Which shocks IF...

How bad are your existing shocks currently? Few things are more important {like brakes and tires} so if the current shocks are shot spend the money and get the Heavy Duty Bilstein's. They are lot cheaper {and IMHO, better than the Koni FSD's but opinions certainly vary.}

The Bilstein's are about the same as the top of the Line Monroe's and others as well. I replaced the original shocks on my 2012 E-350 at 33,000 miles with the HD Bilstein's and wished I had done it a lot sooner. Day to day you tend to not notice just how bad your shocks have gotten as the change is gradual. But, put a new set of quality shocks on and WOW, what a difference that you will notice immediately.

Bottom line I highly recommend the HD Bilsteins... they are worth every penny!

:C

Monroe Gas Magnums worked well on my previous truck. Different types so do your research.

Desert Captain has it spot on here. When I replaced the stock shocks with Bilsteins, I wished I had just removed the stock Ford shocks when new. The fact that Bilsteins are part of Jayco's J ride package is a pretty good endorsement.

I installed Bilsteins HD shocks and Hellwig sway bars. Tremendous difference in handling.

I had Bilsteins on the front of my E450, and found the digressive valving too floaty as I'm lightly loaded with a no-slide 24' house. The front tires were cupping badly. Switched to a pair of Monroe Magnum RV shocks, which were all of something like $25/each using an Advance Auto coupon, and they resulted in a much more controlled ride, and also the tires are wearing evenly as the twin I-beam front end isn't going up and down all the time with it's inherent toe change.

Although we went with Bilstien shocks, my thinking is to go with the best shock you can afford. Our Chevy 4500 chassis had two completely worn out shocks at 17K miles... one front & one rear!

Lumpty wrote:
I had Bilsteins on the front of my E450, and found the digressive valving too floaty as I'm lightly loaded with a no-slide 24' house. The front tires were cupping badly. Switched to a pair of Monroe Magnum RV shocks, which were all of something like $25/each using an Advance Auto coupon, and they resulted in a much more controlled ride, and also the tires are wearing evenly as the twin I-beam front end isn't going up and down all the time with it's inherent toe change.

Lumpy, could you elaborate on the "cupping" you experienced? Our current tires are starting to show cupping in the center of the tread. Scheduled Friday to replace all six with Michelin.

Gary

I wonder if there's a different shock type that should be used on an RV that is further away from it's chassis weight maximum versus an RV that loads it's chassis close to it's design weight maximum?

Our 24 foot Class C definitely underloads it's E450 chassis, so it's ride in the rear was very stiff with OEM shocks. I retrofitted the rear OEM shocks with Koni FSD shocks back there and the sharp pounding in the rear on highway cracks and potholes has definitely been improved.

Yet other Class C owners in these forums who have tried Koni FSD shocks report not being especially impressed (note that "Koni FSD" shocks are NOT the same as other Koni shock types) . Is the difference in FSD impressions due to a light Class C versus a heavy Class C?

I'm still scratching my head over what shocks to use in the front to replace the OEM shocks. At ~76K miles on our rig, maybe it's time - but our mechanic still says not yet on the front shocks. Why are my front OEM shocks (and the OEM front steering damper) not worn out yet?

FunTwoDrv wrote:
Although we went with Bilstien shocks, my thinking is to go with the best shock you can afford. Our Chevy 4500 chassis had two completely worn out shocks at 17K miles... one front & one rear!

Lumpty wrote:
I had Bilsteins on the front of my E450, and found the digressive valving too floaty as I'm lightly loaded with a no-slide 24' house. The front tires were cupping badly. Switched to a pair of Monroe Magnum RV shocks, which were all of something like $25/each using an Advance Auto coupon, and they resulted in a much more controlled ride, and also the tires are wearing evenly as the twin I-beam front end isn't going up and down all the time with it's inherent toe change.

Lumpy, could you elaborate on the "cupping" you experienced? Our current tires are starting to show cupping in the center of the tread. Scheduled Friday to replace all six with Michelin.

Gary

This was consistent across all the Michelin LTX tread blocks on both front tires. Another term for it is feathering. Below is a picture found elsewhere on the internet of that same tire on a Ford Econoline starting to do the same thing:

CLICK HERE to read my story with many pictures on shocks. My solution was going with heavy duty Bilstein shocks from Tire Rack, and installed them myself to make it an affordable project.

BTW, my front tires also had "cupping" damage. If you look close, you can see it in the first picture in my CLICK HERE. I assume the damage occurred from the original bad front shocks.

Ron,
That cupping on your right tire looked very much like the tires on our C. Unfortunately this happened after we put new shocks on. The tire mfg said it was due to us not rotating the tires. However, Michelin dealer claimed it was due to an out-of-balance issue caused by a belt failure... who knows! I put a new set of Michelins on and are watching them closely so as to not revisit this same issue down the road.
Gary