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Rear suspension

Yahoo Message Number: 4499

We are planning to keep our 2007 Dutchmen Model 33k another year and I want to upgrade the rear suspension. I have the firestone air bags now, and the chassis is the 19,500# capacity. I noticed Koni's have been mentioned, but Camping World sells another brand (can't remember the name)... is there a lot of difference?

Also, I previously added the Davis tru-trac to the front and like it... is there anything I should add to the rear to stabilize the roll? I know Roadmaster sells a rear anti-sway kit of some kind.

Denny

Re: Rear suspension

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 4500
Bilstens are good and have received high marks. Look at shockwarehouse com. Put them on my Seneca and made a difference.

Keith

Re: Rear suspension

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 4501
Denny, if I recall, the Bilsteins are about half the price of the Koni's. I'm thinking about the Bilsteins as well as the airbags. First we have to get the zerk in the rear differential replaced.

Don

Re: Rear suspension

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 4502

I see the Bilsteins at Camping World are about $250 each... where are the days of $75 shocks?

Denny

Re: Rear suspension

Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 4506

Great... I will take this page to Camping World and see what they say.

Re: Rear suspension

Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 4507
Make sure you get the right rear shocks. Each weight axle has a different shock. Eye to eye, Eye to pin and over all length.
Best
Ron Hall

Re: Rear suspension

Reply #10 –
Yahoo Message Number: 4509
Spoke with Bilstein directly this week as I am in the market to upgrade the rear shocks on my 09 Seneca built on an 08 Chassis. Customer support gave me two part numbers for the Bilstein rear shocks. eye to eye use B65-C254. Pin to Pin use B65-F325. Hope this helps.

Re: Rear suspension

Reply #12 –
Yahoo Message Number: 4511

Thanks for the replies.... on the part numbers for your 2008, is yours a 19,500 lb chassis or the heavier 22,000lb chassis?

Denny

Re: Rear suspension

Reply #14 –
Yahoo Message Number: 4513

If going with Koni's, make sure and get the correct diameter eye for the rears. The part numbers only differ by a letter being added to the end of the number.

Roger

Re: Rear suspension

Reply #15 –
Yahoo Message Number: 4514
Denny, We had Bilsteins installed at Camping World a little over a year ago on our 19,500lb gasser. Their price was $93/each plus $32/each for installation. The whole bill was about $490. The difference in handling was dramatic. Bill

Re: Rear suspension

Reply #17 –
Yahoo Message Number: 4518

Thanks, Jeff.... Camping World only sells the Roadmaster Rear anti-sway bar for the rear axle. I wonder if it would perform as well, any have any ideas?

Denny

Re: Rear suspension

Reply #18 –
Yahoo Message Number: 4527
Attachments :

    A bigger anti-sway bar and a rear trac bar are very different items that accomplish different things. The trac bar stops the body from moving left and right, the "tail wagging the dog" - the situation where you feel the rear end move sideways, and counter steer causing more movement when in fact you should not have changed the steering at all - the wheels went in a straight line the whole time, but the body sloshed around on the springs. It's a huge improvement in stability and steering accuracy. The bigger anti-sway bar doesn't do that at all, it reduces overall left to right rocking. It doesn't stop the body from sloshing around horizontally on the wheels/suspension.  Kind of a pitch vs. yaw sort of thing.

    My opinion is that you will notice a much bigger overall improvement with the trac bar than just a stiffer anti-sway bar.

    Jeff

    Re: Rear suspension

    Reply #19 –
    Yahoo Message Number: 4540
    Actually, the Roadmaster rear sway bar for the Kodiak chassis is installed in addition to the smaller stock sway bar.

    Re: Rear suspension

    Reply #20 –
    Yahoo Message Number: 4545
    I tried to install the Roadmaster anti-sway bar on our Four Winds 34h,
    but was not able to since there were other brackets in the way. It
    installs as an additional anti-sway. The original is to the front of
    the axle and this installs to the rear of the axle. Maybe there is a
    larger replacement for the original anti-sway bar.

    David

    Re: Rear suspension

    Reply #21 –
    Yahoo Message Number: 4547
    I believe when your choosing what to do next it depends on your objective. I have a 6316 gas Endura I only drove it a couple hundred miles before I did the suspension. Even with the huge overhang I did not notice any tail wagging, but hated the rythmatic rocking from side to side. For that I added the front sway bar and rear axillary anti sway bar. I also added Koni Shocks. It stopped the rocking. I honestly I think the shocks helped the most, but I did not pull it out of the shop once until it was all done so don't know. I added the Trac bars front and rear and am sure it made an improvement in tracking, but because it was not a huge objection in the first place it was not that noticable. I added air bags but that was to get about an 1" raise in the back. It might have helped in other ways but it was just for a slight raise not for handling. On the shocks I have used Bilistiens on my last two Motorhomes and loved them. Not really sure why I did Koni shocks this time but they seem to be great, and are a little easier to instal.