MOTORHOME MODIFICATIONS - *K* Koni Shocks, Knob, Quilt and Sheets

I am going to start off the new year with posting some of our motorhome modifications, a few at a time. I will post repairs, modifications, or neato things we have found for RVing.  I have lots of pics in my files so I will do them in alphabetical order.

Underneath that stuff, I will post my regular daily stuff..... kinda sorta fun, eh?

So here it goes, we are up to the letter K now!

MOTORHOME MODIFICATIONS 

STARTING WITH THE LETTER K

Koni Shocks:

Suspension on a big rig is pretty important.  Not long after buying our motorhome (used) we noticed a CLUNK sound on our rig when going over a bump.  Rut Roh.. time to check it out.  We knew the shocks were probably in need of replacement.  Steve examined the shocks and they were okay, but the mount on the driver's side was cracked totally loose.  Oh boy!  No wonder we were hearing a bad sound.  After removing it he found it must have been broken for a while , as it was rusty and not a fresh break.  Luckily he can weld and he repaired it himself.

A few years later, he decided to replace the shocks.  We had a very tough time trying to find replacement Koni. Seems they stopped making the shock size that we needed.

A few folks emailed and asked me WHY is it such a big deal about the shocks?  Well, it is because the mid 90's Safari motorhomes were constructed on their own exclusive chassis that Safari made themselves, with a sub company called Magnum.  Both of which are no longer in business.  It's not like a common Roadmaster or Freightliner, where parts are readily available.

The suspension is a specially developed style called Torsilastic developed by the BF Goodrich company and is called Velvetride.  It is comprised of a series of rubber wedges and big rubber bushings.  No springs, no air bags.  Just shocks.  (and it does ride like velvet!)  Not many repair places even heard of it, much less able to do any alignment or repairs on it.  Some of the larger coaches/buses like Foretravel used this suspension too.

The trouble with the shock replacement on this chassis is that the original shocks were made exclusively by Koni as a special configuration for the Magnum chassis and not available on the open market as replacements.  They are adjustable, but one shock on one side of ours will still adjust, the other side won't hold anymore, so the seal must be blown inside.  No leaking hydraulic fluid, but if Steve grabs one end and I grab the other, we can pull it apart too easily.

The only other alternative for us vintage Safari owners is to buy a special bracket made by a guy out in Washington for the Safari rigs that will let a person install pairs of smaller more common Koni FSD shocks-- 2 together on each side.  Just the brackets are $295.00 for a pair,  and the 4 shocks just for the front would be another $145.00 each, which is a total of almost $900.00  !!!!

So THAT is why we were excited to locate a company that has a single larger shock that will fit our rig.  It was Bilstein. We ordered some Bilsteins to replace the original Koni shocks.  He did the replacement SO fast I never had time to take the pics. ARGGHH....   

We ran on the Bilsteins for a while, but Steve realized they were for a spring type suspension and not the torsilastic.   We really needed the type of dampening on the upswing not the downswing like the Bilsteins provided.

Through the wonders of the internet, and belonging to a Yahoo group dedicated to Safari motorhomes ....  https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/safarimotorhomes  We found out now the original Koni shock numbers we needed were being produced again, so we bit the bullet and ordered some.

 We have a Magnum Chassis and Velvetride torsilastic suspension.  

Ordered the front shocks from LTB Autosports Inc  part #881641SP3 

http://ltbautosports.com/morvshab  

We ordered the the rears from RVchassiparts.com Part #: 881458SP2

These new shocks are "adjustable" and you can set them for three different types of rides. The back ones we put on the firmest setting. That helped with bouncing and "porpoising" of the front nose. 

For the front ones, we chose a middle setting, then if they get softer over time, we can turn them up to a firmer setting. 

He set the rig up on it's front jack to get a bit of clearance ... and it was MY job to turn the steering wheel from side to side.  He pulled out the air compressor and had out his air tools to do the job.

Since he put on "Never Seize"  four years ago when mounting the Bilsteins, it was a pretty easy job for him to take those nuts off and put on the new shocks.   Good thing he's a skinny guy!

 The old ones (Bilsteins) are blue and yellow.  

The Koni adjustable shocks are bright red.

He had the passenger side done toot sweet, in ten minutes flat!  Then it was my turn to get back inside and turn the wheels all the way to the right. Some assistance, eh?  Then he was able to get into the driver's side of the rig to work on that one.

There... new Konis installed on the front.

He did the back ones so fast I never got pics.

 What a guy! 

