New shock install

[Rikadoo]

Mornin everyone, so after having had to suffer some white knuckel driving performance an handeling i decided to crawl under my rig an look around. First thing i saw was some old looking shock absorbers, they were monroes an from the crud i could see on the outside they may have been original, so i decided this would be a great place to start. Thru my work i got a great price on a set of Koni’s, once arrived i decided to install them myself, for several reasons i wont go into right now.

Anyway i started on the front shocks which were challanging to say the least. My perticular shock application has a eyelet on the bottom with a stud mount on the top. The nut an bolt on the eyelet came off easy, however the stud mount was not so easy, they were  rusted so bad they would no longer unscrew, so i had to use a longer wrench an turn till the stem or threaded portion actually broke off. I used a 19mm socket with ratchit on the nut then held the stud from turning using a 19mm open end wrench at the base of the stem to keep it from turning… The first one i thought to be a fluke but after that i thought, humph 70 years old an the ole guns still got it😂😂😂

*Note: if you decide to do this same repair, make sure you got some old cloths on cause the way you have to position yourself to get a good angle your wiping off old suspension grease🤦‍♂️ and your shirt get greasy FAST.

So now the second half of this repair is doing the rear shocks, now mind you i have already placed jack stands under the coach, but so you know space is still limited, but in the rear ITS REALLY LIMITED!!! I tried several positions trying to get to the forward of the rear shocks, i discovered there was no humanly way this body was going to accomplish the positions i was needing to perform this job. So i sat beside the coach an asked the rv to help me figure this out… (sounds wierd but often opening up my mind helps when facing difficult operations) 

So i laid on the ground an looked up an saw the fender straps that hold them secure in place, so pulled out four screws, opened the adjoining cabnits an simply lifted the fender skirts, propped them open with a broomstick an what do know perfect access.I was able to replace the rear shocks in half the time it took to do the front shocks. All this said the fenders had been also held in place with some spray foam sealant that i will replace as soon as i get to the store, but i have to say that access point is awsome, an if its the shocks, air bags or ??? It allows sooooo much room its like they designed it that way.

P.S. The old shocks were really worn to the point of not working much at all and all the rubber mounts were hard as a rock an loose, so far the new ones gave me a  substantial handeling difference!!!

[Tom Cherry]

I talked to Source and their local installer.  Your Koni’s may be different but he said he yanked off Koni’s a lot.  The Bilstein is slightly different in that there is a protective cover over the shock and fits right under the mount.  
 

Bottom line, on the Bilstein he pops the cover off or maybe pulls it down.  He used a pair of locking need nose pliers on the shaft below….as the shock does not extend or retract enough to have that portion of the shaft to come in contact with that narrow piece.  So he locks the shaft.  Then he bought a short “ratcheting” 3/4 or maybe 18mm (memory) wrench.  Get the flat style so you flip it over to reverse the locking mechanism….not the one with a selector tab.  Then, bingo, it is quick.  I did mine quickly that way.  The Bilstein has a steel cylinder so you keep cranking until you cant move it.

That is how i got the crappy Monroes off.   And the new ones on.  Just passing on his tricks. I could not, even with my boa constrictor 36” arms, pretend to get a Ratchet up there.  I did grind down a small 1/4” socket, don’t remember the size, and put flats in the sidewall and used it on a 1/4” “flex head” handle and held the threaded shaft in place…..but eventually went to the Vise Grips….needle nose.

[DavidL]

 Step 1 is inspect and plan

Step 2 is power wash everything

Step 3 is take a break and let everything dry out

Step 4 is do the repair

The above makes it so much nicer to do just about every project.  I hate gunk / dirt / grime dropping into my face and getting into the parts and hands.

Hard to remove bolts:  This is where having a torch and an air chisel come into hand.  Since you know you are replacing the shock / stud, just wack them off.  Keep some water around in case the shock eyelets decide to smoke.

Looks like those air bags are real easy access too.  That's one of my near future projects.  I haven't taken a good look yet (haven't done step 1) but I suspect they won't be that easy to access as yours.

Good to hear you get er done!  Never say die!

[Tom Wallis]

Interesting that I just ordered a set of Koni shocks for mine. They're supposed to be here on Tuesday. My chassis is way different being  a Workhorse but my handling problems are similar. I did a bunch of suspension upgrades when I first got the motorhome and it has handled pretty good since until recently. I have a rear sway bar, front and rear track bars and and a safety steer but my last few trips have been white knuckle. It had Konis on it when I bought it but that was more than 55,000 miles ago. I can't find any play at all in the front end so I figure I'll try some new shocks. Besides, I get way to much rock back and forth when doing a gutter or driveway at an angle. I hope this does the trick. At least I think mine will be much easier to put on than Rik's.

[Gary 05 AMB DST]

Ric, I never realized that you can raise the fender by removing the straps that hold the fender on. I would lay there and stare at the location for  shock removal. Same with the replacement of the air bags. That photo should go into the RV "Greatest Way To Make The Job Easier" historiography manual. Thank You!

Gary 05 AMB DST

[WCourand]

I had a 2009 La Palma diesel pusher for 3.5 years.  It was a white-knuckle ride at first but with a few upgrades it was a pleasure to drive.  I did a steering stabilizer and then replaced the Monroe shocks.  The coach only had 30,000 mile on it but when I pulled the shocks, they were ALL completely shot.  The Workhorse chassis had 2 different style shock mounts from front to rear.  My fix was to order Koni's and Bilstein , 2 for the front and 2 for the rear.  The result was amazing the coach drove  like never before, tracked straight and no more white-knuckle driving.

