I did my rear shocks by myself with no air tools. I didn't like it, but it can be done. I wanted to share my story because there are lots of small quips about the project, but here's one from beginning to end. I'm moderately skilled with passenger cars and have been doing a lot of my own maintenance most of my life. I'm new to heavy diesels and everything I've learned has been in the last 2.5 years of ownership of this beast. It's a whole new set of tools. I've been RVing for nearly 22 years, so I'm familiar with the fiberglass part of this.
The wheels did not have to come off, but the fenders did.
This took quite a bit of strength and I could only do two shocks in one day before I had no remaining arm strength. I'm a 57-year-old desk jockey. YMMV.
I didn't use my impact wrench because it knocked the backing ratchet off. This is where a helper may come in handy. "Hey, climb under this 32,000 pound motorhome while I wrench perilously close to an airbag and hold this wrench on for me while I hammer at it from safety. I swear I put safety blocks in place. You should be ok."
I'm doing this myself because I already paid a shop to do it. I asked them to adjust the old Koni's first, but was told they're not adjustable (they are). Then they replaced four of them (they could only find four) with Monroe's because Koni's are too expensive (it's my money!). Then they replaced the four fronts because the two Monroe's and two remaining Koni's had "gone bad" with four new heavier duty Monroes. The rears were "fine" even though they're under much heavier weight strain. I've decided I can trust this guy with my coach work, but not with my chassis work. I've not been back.
To be fair, I think the shock arguments are probably 50% religious and 50% true. This group LOVES Koni's. I'd like the most comfortable ride I can have. If I can go an extra hour on the road, that's important to me. I don't think angels will sing when I'm done. The Monroe's were a noticeable improvement over the worn out Koni's. I don't expect any improvement in the rear, but I might when I do the front. We'll see.
Also, this is not a commercial for Harbor Freight. However, they've become my go-to for tools since Sears closed down. I'm old-school. I prefer the brick-and-mortars first and go to the web when I can't find it locally. Or the locals won't sell to "the public" (our bolt and screw stores). I've found the base Harbor Freight tools to be better than the Kobalt stuff Lowe's sells (they sell Craftsman now). The Icon stuff is the best I've owned.
On to the project...
Several weeks before your project, spray your shock bolts with a penetrating oil like PB Blaster once a week.
Start with the shocks you need and the bolts to go with them. My shocks were 8805 1010 Koni Gold FSD's. The old bolts were worn out and needed replacement. I bought grade 8 3/4 x 4 with a 10 thread coarse pitch. The old ones were fine pitch and the threads were torn like they were cross-threaded, but in the middle. There are two bolts per shock, plus nuts. The washers on the bottom can be re-used. There are eight shocks on a Foretravel.
The belt molding (trim strip between chassis and coach) may or may not need to be removed. On my driver's side fender, there was some body damage that had been repaired (who knew?) and the top had been ripped off the original screws. Thanks (I think?). The screws were still present in the passenger side.
Remove the trim strip over the back cabinets:
1. Remove the external (visible) screws.
2. Cut the caulk along the top of the strip with your multi-tool.
3. Gently pry up from the bottom along the length of the strip, cutting as needed, until the strip comes free.
4. There are five screws under the trim strip holding the fender. Remove these.
5. Remove the screws from both sides and remove the rivet (drilling it out) or other fastener at the bottom (underneath).
6. Gently wiggle the fender until it comes free (checking for remaining screws) and remove.
Remove the front of wheel shock. These were both pretty much the same. I put a ratchet with a deep 1-1/8 socket on the back that was braced on either the bulkhead or a frame member. Then I attached all of my 1/2 extensions and torqued the bolt with the breaker bar with the pipe over it. The pipe and breaker bar were outside of the body of the motorhome (see photos). It broke pretty quickly for being 24 years old. I removed the bottom first and then the top, so the shock could drop straight down when the top bolt was removed. Save the washers. Discard the old bolts if they're worn. Mine looked cross-threaded in the middle.
Interestingly, the bottom bolts turned freely. They weren't torqued down. Probably not good.
Lay the old shock next to the new one and extend the new one to a little past the length of the old one. They're easier to compress than to extend, so you'll need to compress a little bit on the motorhome and will avoid extending it.
Attach the top of the shock in between the brackets with the bolt and nut. Attach the bottom of the shock with bolt, thin washer, shock, thick washer, bracket, nut (in that order). Flip your ratchet to install (righty-tighty), attach the ratchet, and start turning the bolt with the breaker bar. You may get some ratcheting action to help from the ratchet as it falls due to gravity. I torqued back to about as tight as it was when I removed it.
Repeat for the other side. I did it this way so the pairs of shocks line up. If, for some reason, I had to bail and have a shop finish, wouldn't have one side new and the other side old. My second shock only took 30 minutes and it was a 24-year-old original.
The behind the wheel pair was similar, but you may have to put the breaker bar inside of the engine compartment because of clearance around the air bags.
Restoring the fenders was just the reverse of the removal. I squeezed a little dollop of marine adhesive in each screw hole to improve watertightness and to keep the screws from backing out over time. Be sure to wipe off any excess immediately.
The project probably took about 20 hours because I had to make several store runs. With all of the parts and tools on hand and having done it once, I could probably do the rears again in 4-8 hours.
I only did the back. I'll do the front another time. If you're doing both, double the parts (except the caulk). The tools are what I used. Feel free to use your own.
Parts list:
4 8805 1010 Koni Gold FSD
8 3/4x4 grade 8 10 pitch (the originals were slightly shorter and 16 pitch)
8 3/4 grade 8 10 pitch nuts*
3M Marine Adhesive Sealant 4000 UV, PN06580, White, 295 mL Cartridge
Geocel 28127V Pro Flex Bright White RV Flexible Sealant
* I got my nuts and bolts at a local hardware/feed store. They had a good selection of grade 8 fasteners.
Tools:
Four safety blocks: Class III 12 in. x 2 in. Standard Receiver Tube
Icon 1/2 in. Drive Professional Impact Socket Extension Set, 4 Pc.
CRAFTSMAN 1/2-in Breaker Bar
1/2 in. Drive SAE Impact Deep Socket Set, 13 Pc (you need a 1-1/8" deep socket)
1/2 in. Drive SAE Impact Socket Set, 13 Pc. (you need a 1-1/8" regular socket)
Mueller Proline 1-in x 4-ft 150-PSI Black Iron Pipe
12v Black and Decker drill for screws and drilling out rivets
high quality 1/2 ratchet to brace the back nut while torquing the bolt
multi-tool for caulk
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Topic: Rear Shock Replacement -- DIY w/ 1 person