Handling/Ride improvements

[Bruce Morris]

Robert, there is a place called Robert's motors in Medford, OR. that has
a very good reputation for the work they have done on Birds.



Bruce Morris in Raleigh, NC
Phone: (919)872-7635 Cell: (919)740-8941 (Verizon)


1983 FC35RB
FMCA# 7142s VB KI4ME
Vietnam Vet - 1966-67 3rd MarDiv Navy Corpsman "DOC"



Robert Britton wrote:
>
> Don,
> I am going to have Henderson's Lineup Install new air bags and new
> Koni shocks when I pass through Grants Pass in July.
> Are you happy with the service there? I have made phone contact with
> them a few times and they seem to be very professional.
>
> Robert Britton
> 87FC
> Hollister, California
>
> --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
> , "Don Bradner"
> wrote:
> >
> > Some of you may recall that I asked if anyone here had ever had a
> Ride Performance Assessment done on a Bird by Henderson's Lineup in
> Grant's Pass, Oregon. Didn't hear from anyone who had, just one
> recommendation for another place and Tom's very negative view of the
> idea.
> >
> > Our first 2K miles or so were mostly freeway, and I would class the
> overall handling/ride on freeways as good. I was therefore surprised
> on our recent trip up the coast of Oregon and Washington at how
> poorly it rode the many washout-dips on 101. Porpoise and sway was
> the order of the day!
> >
> > I decided that it would be worth the $150 cost of the assessment to
> see what a pro thought, and we took Blue Thunder into Grant's Pass
> this past Wednesday. Their shop foreman did our assessment drive, and
> he did not feel that the ride was exceptionally bad, but did agree
> that it could be better. He recommended, in order of importance:
> >
> > 1. Adjust the existing front Konis (presumably a replacement by
> another owner) to a stiffer ride.
> >
> > 2. Add their motion-control units to the air bags.
> >
> > 3. Replace the original shocks on the rear with Koni FSDs.
> >
> > The first item turned out to be impossible - the shocks simply
> would not take an adjustment. They tried both on (releasing the
> bottom end) and off the coach on the bench. All they would do was
> spin. They were also very difficult to expand and contract.
> >
> > Replacing the shocks was not possible on the spot, because of the
> three different part numbers needed (90-2490SP1 in the front, 9005-
> 1025 on the drivers, 8805-1010 on the tag) only the 8805 is a stock
> part for them, and the various sources they use, including KoniRV,
> did not have the others in stock either.
> >
> > Item 2 is an interesting one, and a hard decision. The reason it is
> hard is that you have to pay a lot for some very small parts. The
> MCUs are sold (exclusively so far as I can tell) under Henderson's
> Steer Safe brand, but are made by Donvel. They are about the size of
> a shotgun shell, and their purpose is to allow normal fill-and-dump
> flows to each airbag, but resist sudden flow that occurs when a bag
> is compressed or extended by going over a curb/bump or dropping into
> a hole.
> >
> > The most common installation is inline in typical plastic airlines,
> as near the bag as possible. Fairly simple installation, and they run
> I think $185 a pair. For hard-plumbed installations like the Bird,
> they have units that screw into the top of the bag, then the airline
> is attached to the unit. Those are newer designs and run $250 per
> pair.
> >
> > I found a few postings on the internet that attested to them
> working well, and none that said they didn't, although there were
> definite gripes about the price!
> >
> > My tolerance for cost when it comes to ride/handling/safety may be
> higher than most - I decided to go for it. They had 8 of them of the
> necessary size (there are 7 units depending on pipe size and vehicle
> weight), so we did everything but the tags.
> >
> > We will likely go through there in September and get all of the
> shocks replaced. With a glass-half-full perspective, we are able to
> evaluate the effect of the MCUs with no other changes to the system.
> >
> > Conclusion: significant reduction in sway. Flatter through corners.
> The most obvious test is a speed bump taken at an angle. Before, when
> the drivers would cross the bump, the coach would rock back and forth
> in a major way, now it just tilts up as one side goes over, then the
> other way as the other side crosses, then back to level.
> >
> > The run home from Grant's Pass involves US 199 to Crescent City.
> That is about a good a test run for cornering as you can find. I
> won't say the MCUs made the drive fun, but I was a lot less worried
> about bouncing off things than in the past. That will always be a bit
> of a paranoid run for me - I did bounce off a guard-rail in the past
> on that highway in an SOB; I could swear I had enough room, but I
> rocked outward just enough to hit. No scrape, just a linear crease
> about 20 feet long.
> >
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Gregory OConnor]

Don, I wonder if BlueThunder had a sway problem out of the gate. Add
ons could make it better than new but repair and refit will make it
good as new.

GregoryO'Connor
94ptRomolandCa

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Don Bradner"
wrote:
>
> I understand the comment, although you read a bit more into things
than I wrote - I very deliberately did not suggest any possible
source of the problem(s), including the obvious one (shocks) because
of wanting to avoid exactly that issue.
>
> It is always a rock-and-a-hard-place when you go to a business and
ask them to make recommendations in their area of sales. Yet we do it
all the time, because none of us can be experts in all things, nor
can we know about all of the possible products available. I could
not, for example, have suggested the motion control units because I
did not know they existed. Once they were suggested to me, then it
became my problem to do what I could to determine if they were snake
oil, or not. The answer I got from internet searches (and talking to
the one customer there (getting a toad-braking system installed) who
already had these was less than definitive. No objective third-party
testing, for example, which would have been nice.
>
> At that point it was purely an "am I willing to lose this money on
the gamble if it is worthless" against "something really needs to be
done to improve sway." What I chose is clear in my prior post.
>
> Don Bradner
> 90 PT40 "Blue Thunder"
> Eureka, CA
>
> On 6/5/2007 at 3:40 AM Gregory OConnor wrote:
>
> >I once asked an ophthalmologist if vision was the cause of my
> >headaches. He sold me glasses
>