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Topic: Rough Ride - Revisited (Read 3 times) previous topic - next topic
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Rough Ride - Revisited
Yahoo Message Number: 58187
Although I continue to bounce along and experience the occasional crash as the rear axle traverses a poor road surface-bridge connection, I have convinced myself that there is nothing wrong with the ride in my 2004 26.5 MB. No drive shaft vibration and no unbalanced or out-of-round tires

On rare occasions when I have found absolutely smooth pavement the ride is beautiful. I now believe the reasons for my rough ride are:

1. The disgracefully abysmal condition of our highways and byways.
 Potholes, pavement cuts, frost heaves, heavy truck braking heaves and  mis-matched surfaces abound!  
2. When loaded for a trip my rig has about 2000 LBS open weight, nice  to have but allows the rig to skip and bounce from ridge to ridge on  the road.

3. I'm not at all sure I made the right choice in purchasing the
 Bilstein shocks which probably contribute significantly to the stiff ride.

Recently I hosted a trip to a Blue Angels air show and loaded eght adults, coolers and chairs weighing about 1400 LBS, much of it in the rear sofas. The change in the ride was very noticible and much improved. So there you are.

Paul NE 50
Re: Rough Ride - Revisited
Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 58193
"3. I'm not at all sure I made the right choice in purchasing the Bilstein shocks which probably contribute significantly to the stiff ride."

Paul

I'm probably one of the few people who have experienced Ford's Factory shocks, Bilstein standards and Bilstein Comforts shocks: all on our 2003 23.5' FL. I bought a set of Bilstein standards from another owner of a new 26.5' who hated the ride. He removed them within the first 2000 miles, so they were effectively new. The Bilstein Comforts were purchased from LD, who had tested them on one of their MHs and had only a few miles on them.

On the rear of our Baby Daze, the standard Bilsteins  would remove the fillings from your teeth.
Ford's shocks and the Bilstein Comforts both produced noticeably less harshness, not perfect but much better than the Bilstein standards. I ended up leaving the Bilsteins Comforts on the front and rear.
Although the ride is very similar to the Factory shocks, I kept the Bilsteins Comforts because of their extremely long life spans. In my experience, most factory shocks begin to fail within 20,000 miles.
The Bilsteins may last the life of the vehicle. I had Bilsteins on our 1983 LD and after 60,000 miles, they felt the same as new.

The 23.5's are lighter in the rear so this may not a good test for the rear of the 26.5's. I still would consider trying a set of the Comforts in the rear, if you consider the ride unreasonably harsh.
Another possibility is buying a set of new rear Ford shocks from LD.
They sell the ones taken off new LDs have are having the optional Bilsteins installed. They sell them at a very reasonable price.
If you like the ride, replace them with Bilstein Comforts when they start to wear out.

Larry
2001 MB
* Not to be confused with Larry W (3000 of my posts are actually from expert Larry W due to Yahoo transition mis-step)
 
Re: Rough Ride - Revisited
Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 58199
Excellent suggestions, Larry. I really appreciate your taking the time to post.

Paul NE 50