Re: New Shocks
Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 88815
Hi Denis,
I suppose my ride would be called 'stiffer' then many CC owners like. The Michelin XZE* thicker side wall tires, and Road Kings do provide a 'feel the road' ride compared to the OEM 8 year old Toyo's and Koni SP1 shocks. (On other posts, I mentioned I first tried setting the Koni to the highest setting, but they still did not control the front end.)
Everyone has different priorities, and that for sure is OK. I went with a bit stiffer ride (not bone shaking, and such a nice ride compared to the old F53 Buck Board ride we had before) in favor of better emergency handling capability.
I test drove between 20-23 Class A's in our search. From Beaver Marquis and Patriots, Dynasty, Mountain Aire, Foretravel, Alpine, Travel Supreme, etc. Many had the same chassis underneath them with Spartan. I drove one Winnie with the Freightliner XC chassis too. The best handling was the Alpine, but it was a 36' compared to most being 40-42'. The Roadmaster 10 bag handled well too. We also considered a 'gap to retirement' Class A, and looked at a few UFO's chassis with the 8.1 gasser too.
I consider out Allure with the Road Kings and MCU's to be less 'jarring' then many of these coaches. I believe a CC Magna was the 'smoothest ride' of the bunch, with handling a bit less then I wanted.
Almost all of these were driven on the same route of S curves and hills, about a 45-60 minute drive depending upon where the coaches were. A few I drove or flew to different cities to check out, so not the same on all.
My 'vast' Class A experience was coming from the 99 F53 18K Chassis under a 98 T28 Bounder.
So factor my 'seat of the pants experience' on learning DP's too. Still get a kick on how they build up speed slow but steady, and my DW is still think the brakes are not working as she is nor feeling any pedal pressure (except in the Alpine). I drove enough of these rigs on different chassis to sure tell a difference in them, especially with the tag's vs non tag's - which pushed us into the 'buy the retirement rig now' (along with lower prices due to the economy)...
I do like the handling of our coach. I do not consider it 'too harsh or stiff of a ride'. I would love to improve it more, and wish an after market Comfort Drive was available for it. (Comfort Drive Newmars were out of our budget range.)
I have not ruled out doing some due diligence with HWH on the specific costs of Active Air for our rig. I feel I spent quite a bit of coin for the Road Kings, not as much for the MCU's - and then to add Active Air on top of these, I may not see as much improvement as others. (The MCU's would come off during the Active Air install.) The one think I keep coming back to, is the 'emergency handling' improvements of the Active Air. I believe this would be a dramatic improvement over just my Road Kings and MCU's. It comes down to safety, and what are you willing to spend for each incremental improvement in handling.
And, many, many CC owners drive for many, many years and miles with stock suspensions on their coaches. (I do feel that the a few years around 2004 when National dictated the 'floating ride', makes my era coach a bit different then most CC's.)
I'm long winded as ever on this, but my key point is each owner will do what is important to them - and that is what it is all about:)!
Best to all,
Smitty
04 Allure 31017 40' Tag
Topic: New Shocks (Read 937 times)
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