This writeup is part of what I have found out about shocks used on Monacos. Monacos have been fitted with both Bilstein and Monroe shocks and sometimes it has been real confusing as to which ones are or were on a motorhome. Hopefully this will help answer Bob’s question on how long his Bilsteins will last and add to what Brett has already stated.
I talked to Bilstein factory representative that actually was involved in the design of the shock absorbers used on Monaco MHs and I would like to pass this on to all. I think it answers a lot of question about what owners have observed or had problems with.
I think some Monaco owners have already figured out that there is a dividing line on the year of the Monaco MHs and the type Bilstein shock used. Congratulations you are 100% correct. On most Monaco coaches made in 2002 and earlier the Bilstein shock valving design was oriented more towards performance than comfort. In case people don’t know, the internal shock valve controls the speed, rate and resistance of the shock piston to suspension movement. So if the valving is designed for performance it normally makes the shock have a harsher ride and you feel more of those road expansion joints and pot holes. Most RV’ers do not like to feel all that and complain that they want a smoother ride. This harsh ride that is immediately fixed when the original Bilsteins shocks are replaced on a 2002 and earlier Monaco by ANY of today’s top three brands such as Bilstein, Koni or Road King shock absorbers and leads to the assumption that the initially installed Bilsteins were bad. In most cases that is an incorrect assumption because they were just not designed the way we want them.
Monaco motorhomes 2003 and later that have the Bilstein shocks absorbers with the updated valving for comfort and control and normally these shocks as with all premium shocks will last over 100,000 miles so changing them out at an early mileage to another brand probably will not result in much change in the way the MH rides and may in fact make the ride a little harsher or different to the ride with the original Bilsteins.
Monaco purposely redesigned the Bilstein shock for the 2003 MHs to give you the best ride and control. My ride and control on my 2004 MH is superb with the factory installed Bilsteins and I would not consider spending all that money to change them. With 8 or 10 shocks we are talking are fair amount of money. So it is important to be careful on judging your 2003 and later Monaco based on 2002 and earlier ride complaints.
The life expectancy of any of the top three brand shocks, such as Bilstein, Koni or Road King, is normally over 100,000 miles. Bilsteins are used on UPS vans and exceed 100,000 mile life on a regular basis as would the other top brand shocks. Bilstein shocks use what is called a wet seal at the top of the shock body where the rod enters the shock which means it will seep a little oil every once in a while to keep the seal lubricated. Occasionally a small amount of oil may leak out and run down the side of the body of the shock and this is considered to be normal and as long as the body of the shock is not flooded or soaked with oil. I have seen a little oil on the body of two shocks on my MH and was going to change them but I wiped the oil off with a paper towel and solvent and the oil never came back so according to Bilstein the shocks are still good. I think the reason mine leaked a little oil was that the MH was stored for two years and that seal dried out a little so when I initially drove it leaked until it got wet again and resealed.
I have seen several posts where Monaco owners have complained that the top rubber doughnut eye bushing has failed and the shock is loose or banging around. Monaco specified that Bilstein use a different design eye on the top of the shocks so they could use a larger rubber doughnut bushing to reduce the road noise and vibration being transmitted through the shock into the frame. It appears that this Monaco specified rubber bushing does not have the life expectancy of a stock Bilstein bushing. Failure of this rubber bushing does NOT mean the shock is bad and has to be replaced.
A replacement bushing can be obtained from Bilstein by calling them at East Coast 1.800.745.4636 or West Coast 1-800.537.1085 and asking for them to send you the special Monaco top rubber bushing. They are four dollars each and can be soaped down or sprayed with silicone and inserted into the eye on the top of the shock and you are good to go again. You can tell if your top rubber bushings are bad either by looking at them with a flashlight or reaching up there with your hand and see if they are cracked or split. If cracked or split then you should have the shock taken off and that top rubber bushing replaced. If the bushing totally goes and you have metal to metal then you may hear it banging around or it may break off the top mounting bolts and do some real damage to the area above the top shock mount. The standard Bilstein bottom rubber bushing will normally last the life of the shock.
A lot of Monacos were also fitted with Monroe shocks and the Monroe shock is yellow also which is confusing. So now we have yellow and blue Bilsteins and all yellow Monroes. I wonder if that confuses people as to which shock they have or had. On all the Bilsteins I have seen the top part of the shock which is just a protective cover coming down over the rod is made of a flexible plastic and the Monroe is hard steel. The easiest way to tell the difference between the two yellow shocks is that the yellow Monroes have a hard metal yellow top half that covers the rod. The yellow Bilsteins have a plastic top cover which is blue and can be either smooth or rippled. The big thing is that Bilsteins always have a yellow main shock body and a blue top dust cover and a Monroe is all yellow on the shock body and a hard metal yellow dust cover.
One thing is that is showing up here that I am in perfect agreement with is that Monaco's decision to use Monroe shocks was a bad one and has caused a lot of heartburn and $$$$$. Most Monroe shocks on RVs only have a life expectancy of around 18,000 miles and when they fail the ride is horrible. Control of the MH is difficult and the ride is super harsh. If you have Monroes then I would highly recommend changing them before they go bad. if you also replace the Monroes with any of the top three brands being the Comfort Bilsteins, the Koni FSD or Road King you are going to see a great improvement in ride comfort and control. I would bet that unless somebody did a back to back test with all the top three brands you will not be able to tell the difference from one to another but again the ride is going to be so much better than the Monroes.
