I have a 1983 28 foot Barth Regal That needs new shocks on the front. The shocks have booster springs on them but can't find a manufactures name other than "4-Way" My question is do I need booster springs on new shocks. If not I would like to replace them with Bilstein's for a 1983 P30 Motorhome.
#8302-3013-28FP2C

Hello, and Welcome to the forum.

Do your front springs have vinyl air bags inside them?

If so, what pressure do you use?

The P30 came with air bags inside the coils. They need to be inflated to keep the rubber bump stop 1 3/4 to 2 1/2" from touching. That is with a non-deformed bump stop, of course. The exact desired measurement will be when your frame rail is level on a level pad. Rear suspension sag will enter into this. Some P30s need helper springs or bags in the rear to achieve a level frame rail with the front ride height in the correct range.

All P30s motor homes need to be adjusted to motor home caster specs, not potato chip truck specs. BIG difference there. If your alignment guy doesn't know the different settings, go elsewhere.

Getting rid of the four way shocks and installing Bilsteins will be good, but you still need the right ride height and proper caster. A heavy duty anti sway bar and a Bilstein steering damper will help a lot, as well. A few folks here have done that, and reported good results.

Another way is to replace the front springs with stronger ones and use no air bags. The air bags are not long-lived. Whenever one fails, you need to deflate the other one to keep the handling decent, and riding on saggy springs with no air bag is unsettling, depending on the particular P30 chassis you have.

If you have any slop in the steering or wandering on truck wind wakes, roller bearing relay arm supports will make a stunning improvement.

Some of this may sound like overkill, but the P30 has a rep for bad handling, and those who have done the upgrades are uniformly Happy Campers.

We have an '85 28' regal & replaced our front air bags w/shocks. Can't remember if we replaced the springs. will have to go ck all the paper work. Are you still looking for the name of the shock? & if there is any other info are you interested let us know. Our steering was pretty squirrelly & we had steer dampner & .....some other steering done. Drives alot better.

Our wheel base is the extended version 192". Air bags were added in rear w/some leaf spring additions I think.

Tere