DRIVER'S SIDE                          PASSENGER SIDE 

We took it for a test ride and there is a big noticeable difference.  We no longer have that "lean" when going around corners and it is a much softer ride with no noticeable "bounce back".  It was a worthwhile upgrade to change them out.

Knob on screen door slider:
This may seem like a silly thing... 

How many of you RVers have a slider on the screen door? 
Yes... most of you.

How many have a white one?
Many of you. 

How grubby and dirty does it get from handprints? 
Always!!!!

It is already somewhat dusty from travel, and wet hands from doing dishes, going in and out, food on grandkid's fingers etc.  We know... we know. it gets pretty grubby on the slider by either flat palming it or by reaching for the ridged edge of the slider.

I saw this on a helpful hint in an RV blog one day. Just add a little knob to the slider itself... HEY!  What a great idea!

I got a little wooden knob and we drilled a little hole in the slider and mounted this knob.  By only putting one or two fingers on the knob, it slides easily and eliminates the messy handprints on the white plastic!

~~~~~~~~~~

We have had melting snow the last week, and then freezing rain and ice.  Our side "poop yard" for the dogs is flooded and frozen over!  They go out there and slip and slide around....

At least we have the larger back yard fenced in now as well.  We can let the dogs out there for a while, via going through the garage to get back there.  Still full of snow, but not flooded or frozen over.  The dogs have been so antsy being cooped up for the last few weeks. It's been so cold out, plus being sick, we have only gone for walks a few times. They have to be content running around the backyard, or running up and down our upstairs hallway playing "fetch".


I finally finished up my "Coffee Break Quilt" yesterday. I made a mini blog post about it...  Coffee Break Quilt for Sale  I will add the pics again here. It came out pretty nice, if I say so myself!

I did all of my own free motion quilting stitching. It is all original by myself. I did not send it off to a a long-armer to do any of it. The backing is all cute brown coffee bean fabric as well as the binding around the edges.

It is 93 in by 93 in. It fits well on a queen-size bed. Here it is photographed on our king bed. It hangs over the sides but not an awful lot. I would suggest an under blanket or a duvet if you want to use it on a king bed.

The method in which I made it is called a log cabin design. I love the three-dimensional look of it. It's perfect to curl up in with a good book and a cup of coffee!

If you are interested in buying it, please contact me at my email   pfundt@gmail.com I am also going to list it in my Etsy store  http://kareninthewoods.etsy.com/ and my website http://kareninthewoods.com later today.


Speaking of beds, we just changed the sheets this morning to another set of our Valentine's present to each other. We invested new pillows and in soft all cotton flannel sheets.  The first set we put on was blue plaid.   Today is red and black check plaid.

 It kinda/sorta goes with our blue quilt, eh? 

Like denim blue jeans and a red lumberjack flannel shirt?

I put the drawstring bag that the sheets came in

around a little throw pillow.... 

 I love this plaid,

 it reminds me of 

My Brawny Lumberjack Guy.... Steveio! 

If he goes into bed with that shirt on, I will lose him!!!

MOTORHOME MODIFICATIONS - *K* Koni Shocks and dreary Saturday

I am going to start off the new year with posting some of our motorhome modifications, a few at a time. I will post repairs, modifications, or neato things we have found for RVing.  I have lots of pics in my files so I will do them in alphabetical order.

Underneath that stuff, I will post my regular daily stuff..... kinda sorta fun, eh?

So here it goes, we are up to the letter K now!

MOTORHOME MODIFICATIONS 

STARTING WITH THE LETTER K

Koni Shocks:

Suspension on a big rig is pretty important.  Not long after buying our motorhome (used) we noticed a CLUNK sound on our rig when going over a bump.  Rut Roh.. time to check it out.  We knew the shocks were probably in need of replacement.  Steve examined the shocks and they were okay, but the mount on the driver's side was cracked totally loose.  Oh boy!  No wonder we were hearing a bad sound.  After removing it he found it must have been broken for a while , as it was rusty and not a fresh break.  Luckily he can weld and he repaired it himself.

A few years later, he decided to replace the shocks.  We had a very tough time trying to find replacement Koni. Seems they stopped making the shock size that we needed.

A few folks emailed and asked me WHY is it such a big deal about the shocks?  Well, it is because the mid 90's Safari motorhomes were constructed on their own exclusive chassis that Safari made themselves, with a sub company called Magnum.  Both of which are no longer in business.  It's not like a common Roadmaster or Freightliner, where parts are readily available.

The suspension is a specially developed style called Torsilastic developed by the BF Goodrich company and is called Velvetride.  It is comprised of a series of rubber wedges and big rubber bushings.  No springs, no air bags.  Just shocks.  (and it does ride like velvet!)  Not many repair places even heard of it, much less able to do any alignment or repairs on it.  Some of the larger coaches/buses like Foretravel used this suspension too.

