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Old 10-15-2022, 05:56 AM   #1
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Shocks and Sumo Springs

After six cross country summer trips my 2018 37 TS (M2) is approaching 50,000 miles. Either our roads are getting worse, which I know they are, or my suspension is getting tired.

What is the life expectancy of the Bilstien shocks? And is there a way to check them without removal?

I know several of our members have gone with Sumo Springs which means I probably will too. (I need to add up how much this forum has cost me over the years-LOL). Do these go front and rear? Worth it?

Thanks for any input.
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Old 10-15-2022, 06:37 AM   #2
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Mark I added the sumo springs and they seem to have a made a difference on the roll I experience when entering the road, how ever they have not done anything for the bounce that I feel is a result of the load shocks starting to fail. I have reached out to bilstien with my shock number but never heard back. Most of the information I have seen has been from people with s2 chassis which have a heavier axle so I not sure if the shocks they used are compatible with our units, additionally some of the suggestions such as fox shocks are not even available any longer. I know Rob posted on here a while but about using fire truck shocks but have not gone through to find his post.

Recently I have seen some posts on air dampeners for the air bags but I am not really clear on what they do or don't do.

Please post what you find out if you find something off line
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Old 10-15-2022, 07:29 AM   #3
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Hi Paul. Nice to hear from you. I think I’m more concerned with the bouncing right now, I think. I guess with close to 50K miles shocks should be the first step. Hopefully we will get some answers here.


Quote:
Originally Posted by RVermont View Post
Mark I added the sumo springs and they seem to have a made a difference on the roll I experience when entering the road, how ever they have not done anything for the bounce that I feel is a result of the load shocks starting to fail. I have reached out to bilstien with my shock number but never heard back. Most of the information I have seen has been from people with s2 chassis which have a heavier axle so I not sure if the shocks they used are compatible with our units, additionally some of the suggestions such as fox shocks are not even available any longer. I know Rob posted on here a while but about using fire truck shocks but have not gone through to find his post.

Recently I have seen some posts on air dampeners for the air bags but I am not really clear on what they do or don't do.

Please post what you find out if you find something off line
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Old 10-15-2022, 10:38 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by RVermont View Post
Mark I added the sumo springs and they seem to have a made a difference on the roll I experience when entering the road, how ever they have not done anything for the bounce that I feel is a result of the load shocks starting to fail. I have reached out to bilstien with my shock number but never heard back. Most of the information I have seen has been from people with s2 chassis which have a heavier axle so I not sure if the shocks they used are compatible with our units, additionally some of the suggestions such as fox shocks are not even available any longer. I know Rob posted on here a while but about using fire truck shocks but have not gone through to find his post.

Recently I have seen some posts on air dampeners for the air bags but I am not really clear on what they do or don't do.

Please post what you find out if you find something off line
Fox may not be available but HDshocks.com are and they are using King shocks which I think are better than fox anyway. I hope to get a set soon.
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Old 10-17-2022, 06:36 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RVermont View Post
Mark I added the sumo springs and they seem to have a made a difference on the roll I experience when entering the road, how ever they have not done anything for the bounce that I feel is a result of the load shocks starting to fail. I have reached out to bilstien with my shock number but never heard back. Most of the information I have seen has been from people with s2 chassis which have a heavier axle so I not sure if the shocks they used are compatible with our units, additionally some of the suggestions such as fox shocks are not even available any longer. I know Rob posted on here a while but about using fire truck shocks but have not gone through to find his post.

Recently I have seen some posts on air dampeners for the air bags but I am not really clear on what they do or don't do.

Please post what you find out if you find something off line
Hi Paul,

Did you install the Sumo Springs yourself? Was looking at the install instructions for the M2 106 and the install process seems rather easy.
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Old 10-17-2022, 10:59 AM   #6
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Dave
On the drivers side the spring took less than 5 minutes. The passenger side took a little longer as the wire for the positive jumper cable stud runs under the frame exactly where the spring needs to go. I had to loosen the misc parts to slide the wire loom out of the way.
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Old 10-17-2022, 11:21 AM   #7
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I"m in the exact same position. Have 75K miles and have noticed to be a really rough ride the last few trips. I did install the sumo springs last spring which did help with the roll, but does nothing for the bounce. Still have the original Bilstien on the front and whatever comes the back. I'm trying to figure out if I want to get on the waitlist for the fire truck shocks (Bilstien), just try the Gabriel's, or King shocks which I believe are around $500 each. I'm kind of leaning towards just trying the Gabriels and see how it goes.

