Just after I got the Breakaway, I changed shocks to Bilstein shocks. This was all part of my quest to improve the handling. The shock change did little to improve the situation except stiffen the ride.

AS some of you may know most of our freeways here in Sunny California are some of the worst in the nation, it was always a relief when we crossed the border into another state.

After my return from the last trip, I decided to change the shock again, only this time to Monroe which was the OEM part used on the original chassis.

Very pleased with the results, the road noise is significantly reduced and the bone jarring thumps as I crossed all those pavement lines have softened dramatically.

There is a bit more bounce but nothing disconcerting. Certainly worth the trade off for the ride comfort.

I have a lot of experience with Bilstein shocks as these are the preferred shock for the road and track cars I have set up. I had thought that the heavy weight of the Breakaway (20,000 lbs)would compensate for the high instantaneous shock rate that the Bilsteins are set for. I have to carry tire pressure quite high and it is never a good idea to improve ride by reducing tire pressure.

The ride yesterday down to L.A. was very comfortable.

Front Monroe shock number 66666
Rear Monroe shock number 66667

Odd - OEM on mine was either. I have Monroes on the front, Bilsteins on the rear.

According to Todd at Spartan, Monroe was the OEM standard for the EC2000 series chassis and is known to be more comfort shock than Bilsteins.

I may send the Bilsteins back and have them revalved, The instantaneous settings are very high in comparison to Monroe. I like the overall damping of Bilsteins and would not change that.

Mine is the 1000 series chassis, although for all practical purposes there seems to be little difference. Mine has the Dana 80 rear; IIRC, yours has an Eaton.

Yes mine has Eaton rear and Westport front axles. I am still trying to find another 30' Breakaway with this drive line combination in a Spartan chassis.

So far all 30' Breakaways I have seen or read about have Dana 80 rear and Dana front axles, probably the same as yours.