Class A shock absorbers

[87southwind]

I have a 35 foot class a and would like to smooth out the ride. Expansion joints really shake things up and create a rough ride. Looking at Bilstein and koni but wonder if there are any others that would be better for making a softer ride? I have the F53 suspension.

thanks

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

Don't know about others, but Konis made a real difference.

[mscans]

I had Bilsteins and the ride was excellent (also a F53 chassis). Most heavy duty after market work well. The Koni's, I believe, are adjustable as well.

[Kirk W]

Stiff ride is the biggest weakness of the current Ford chassis, in my opinion. I went to Monroe shocks that we recommended by an RV tech writer (whose name I can't now recall) as being softer than Bilstein shocks and at one time the Ford came with shocks made for them by Bilstein, although I'm not sure it is true today. I'd think that any of the adjustable shocks would have the ability also for making the ride less stiff. The biggest thing that I found to be helpful in eliminating the stiff ride of our F-53 chassis was getting accurate wheel weights and reducing the tire inflation pressure to that recommended in the tire manufacturer's inflation tables. If you are presently running the inflation pressure from the tire sidewall, it is probably significantly higher than needed and so eliminates much of the shock absorbing abilities of the tires.

[fly2low]

I went with Koni's. Worked for me.

At the same time. I had a 4 wheel weight performed, and took 20 lbs out of the front and 15 out of the rear. Suspect that may have helped as well - or more.

[Kirk W]

At the same time. I had a 4 wheel weight performed, and took 20 lbs out of the front and 15 out of the rear. Suspect that may have helped as well - or more.

I'd bet you that if you had do the inflation adjustment first, you would have found it to have been more than half of the improvement. The reason for inflation charts is that tires are intended to be part of the absorption of bumps and vibrations in ride and handling. When the tire is inflated to maximum with less weight on it that makes it hard and prevents it acting as a cushion as it should. It also means the tire is more likely to be damaged when you hit something hard since it can't flex to absorb the impact.

[fly2low]

I suspect you are correct Kirk

[The Quiet Assassin]

Air bag suspension plus good shocks makes a huge improvement to the ride. That is why the buses go down this route.

[Jim Seward]

When we installed the Koni FSD shocks on just the front suspension it resulted in a significant ride improvement.