As for the sumo springs install, mine was exactly the same as RVermont explained.
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Old 10-17-2022, 09:53 PM   #8
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I install the Koni Shock and wow; they help a lot thinking about adding Sumo on the front and maybe Timbren on the rear.
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Old 10-20-2022, 04:16 AM   #9
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I install the Koni Shock and wow; they help a lot thinking about adding Sumo on the front and maybe Timbren on the rear.
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What reference did you use for the shocks to get the right ones?
Did it go by weight or model?
And if you don’t mind sharing, what was the cost of new shocks?

Also, why are you thinking Sumos on front and Timbren in the rear instead of Sumo on both? Thanks.
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Old 10-20-2022, 04:17 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RVermont View Post
Dave
On the drivers side the spring took less than 5 minutes. The passenger side took a little longer as the wire for the positive jumper cable stud runs under the frame exactly where the spring needs to go. I had to loosen the misc parts to slide the wire loom out of the way.
Did you go with Sumo on the front only?
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Old 10-20-2022, 04:34 AM   #11
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I just put them on the front. I did not realize that they made them for the rear as well. I will have to do some research on those.
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Old 10-20-2022, 04:40 AM   #12
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What reference did you use for the shocks to get the right ones?
Did it go by weight or model?
And if you don’t mind sharing, what was the cost of new shocks?

Also, why are you thinking Sumos on front and Timbren in the rear instead of Sumo on both? Thanks.
Mark I am sure Big1 will get back to you with his specific reasoning however based on his signature it appears to be a precept which has a completely chassis and I don’t believe air ride.
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Old 10-20-2022, 10:57 AM   #13
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I just put them on the front. I did not realize that they made them for the rear as well. I will have to do some research on those.

They do not make then for the rear of the Freightliner chassis with the airliner type suspension.
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Old 10-20-2022, 11:25 AM   #14
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Would be curious on the Koni model as well. I haven’t seen that they make shocks for the M2.
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Old 10-20-2022, 01:12 PM   #15
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Mark S. It's good to hear from ya... hope things are going well down there.

I'm wondering why you are considering Sumo Springs on your freightliner... Is your front end suspension sagging?
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Old 10-20-2022, 01:44 PM   #16
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I'm wondering why you are considering Sumo Springs on your freightliner... Is your front end suspension sagging?
Because they are an awesome improvement for the front suspension. They don’t lift or support anything, they are more like a progressive bump stop that slows down body roll….I really noticed the difference on the first drive. Well worth the money.
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Old 10-20-2022, 09:15 PM   #17
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Because they are an awesome improvement for the front suspension. They don’t lift or support anything, they are more like a progressive bump stop that slows down body roll….I really noticed the difference on the first drive. Well worth the money.
I'm still struggling with this...

I don't sense any body roll... (except when crossing a curb diagonally across the dip with the drive axle - the steer axle with the recalled sway bar feels a little flex) My factory front axle bump-stop's show no signs of any contact either...

We just finished a trip with some moderate cross winds, and our Seneca tracked true... This trip was predominantly on US93 between Phoenix and Vegas that needs re-paving really bad.

Are you all saying that you are bottoming out on the factory bump stops on the steer axle?
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Old 10-21-2022, 01:41 AM   #18
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What reference did you use for the shocks to get the right ones?
Did it go by weight or model?
And if you don’t mind sharing, what was the cost of new shocks?

Also, why are you thinking Sumos on front and Timbren in the rear instead of Sumo on both? Thanks.
Here you sir, https://supersteerparts.com/ just put in your make and model and year and you will be set.
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Old 10-21-2022, 03:13 PM   #19
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I'm still struggling with this...



Are you all saying that you are bottoming out on the factory bump stops on the steer axle?
I put the Sumo's on my 06 Kodiak Chassis and it made a huge difference. It keeps the springs from getting a "run at the stops". While the S2RV I have does not hit the stops the progressive rate of the Sumos keep the harsh jolts down when hitting expansion joints, pot holes and also slow down any porpoise effect.
Basically it calms the action of the spring down. I have had them on 2 MH and a 3500 Silverado and they work well.
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Old 10-21-2022, 08:45 PM   #20
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Mark S. It's good to hear from ya... hope things are going well down there.

I'm wondering why you are considering Sumo Springs on your freightliner... Is your front end suspension sagging?

Hi Steve, Things are going really well and I hope the same for you.
No, no sagging, just thinking about shocks and ride improvements. I’m just under 50,000 miles and I don’t know if our roads are getting worse or time for some replacement parts.

A few members here speak highly of the Sumos and Rob just mentioned “Motion Control” devices for the air bags. Exploring the options.

Regards to Stacy. Hope to catch up soon.
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