Harsh Ride

[Grimesy]

I have about 48 K miles on my 2005 Itasca 40 foot Horizon and it seems to me that every time I hit a pot hole I get my teeth rattled, and we have a lot of them in California. Looking for a solution such as new shocks, or what ever. Any ideas welcome.

Don, WIT 70041

[cbeierl]

First thing to check is to make sure you have your tires inflated appropriately for your vehicle weight. Ideally you want 4-corner weights, then use the weight from whichever side of the axle is heavier and consult the tire manufacturer's inflation tables for your tires to get the correct pressure for the tires on each axle. I add 5 pounds to the table value to give myself a little margin. Over-inflated tires can make for a very harsh ride.

[LVJ58]

You might want to start by replacing your front shocks with Koni FSD shocks. A bit pricey, but well worth the $$$ for improving ride.

Good luck

[wagonmaster2]

You're fighting a losing battle, these things are built on a truck chassis and consequently will ride like a truck. I have a 2004 Itasca 36' and have installed Konis (shock absorbers control bounce but do nothing for hard hits), Hendersen motion control valves, weighed all 4 corners and adjusted tire pressure, and checked ride height, and every bridge joint, highway seam, or small chuck hole will jar your teeth and rattle everything in the coach.

Don't know how low the tire air pressure would have to be below recommended pressure to make for a nice ride but it would be harmful on the tire and dangerous for coach control to use less pressure than the tire manufacturer recommends.

Wagonmaster2

[smlranger]

Don,

Welcome to the forum. I would agree that we need to set our expectations based on the fact that these chassis are truck/school bus chassis and will never ride like a car. However, your's is on the IFS (independent front suspension) chassis and others with this chassis will say it rides pretty good. I do know that tire pressure is critical. When my new tires were first put on the coach, the tire dealer inflated them to 120 psi. The ride home was awful. I adjusted the pressure based to my actual loaded weight after consulting with the Goodyear load inflation table (I now run 100 psi in the fronts and 85 in the rears). Ride improved greatly. I also changed the OEM Bilstein shocks to Koni FSD and also saw improvement.

No question, potholes and other irregular road surfaces can give you a jarring ride at times. However, overall, I don't think the coach rides badly and is significantly better than my previous gas motorhome.

[tderonne]

Potholes in California? You're kidding right?

[Grimesy]

Thanks for the info, we do indead have pot holes, pot heads and pot brains. Have done just about all sugested except for new shocks. Although it is shown that I am a new member I have been on this site for a long time. Seems like when I am out of touch for awhile my info gets erased and it is easier to reenlist rather than try to retrieve it.

Happy trails and maybe we will meet at GNR.

Don, WIT 70041

[ChiefJohn]

Recently met a couple with an active air suspension installed on their Itasca. They swear by the HWH Active Air Brochures HWH system -- I guess if you spend $6,500 on a suspension system it ought to be darn good!