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Sumo Springs
In Dec. 2017, we installed Sumo Springs both front and rear on our 2012 Thor ACE 29.2, V10 Ford F-53 chassis. The ride was immediately, noticeably smoother and somewhat quieter. The parts were $1246 and labor $319. Computer World Raleigh, NC did the work. $1718 total with tax.
We also had the entire bottom of the RV spray coated with sound-proofing which is really just extra thick undercoating. We installed new Bilstein extra heavy duty shock absorbers all around, and wrapped the exhaust pipe to the muffler with high-temp fiberglass. Next we replaced the Continental tires with Michelin, and that made the ride smoother and a few decibels quieter. We installed an Ultra Power SCT Tuner to lower the engine RPM when downshifting going up moderate inclines. High engine revs are quite noisy. It also gave us about 1-2 mpg better mileage.
When we first started out, the MH was measuring about 78-80 decibels on our phone app at 55 mph. The undercoat brought the average decibel reading down to 70-72, the Sumo Springs lowered it another few decibels to about 68. The exhaust fiberglass wrap brought it down to about 65. The tires down to about 62. The goal is 58 decibels at highway speeds, which is about normal conversation level, and would be quite good for a front engine gas RV, though to be honest it's still about 62-64, i.e. not as quiet as we'd like and there aren't many changes left we can make. Hard to hold conversations between driver and passenger seats at normal volumes. A large part of that is the fact that the engine is up front. If it were in the back, like a diesel, it would probably make all the difference.
Of course, the measurements are with a smart phone app, so these are "relatively" close figures at best.
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