[DavidL]

Oh,  a detail...I don't see any jack stands holding up the chassis.  Yes, we know the air bags aren't being worked on, and the shock doesn't hold up anything....but if one were to attempt to wack the shock bolt, and instead put a hole in the air line, then the RV starts feeling really heavy on one's chest...

Your project is done and you lived to give us some great pics...but for the next person...support the chassis with proper rated jackstands on firm surface before getting underneath!

[TommyL]

I also talk to myself, sometimes I even get a correct answer. Removing the rear fenders to replace shocks was one of them. A few screws, couple braces ,unplug backup light, lay fender aside. Less than  30 minutes and easy access.

Tommy 08 Camelot tag axel 

[Rikadoo]

This is a follow up on the shock replacement on my coach, i finally got to do a 25 mile drive with the new shocks, i have found when driving thru my neighborhood at low speeds, that the low speed little nuisance were less noticable, alot less. Then the 3 miles of 45 mph before the freway were dampened so much it felt like a compleatly different machine, once on the hiway (there were no crosswinds) the one spot were i normally porpoise  for 6 or 7 bound rebound stopped after going over the causal spot, then in the straight runs it was firm an decisive. When driving over irregular surfaces at slow speeds (RV storage) side to side it was a little better and small pot holes were still the same (i suspect the latter is due to my tire pressure, that due to not having the corners wieghed i defaulted to the higher spectrum of psi) Overall the money spent for the 8 shocks, the hassel of installation, im tottally satisfied AND i should have prioritized this repair alot sooner!!!

Also for those that feel when compleating these repairs that physical support measures (jack stands, wooden stump, or a Prius) you are absolutly correct! With the Front end i opted to have it up on its bags plus i had the levelers down, that givin the space needed to manuaver for me was sufficient. However the rear is a compleatly different story, that untill i discovered the magic doors i did use 2 jack stands, that i chose to place on the very end of the frame (as seen in the pic) that i chose that location primarly to concider the frame as a lever, and had i blown a rear bag, my feeling is that with the levelers and the stands i would still be able to manuver. 
***Fun fact, as of 2022 the capacity labels printed on the jack stands are for a pair not individual, it changes how i used to view there capabilty😳🙀

[BillDM]

Well   I've had my 2011 HR 41 foot for about a year now   and omg   it feels like i need a tag axle  it bounces soo bad sometimes  i avoid certain roads because it,  maybe all I need is front shocks, my 39 foot 2002 bounder was not near as bad,

[Rikadoo]

Hey bill perhaps its a tire balance issue? My last rig used to be stable, then when i hit a pot hole on highway 99 here in Ca things gradually changed ( it was so big the impact caused major issues inside the veh) and though it didnt happen right away it was shortly there after i started having a balance problem from 45 to 58 mph. I ended up selling the rig for other issues so i never knew for sure if that was indeed the problem, i can tell you i paid 2 different times to get the front tires balanced, the first time it was with beads… they didnt help AT ALL, the second time i had the beads removed an then had wieghts used. The weight balance lasted like 100 miles (maybe) then the vibration came back with a vengeance.
That rig used 19.5 tires so road hazards were a bigger issue, but thats not to say it cant be the same for 22.5s. When i worked in the trucking industry rigs came in with tire issues like vibrations, or bouncing, so often we switched out tires for those issues, sometimes it helped other times it did not. 
For those times swaping tires do not help there may be a issue with whats known about “ rotating mass balance” in which items such as “centromatics”can help manage.

[cbr046]

37 minutes ago, Rikadoo said:

. . . . the second time i had the beads removed an then had wieghts used. The weight balance lasted like 100 miles (maybe) then the vibration came back with a vengeance.

Did you check to see if the weights were still there?

If you don't like someone you could always re-arrange their tire weights . . . .

- bob

[dl_racing427]

On 7/11/2023 at 10:01 AM, Rikadoo said:

This is a follow up on the shock replacement on my coach, i finally got to do a 25 mile drive with the new shocks, i have found when driving thru my neighborhood at low speeds, that the low speed little nuisance were less noticable, alot less. Then the 3 miles of 45 mph before the freway were dampened so much it felt like a compleatly different machine, once on the hiway (there were no crosswinds) the one spot were i normally porpoise  for 6 or 7 bound rebound stopped after going over the causal spot, then in the straight runs it was firm an decisive. When driving over irregular surfaces at slow speeds (RV storage) side to side it was a little better and small pot holes were still the same (i suspect the latter is due to my tire pressure, that due to not having the corners wieghed i defaulted to the higher spectrum of psi) Overall the money spent for the 8 shocks, the hassel of installation, im tottally satisfied AND i should have prioritized this repair alot sooner!!!

Also for those that feel when compleating these repairs that physical support measures (jack stands, wooden stump, or a Prius) you are absolutly correct! With the Front end i opted to have it up on its bags plus i had the levelers down, that givin the space needed to manuaver for me was sufficient. However the rear is a compleatly different story, that untill i discovered the magic doors i did use 2 jack stands, that i chose to place on the very end of the frame (as seen in the pic) that i chose that location primarly to concider the frame as a lever, and had i blown a rear bag, my feeling is that with the levelers and the stands i would still be able to manuver. 
***Fun fact, as of 2022 the capacity labels printed on the jack stands are for a pair not individual, it changes how i used to view there capabilty😳🙀

Please, NEVER, EVER get under a vehicle supported only by airbags and/or hydraulic leveling jacks.
If a failure occurs in either system, the coach will drop to the ground in an instant, popping your head like a watermelon.

The ONLY safe method is to use properly rated jack stands or some other solid objects capable of supporting the weight.

I don't want to read of another person being killed by their RV falling on them.  😱

[Rikadoo]

I know its difficult to see in that pic, but at the very back of the coach there were two jack stands😎