First off, it is your money and your coach, so you obviously buy what
you think is best for you. I just provide information that has been a
significant improvement for many Safari members, proven by many road
miles, and is significantly less costly ($140.71 vs $199.39 times
two). I can't afford to be a test mule, but if your willing, great!
Feed back will be greatly appreciated.
Second, you state that you know what the 88s felt like. Well, yes and no.
A.) by your own statements, you said they were worn out.
B.) You don't know what dampening rate they were set at.
C.) Do you know which 88 shocks you had??? If you had the 88-1490SP2
that Koni had originally speced and stubbornly continues to spec for
our coaches, that shock will feel worn out right from the box, because
the valving is useless for our application. So, the odds are very
high, that you will not have a true comparison with a new Koni
88-1641SP3 vs the EVO99.
Three, please don't take offense, but first dig up and study the
history on the shocks for the Safari coaches, and the misery early
owners went through, before you make blanket comments.
A.) There is absolutely no comparison between motorcycle shocks and
RV/heavy duty application shocks.
B.) 88 series is a HUGE array of shocks with widely varying
valving/dampening specs. So, yes, they will fit numerous applications,
this is nothing new and is well known.
C.) which really should be A.) As stated above, Koni specd a totally
useless and expensive shock for the front of our coaches, part number
88-1490SP2 (to all members, never use this shock, you will have wasted
your money!). This useless sock required a quad shock kit that was
developed by the late Ralph Andrews, in an attempt to solve the
horrible ride issues, including severe porpoising and bouncing. The
quad kit helped, but not enough, so Ralph Andrews diligently,
relentlessly, and painstakingly tested NUMEROUS shocks on his own
coach, at his own expense, searching for a better shock to solve the
ride quality issues. This man removed and installed more shocks on his
coach, then probably all the shocks on our safaris combined. He
finally came across the Koni 88-1641SP3 shock, the the supper magical
shock we were all praying for. This shock was so effective, that it
negated the need for the quad shock kit! With all the research, and
positive results, Koni still refused to change the their part numbers
specd for Safari coaches, all they care is to sell. With their track
record I do not trust them to spec and/or build a shock for our
coaches, we have to find and use the shock that works for us, and that
shock is the 88-1641SP3. Will the EVO99 series be better? I don't
know. Without seeing actual dampening spec numbers or someone willing
to experiment on the level similar to Ralph Andrews. It is an
expensive guess that I can't afford to take, and I am unwilling to
take, as the less costly shock does a great job, and has for many
years and miles.
D.) Most are not aware of this, but for heavy RVs and in general, for
heavy truck application, but especially for the torsional suspension
that many of our coaches have. To achieve the difficult task of a very
smooth ride with maximum control, it is crucial to have a shock that
has very little dampening on compression, and a whole lot of dampening
on extension. This allows great control, without sacrificing ride on
the harsh, high frequency bumps, like bridge transitions and potholes.
As stated before, the Koni 88 series shock dampening specs are all
over the place, it just happens that the 88-1641SP3 perfectly fit the
bill. The discovery of this shock goes to Ralf and Brett Wolfe. Brett
worked along side with Ralph to try and help find a solution. Koni
gets zero credit for this discovory, as they knew that there was an
issue and refused to do anything about it, they could have easily
changed the spec and sold is as a new and improved, but they
stubbornly chose not to. When a solution was found, they were too
proud to admit their mistake and/or had little knowledge of the
dampening needs of a torsional suspension. As they say, ignorance is
bliss. It is worthy to note that Ralph also developed numerous
suspension upgrade products to help with handling issues on our
coaches. As seen in the photos that Taylor posted, the Tiger Trak bars
and the Radius Rods were all developed by Ralph and those upgrades
were a huge help/improvement for many members.
So now you know...
BTW, I'm not talking about smaller candy bars, I'm talking about many
years ago when they switched recipes, also adding high fructose corn
syrup, and labeling "new and improved" on the candy bars (Snikers bar
was one example). In my opinion, the Snikers bar tasted worse. Many
years ago, my brother brought some from Greece, when he traveled
there, and by golly, they tasted just like they used way back yonder.
Yup, he did get a reaction out of me, wish he would have brought a
bunch more.
As for cars, oil technology is the key reason why cars are able to get
more miles. That said, the cars are getting so technical now days,
that they are cost prohibitive to run up to 3 or 4 hundred K miles.
Also, comparing a diesel truck, does not say much. I know plenty of
first generation pick up trucks that went 400K with out needing a
turbo nor injection pump, and many of those trucks went 800K without
overhaul. Buy a brand new coach, the equivalent quality and class of a
Safari Coach, and try to work on it yourself. Good luck, you can keep
it. Lol. All I can say is it is not for me.
John
'95 Safari Serengeti 38ft, Cummins C8.3-300, Allison
6spd
On 7/30/19, robertfury@... [Safarifriends]
wrote:
'> I’m not sure if I agree. Candy bars get smaller, that’s just inflation at
> work. I’m not sure they were any better back in the day. Tvs get better,
> lighter, thinner, cheaper. Computers and phones the same (well not
> cheaper). The cars of even the 80s wouldn’t run half as long as current day
> cars. I have a 2004 Chevy diesel pickup, 320k miles on the odometer, runs
> super, plan on keeping it couple more hundred thousand. I have a 2008
> Kawasaki street bike that has 70k miles, still wheelies like a champ. Never
> even replaced the clutch plates. My 80 era Yamaha broke the transmission
> before 20k. The 88s weren’t designed solely for the Magnum/Velvet ride
> chassis, they were the stock shock for many brands and models. I know
> valving rates are key. But I also know the bigger (and I mean significantly
> bigger) shocks in motorcycles play a part in their performance over older
> bikes. Older shock and fork designs don’t even compare to what we have
> today in performance/durability on motorcycles, it’s so different and
> improved there’s whole new areas of competition not even imagined back in
> the good old days. I can’t imagine RV shocks are any different. Like I
> said, a gamble, but if they don’t seem great )and I know what the 88s felt
> like because they were on my coach when I bought it) super easy to take off,
> on eBay, I’m down a hundred dollars, and I can report the findings.
>
> ------------------------------------
> Posted by: robertfury@...
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