Upgrading the shocks on a 2017 Allegro Bus

[SargeW]

The ride quality has deteriorated lately on the Bus. Pot holes and bridge seams are proving a bit rougher than in the past. I have replaced all of the previous rigs (3 Class A motorhomes) with Koni's at some point and it has always made a big difference in the ride comfort. This time because of reputation mostly, I went to Shock Warehouse and ordered the two front shocks for my IFS suspension. Their web page indicated "in stock" when I placed the order. For 2 weeks I waited for a conformation and got zilch in response from them, despite trying all available contact sources. Phone, email, text, and SMS messages all went unanswered. This was for a $500+ order. One last attempt today had similar response, so I cancelled the order and went with Brazel Inc. with a on line site of Ultra RV Products. I placed the order this morning, and within 2 hours I received notice that the order had been shipped, for about $50 less than Shock Warehouse. Ultra RV Products

I can highly recommend this supplier.

 

[Ray-IN]

When I ordered shocks through shock warehouse they arrived in 2 weeks, but that was 4 years ago. This is not the first time I've read about poor service from that company in the last couple years.

 

[SargeW]

Now it's been over 3 weeks since I placed the order, and a week since I cancelled it and I still have had no acknowledgement from them of any kind. Sad.

 

[Ray-IN]

Hang in there SargeW; this pandemic has played havoc with inventory and labor, besides the mandated worker safety procedures.

 

[stripit]

Are you going to do that shock install yourself? If so, is it a hard job?

 

[SargeW]

Are you going to do that shock install yourself? If so, is it a hard job?

Yep, did it already. The whole job took about an hour, and I went slow. The hardest part was fitting my air impact wrench at the top of the shock to remove and install the top bolt. An electric impact may have been a bit smaller. Or it can be done by hand, just not a lot of room to move the ratchet back and forth.

The bottom bolts were a breeze. I checked the Sachs shocks that I took off, and I could move the rams pretty easily in both directions. The Koni's were designed to move up easily, and quite stiff to pull down.

That is with the EVO 99 shocks. And I compared the diameter of the shock bodies against each other. The Koni's were a full 1/4" wider and the rams were beefier.

I drove with them yesterday for the first time, and the difference was immediate and remarkable. The bumps were much less jarring, and ride just felt "cushier". I can honestly recommend changing them out if your suspension feels like every bump is transferred to your seat.

My suspension is Independent Front Suspension (IFS) which is generally much more responsive that a straight axle, but I put Koni's on the previous coach with a straight axle and it made a big difference there as well.