The trouble with the shock replacement on this chassis is that the original shocks were made exclusively by Koni as a special configuration for the Magnum chassis and not available on the open market as replacements.  They are adjustable, but one shock on one side of ours will still adjust, the other side won't hold anymore, so the seal must be blown inside.  No leaking hydraulic fluid, but if Steve grabs one end and I grab the other, we can pull it apart too easily.

The only other alternative for us vintage Safari owners is to buy a special bracket made by a guy out in Washington for the Safari rigs that will let a person install pairs of smaller more common Koni FSD shocks-- 2 together on each side.  Just the brackets are $295.00 for a pair,  and the 4 shocks just for the front would be another $145.00 each, which is a total of almost $900.00  !!!!

So THAT is why we were excited to locate a company that has a single larger shock that will fit our rig.  It was Bilstein. We ordered some Bilsteins to replace the original Koni shocks.  He did the replacement SO fast I never had time to take the pics. ARGGHH....  

We ran on the Bilsteins for a while, but Steve realized they were for a spring type suspension and not the torsilastic.   We really needed the type of dampening on the upswing not the downswing like the Bilsteins provided.

Through the wonders of the internet, and belonging to a Yahoo group dedicated to Safari motorhomes ....  https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/safarimotorhomes  We found out now the original Koni shock numbers we needed were being produced again, so we bit the bullet and ordered some.

 We have a Magnum Chassis and Velvetride torsilastic suspension.  

Ordered the front shocks from LTB Autosports Inc  part #881641SP3 

http://ltbautosports.com/morvshab  

We ordered the the rears from RVchassiparts.com Part #: 881458SP2

These new shocks are "adjustable" and you can set them for three different types of rides. The back ones we put on the firmest setting. That helped with bouncing and "porpoising" of the front nose. 

For the front ones, we chose a middle setting, then if they get softer over time, we can turn them up to a firmer setting. 

He set the rig up on it's front jack to get a bit of clearance ... and it was MY job to turn the steering wheel from side to side.  He pulled out the air compressor and had out his air tools to do the job.

Since he put on "Never Seize"  four years ago when mounting the Bilsteins, it was a pretty easy job for him to take those nuts off and put on the new shocks.   Good thing he's a skinny guy!

 The old ones (Bilsteins) are blue and yellow.  

The Koni adjustable shocks are bright red.

He had the passenger side done toot sweet, in ten minutes flat!  Then it was my turn to get back inside and turn the wheels all the way to the right. Some assistance, eh?  Then he was able to get into the driver's side of the rig to work on that one.

There... new Konis installed on the front.

He did the back ones so fast I never got pics.

 What a guy! 

DRIVER'S SIDE                                     PASSENGER SIDE 

We took it for a test ride and there is a big noticeable difference.  We no longer have that "lean" when going around corners and it is a much softer ride with no noticeable "bounce back".  It was a worthwhile upgrade to change them out.

Our friends with a spring type suspension on their Safari Sahara bought the Bilsteins from us as they were perfectly good for their type of suspension. So in the end we were all win/win!


Knob on screen door slider:
This may seem like a silly thing... but how many of you RVers have a slide on the screen door?
Yes... most of you.
How many have a white one?
Many of you.
How grubby and dirty does it get from handprints?
Always!!!!

It is already somewhat dusty from travel, and wet hands from doing dishes, going in and out, food on grandkid's fingers etc.  We know... we know. it gets pretty grubby on the slider by either flat palming it or by reaching for the ridged edge of the slider.

I saw this on a helpful hint in an RV blog one day. HEY!  What a great idea!

I got a little wooden knob from the same RV friend the bought our shocks (it was off a desk that has survived their house fire, so it has emotional value to her and she shared it with me)   So we drilled a little hole in the slider and mounted this knob.  By only putting one or two fingers on the knob, it slides easily and eliminates the messy handprints on the white plastic!

~~~~~~~~~~

Steve started out the day with running over to the Calumet County Historical Museum. They are revamping the shelving in the storage area and he is going to build some shelving units for them.  While he was gone, I worked on my rugs for a while.

This afternoon he wants to watch the Wisconsin Badgers play in the March Madness so I am going to get some sewing done.  This evening we are heading to his brother Pete and wife Cindy's new home for a corned beef and cabbage dinner!

Here is a little St. Paddy's Day fun for you....

