The KONI Shocks have arrived!

[mook]

Whooooo!
nice one.
just ordered

[Canadian Haiden]

If anyone who has upgraded to Koni's would like to sell their set of KYB's - I would be interested.

Looking for front's and rear's to suit a 75 Westy.

Thanks

Rob

[Louisd75]

Got mine and finished installing today. What a difference over the KYB's that were on there. I agree with previous comments regarding the directions that came with them, but I found this link on Koni's site that was much more useful: http://www.koni-na.com/pdf/tech.pdf I cringed at the price (being a starving college student and all), but it's more than worth it IMO. I've got them set full soft in the front, one full turn from soft in the back and it seems great. I'll probably tinker with them after/during some of my longer road trips and see if I can dial it in better.
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Louis

[regis101]

Greetings. Dug this thread up for my update.

I had them on 1/4 turn fr and rr just to see the deal. Nice and cushy. It did seem to have some increased side-to-side roll as compared to the KYB's.

I was running Goodyear cargo vector G-26's with ~40lbs of air. The ride was nice but the tires seemed too hard. Less air and the steering was slow. Blamed that on the commercial tires.

The bus/westy is lowered with 2.5 spindles and one notch in back. When loaded for camping or aggressive single driving, the front would bottom out. I only have about 2 1/2 inches between the top of tire and top of fenderwell

So, the update. I recently made the switch to Hankook RA 08 in the 195 series. Using them with Vanagon alloys. Awsome tire. Awsome tire. Running at 40lbs. The ride quality increased to almost car-like. With the soft shock setting I would still bottom out the same as with the Goodyears. That would be expected.

Tonight I reset the shocks. Max turns is about 1 3/4. Not quite 2 full turns. I set them to 1 1/4. Took a little test ride around the block. All seemed well. Lost a bit of the cushiness. I have less nose dive. I should be able to decrease front tire pressure back to ~30 and regain some ride. I probably will still bottom out on the whoops when loaded and with aggressive driving but I know it won't be as bad. And I now know the limitations.

It looks kewl riding lower but I do bottom out. And if it gets bothersome, I'll put the stock spindles back on. Raise the back a notch. Reset the fr and rr shocks to 1/2 turn and call it all good.
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Peace, Regis
85 Wolfsburg Weekender

[[email protected]]

any other konis available since then??
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westfalia 1973 / 1.9TDI chipped
Vanagon 1996 2.4 D / soon 1.9 TDI (2011)
Cabrio 88 swap 2.0 ABA

[poptop tom]

[airkooledchris]

there's someone in Greece selling a pair both new and used, here in the classifieds.

[ned]

seems like this belongs in the classifieds

[chabanais]

How are they really different from the Gabriel shocks I have on my Bus?
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"I spud therefore I yam."

[Amskeptic]

[Hoody]

Thank God some Hippie at one point convinced the right person to design a set for Late Bays. They were used to Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Mercedes.

[Mr. Loaf]

Geez, I think that with all of the adjustments and a new set of tires I will just keep the KYB GR-2s. Even with the Bus being lowered mine never bottomed out.
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Never drive faster than your Angel can fly
$24,100 was too hard to resist.................

[chabanais]

Yup.

[panic311]

Man...all this hype really has me feeling like I am going to miss out, but $560 including shipping would just kill my finances....Maybe the next go round....
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"You don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows"

1974 Westfalia (The Treehive)
1.8L running a single Weber Progressive and a 009 dizzy

[Brionp]

Bit the bullet, pulled the trigger. I'll recover. Someday I won't even think about it. I have character flaws. I know.

[phorce1]

The other thing about the Konis, besides the adjustment, is the fact that they should be the last set of shocks you have to buy, ever, so long as you keep driving a vehicle they will fit.

Unlike the "Lifetime Warranty" of most parts today that state they are guaranteed for the lifetime of the vehicle they are initially installed on or until it is sold to someone else the Koni warranty is ... lifetime. Yours, the next owner's, your grandkids, whatever.

So long as you don't physically damage them (wreck that smashes in a tube, etc.) Koni will keep rebuilding them so long as they have the parts. Since the guts are used in other models they should have the parts forever.

Barring some catastrophe Koni will be around to repair them for a LONG time. They are still a VERY active company making shocks for the racing and offroad communities.

Gerald
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TCB
Buskatiers

[regis101]

I've had the Koni's for ~2 yrs or so. Nice product I suppose. Learned the hard way that they are rebound adjustable only.
My style of driving has them at 1/4 turn soft in front and 1/2 turn soft in the rear.
I don't like to have anything thats adjustable to be at bottom or top. Gotta have it a blip tweaked.
_________________
Peace, Regis
85 Wolfsburg Weekender

[chabanais]

So how are they better than the Gabriels I've had on my Bus for the last 14 years?

Gotta know do they do your laundry for you or what?
_________________
"I spud therefore I yam."

[phorce1]

[chabanais]

I think a lot of people are spooging without knowing whether it's warranted.
_________________
"I spud therefore I yam."