anyone want to buy a slightly used set of FSDs?