Shocks

Cary and Don · August 20, 2012, 08:53:23 AM

We are going to put new shocks on our Eagle. The Gabriels we wanted are all on the east coast. Means a lot of shipping costs. There are Monroes on the west coast. They say they are a direct replacement. Has anybody had experience with the Monroes or some other brand?

Don and Cary
1973 05 Eagle
GM 4107
Neoplan AN340

luvrbus · August 20, 2012, 09:08:03 AM

Don, use the 89425 adjustable gas shock on the rear and bogie set at medium if you don't like the ride they are easy to adjust you can get those at AutoZone in 2 days around 50 bucks each

Jefferson in OKC will have the front shocks 83-314 and will be as cheap as any one don't screw up and install a adjustable shock on the front use a double action shock or that Eagle will porpoise

good luck

Cary and Don · August 20, 2012, 09:33:40 AM

Thanks.

It has the Gabriels, 85314 on front and 85303 on back, on it that are recommended. They were new in 2002. All the suspension was rebuilt in 2002. It is porpoising now and want to cure it. Want it to drive like everybody says it should. We are more concerned about good handling than a really soft ride. Cary gets motion sickness with floating rides anyway.

Don and Cary
1973 05 Eagle
GM 4107
Neoplan AN340

opus · August 20, 2012, 11:53:27 AM

Pretty hard to beat Amazon most times.

http://www.amazon.com/Gabriel-85314-FleetLine-Heavy-Absorber/dp/B004K7XQ2S

http://www.amazon.com/Gabriel-85303-FleetLine-Heavy-Absorber/dp/B004K7ZYQY

http://www.amazon.com/Gabriel-89425-GasSLX-Adjustable-Absorber/dp/B004K86MZA

Dave5Cs · August 20, 2012, 11:58:59 AM

Gabriel and Monroe have always been equals in the shock industry.

Dave5Cs

RJ · August 20, 2012, 07:01:33 PM

Quote from: luvrbus on August 20, 2012, 09:08:03 AM
. . . or that Eagle will porpoise. . .

Clifford -

Will it porpoise on purpose?

luvrbus · August 20, 2012, 09:17:10 PM

Don,it may not be the shocks it can depend on the ride height and the balance of the conversion also

I would weigh the bogies and go from there some Eagles like 1in low so I don't pay much attention to the ride height unless it is real low mine (Matts) never did like the 14 inches

good luck

Boomer · August 20, 2012, 09:50:51 PM

14's for an empty seated coach. 12-13" for a fully loaded conversion is normal. I'm 45K @45' and running around 13 right now. Monroe's and no porpoise/dolphin.

luvrbus · August 21, 2012, 06:23:02 AM

The guy that did all the suspension on Don's bus always set by the fender wells Roy never checked the corners 48 inches on the fender wells was good enough for him

Cary and Don · August 21, 2012, 04:59:24 PM

After a discussion with Jefferson we bought shocks for the front. They suggested raising the rear 2" from the info we gave them and see what happens. They thought the rear shocks might be just fine.

So off we went to raise the rear. That is a lot of fun. Thankfully our suspension is like new. No rusty bolts. One side done today. The other side tomorrow. Shocks on the way.

Next time we get on the road we will get all the axles weighed. Indexing is way past our ability. Hopefully, things will be good. Looking forward to a test drive with the new shocks and the coach level.

Don and Cary
1973 05 Eagle
GM 4107
Neoplan

rv_safetyman · August 21, 2012, 08:34:04 PM

There is a very high probability that you will find that your bogie loads are low and they will need to be indexed.

There is at least one good thread on the Eagles International website that discusses the process. It is possible to do it yourself. After you weigh each axle, you will know how much to index each bogie. One spline is 500 pounds. The big job is getting the arm off the spline. I know that I posted a picture of me using a hydraulic jack and chain system to remove the shaft.

Here is on thread (not the one I was thinking of, but it will show you what is involved:

http://www.eaglesinternational.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2916

Jim

luvrbus · August 21, 2012, 08:49:19 PM

He raises the rear 2 inches the front is going to be low and the bogies will be light with a new suspension it won't take but a 1/2 inch of thread to raise it 2 inches I bet

I wonder who told him to raise the rear 2 inches ED maybe

BJ · August 21, 2012, 09:33:50 PM

try auto zone

luvrbus · August 22, 2012, 06:12:58 AM

AutoZone is no help for the front shocks on Eagle,Jefferson is not bad on the price around 50 bucks each last year

Cary and Don · August 22, 2012, 08:19:15 AM

Yep it was Ed.

The front is high when we measured it. The front frame to ground was 13" and the back frame to ground was 10 1/2". It even looked down hill. We are hoping we will get lucky and this will fix it.

If it needs to be reindexed we will have to find somebody to do that. We are working on the theory that if it settled, then the weight on the boogie should be too much. Pulling wheels is a little heavy for us. When we weigh it I guess we will find out. If it needs the reindexing we will need to make a long trip to find somebody to do it. Any volunteers?

The suspension had never been adjusted after the initial install. Ed's theory was they may have put a heavy trailer on it. Don't think so since they didn't drive it more than a couple thousand miles after the work was done. Maybe it just settled over the 10 years even though they didn't use it much? How often to you usually have to do this adjusting?

Don and Cary
1973 05 Eagle
GM 4107
Neoplan AN340

The gas shocks were unobtainable. Even Gabriel didn't have any and the in stock date was unknown. One reason we just bought for the front.

Don and Cary
1973 05 Eagle
GM 4107
Neoplan AN 340