(I just LOVE Shaun the Sheep) 

Camping Weekend with Dad P and Changing Bilstein to Koni Shocks on Motorhome

Saturday was a nice day for Steve and his dad... they went into Fond du Lac for a late breakfast and a little RV supply shopping at Merz RV.  While the guys were gone, I was settling down with my antique sockknitting machine and whipped out a few pairs before they got back. It was such a pleasant way to spend the morning.  Peaceful. Creative. and in a sense, Working.

On the way back to the campground, the guys stopped at this cute little meat market in Pipe, WI and picked up some big ole steaks.  Steve's brother Pete was coming out for dinner.  Of course they had to get out the cribbage board and cards for a while to do their male bonding thing....

And from this pic, I think you can tell who the winner was

(the family patriarch in GREEN) 

We had originally planned this weekend as a large Pfundtner Family Camp-Out on a group site at High Cliff State Park. It had been planned and reserved back in April or so.  But one by one, each part of the family backed out and soon it was only us and the patriarch, Pa Pfundtner (Or "Pops" as Pete calls him) left to actually go camping.  Our weather was hot and muggy all weekend.  In retrospect, I am glad we were here in the two electrical sites at Columbia Park instead so we could have the air conditioning on. It would have been an awful weekend at that group site with no hookups for the rest of the camping family. 

Being here at the lakeshore sites along Lake Winnebago, we could catch a breeze now and then. What a wonderful way for the guys to spend the afternoon.  It was pretty hot and muggy, but they hung outside and played their cards and enjoyed their time together.  I got the supper together with all the fixen's and Steveio manned the grill and put some corn on the cob to roast over the campfire. 

Yes, the blog is sometimes about FOOD....

We had a nice night and were grateful to have power hookups at the campground. We ran the air conditioners on the rig almost constantly, one or the other. Being only on a 30 amp hookup, so really can't run both at the same time.  It worked out well to run the front one when we were in the bedroom at night, and during the day to run the back one (with a fan setting on the bed to blow the cool air into the front).  

This morning I woke up and it was kinda cool out yet.  I mixed up one of these wonderful mixes from Krusteaz into a coffee cake and baked it in the convection oven (turning off the air conditioner first). Didn't want to trip any breakers. It was a fine treat with our morning coffee.  

I thought I should take a pic of the doggers, they were such patient and happy campers. It was very hot and muggy, so long walks with little ole Duke were out of the question.  They both spent a lot of the time inside of the motorhome.  It's really a Dogs' Life, eh?

Saying our goodbyes with Pa Pfundtner.... we packed up about noon, dumped our holding tanks and headed on home.

We found that on Saturday our other set of Koni shocks came for the motorhome.  The box was waiting for us in the front porch. These shocks were for the front.   A few weeks ago Steve ordered the back ones and he had put them on before I even had a chance to take a picture!  Imagine that!

We had Bilsteins on for 4 years but decided to put on Koni. We have a Magnum Velvetride torsilastic suspension.  

Ordered the front shocks from LTB Autosports Inc  part #881641SP3 http://ltbautosports.com/morvshab  

We ordered the the rears from RVchassiparts.com Part #: 881458SP2

He set the rig up on it's front jack to get a bit of clearance ... and it was MY job to turn the steering wheel from side to side.  He pulled out the air compressor and had out his air tools to do the job.

Since he put on "Never Seize"  four years ago when mounting the Bilsteins, it was a pretty easy job for him to take those nuts off and put on the new shocks.   Good thing he's a skinny guy!

 The old ones (Bilsteins) are blue and yellow.  

The Koni adjustable shocks are bright red. 

He had the passenger side done toot sweet, in ten minutes flat!  Then it was my turn to get back inside and turn the wheels all the way to the right. Some assistance, eh?  Then he was able to get into the driver's side of the rig to work on that one.

Then I got distracted by picking some of my ripe tomatoes! Wheeheeeee what a harvest for the weekend. I had just picked as many as I could on Friday.  Now today I got a bunch more.  I plan to get these canned up in the morning into a few quarts of stewed tomatoes. I do a few jars every other day or so until the frost comes. Aren't they just SO PRETTY????

By the time I was done picking my tomatoes, 

he had the other side shock changed out. 

There... two new Konis installed. What a guy! 

DRIVER'S SIDE                                     PASSENGER SIDE 

Next up on our evening, a wheel restoration guy is stopping by. Not motorhome wheels, silly reader.... but SPINNING wheels.  He restored an old one for me and made up some new bobbins.  I will blog about that tomorrow.