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Scooter757
Samba Member
Joined: October 31, 2007
Posts: 14
Location: Issaquah Wa
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 Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 8:08 pm Post subject: Westy Shock Recommendations? |
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| I am looking for new shocks for my '90 Westy. I am just looking for a nice highway/around town riding shock, nothing offroad. Thanks |
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[email protected]
Samba Member
Joined: April 12, 2003
Posts: 1839
Location: Englewood, FL
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| Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 3:50 am Post subject: |
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Koni's are a little slice of heaven on a stock height vanagon/westy
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Markus |
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Wellington
Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2004
Posts: 1884
Location: Montreal
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| Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 6:17 am Post subject: |
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| Konis have the advantage of being adjustable, HD Bilsteins will be great also. |
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hiram6
Samba Member
Joined: September 29, 2006
Posts: 1880
Location: Beautiful South
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| Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 6:20 am Post subject: |
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I have the KYBs, installed just a few months ago so they are not worn out, and I will be swapping them out for the Bilsteins soon. The KYBs just don't seem to be able to dampen the weight of the Westy. I get way too much boing, jounce, bounce and dive.
Highly NOT recommend.
_________________
1985 Westy, 1.9L automatic (Daisy)
1996 Mazda Miata
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited
You can't lie around on the beach and drink rum all day.................unless you start first thing in the morning. |
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mordeaux
Samba Member
Joined: June 25, 2006
Posts: 249
Location: Mobtown
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| Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 6:33 am Post subject: |
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Hiram, what model KYBs do you have?
I don't have a Westy and there is so much variety of opinion about KYBs that I want to be sure I know which KYBs people are NOT recommending. |
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hiram6
Samba Member
Joined: September 29, 2006
Posts: 1880
Location: Beautiful South
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| Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 6:40 am Post subject: |
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IIRC, they were the KYB Gas-Adjusts. Not sure of the stock number, I can look on my receipt later today.
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1985 Westy, 1.9L automatic (Daisy)
1996 Mazda Miata
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited
You can't lie around on the beach and drink rum all day.................unless you start first thing in the morning. |
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mightyart
Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2004
Posts: 6188
Location: Portland, Oregon
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| Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 6:43 am Post subject: Re: Westy Shock Recommendations? |
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| Scooter757 wrote: |
| I am looking for new shocks for my '90 Westy. I am just looking for a nice highway/around town riding shock, nothing offroad. Thanks |
Are your shocks worn out? or does the van handle poorly? |
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Scooter757
Samba Member
Joined: October 31, 2007
Posts: 14
Location: Issaquah Wa
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| Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 7:04 am Post subject: |
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| The shocks are just worn out, couple are leaking pretty good. Going on a long road trip in feb, just starting to cover all the little problems. Thanks for all the input. |
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Grizzly_black
Samba Member
Joined: October 24, 2006
Posts: 225
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| Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 7:13 am Post subject: |
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I have a set of Bilstien HDs that I might be willing to part with. They only have 6K on them. I took my Westfalia on a road trip this past summer and thought that they improved the handling over the stock Boge shocks as well as the KYBs. The KYBs were NOT GOOD at all! They made the van ride like a buck board. I am planning a Syncro conversion and will not be needing the Bilsteins after that. I will be installing OMEs. The shocks have a life time warranty amd I can provide the sales slip with them. Let ma know.
[email protected]
Grizz |
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psych-illogical
Samba Member
Joined: October 14, 2004
Posts: 1181
Location: AZ
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| Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 8:29 am Post subject: |
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Nice to see a few good recommendations for the Bilstein HDs here. I've been kinda set on ordering those for my 2wd Westy and am just about ready to pull the trigger. Sold a couple of things on ebay and have the cash burning a hole in my paypal account. I've seen the Bilsteins on ebay for anywhere from $290 to $310 for a set of 4.
Many moons ago, I had the KYB Gas-adjusts on my old 69 bay window Westy. My recollection was that they were a big improvement over stock but, keep in mind that it's a much different vehicle than these Vanagons. This isn't the first thread that I've read with lots of negative posts about the KYBs on the Vanagons.
_________________
83 1/2 Westy waterboxer
'57 Beetle-sold 
Coupla '81 BMW motorcycles (R80G/S; R100RS)
'96 BMW R1100GS |
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PDXWesty
Samba Member
Joined: April 11, 2006
Posts: 6243
Location: Portland OR
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| Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 10:31 am Post subject: |
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| I bought my Bilstein HD's from Ebay as well for my 89 Westy. They're great shocks for the Westy. I hit those large speed bumps and don't get any residual bounce. The Ebay seller is also helpful and very fast. I would highly recommend them. |
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wolfej1
Samba Member
Joined: August 15, 2005
Posts: 679
Location: North Royalton, Ohio
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| Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 2:11 pm Post subject: |
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| The cheapest ones you can find that fit....you can use the money you save for other improvements/parts/ etc..... |
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floggingmolly
Samba Member
Joined: April 06, 2007
Posts: 1106
Location: San Diego, CA
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| Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 2:30 pm Post subject: |
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| PDXWesty wrote: |
| I bought my Bilstein HD's from Ebay as well for my 89 Westy. They're great shocks for the Westy. I hit those large speed bumps and don't get any residual bounce. The Ebay seller is also helpful and very fast. I would highly recommend them. |
Who on Ebay did you get them from? There's more than one source from what I saw. I want to give my business from someone who was helpful and is recommended by people in this group. Also, did they come with the bushings?
Thx
Scott
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'85 Wolfsburg Weekender |
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kevinbassplayer
Samba Member
Joined: June 15, 2006
Posts: 1041
Location: Nor-Cal
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psych-illogical
Samba Member
Joined: October 14, 2004
Posts: 1181
Location: AZ
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| Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 3:05 pm Post subject: |
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| wolfej1 wrote: |
| The cheapest ones you can find that fit....you can use the money you save for other improvements/parts/ etc..... |
As long as you don't give a $h!t about handling or ride quality? 
_________________
83 1/2 Westy waterboxer
'57 Beetle-sold
Coupla '81 BMW motorcycles (R80G/S; R100RS)
'96 BMW R1100GS |
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floggingmolly
Samba Member
Joined: April 06, 2007
Posts: 1106
Location: San Diego, CA
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| Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 3:20 pm Post subject: |
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Cool, they have the longer studs I need for my rear wheels too. Thx KBP
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'85 Wolfsburg Weekender |
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PDXWesty
Samba Member
Joined: April 11, 2006
Posts: 6243
Location: Portland OR
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psych-illogical
Samba Member
Joined: October 14, 2004
Posts: 1181
Location: AZ
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| Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 3:53 pm Post subject: |
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That's quite a price increase. I'd better not wait or they'll be $360  .
_________________
83 1/2 Westy waterboxer
'57 Beetle-sold
Coupla '81 BMW motorcycles (R80G/S; R100RS)
'96 BMW R1100GS |
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Jake59
Samba Member
Joined: June 13, 2007
Posts: 178
Location: Seattle, WA
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| Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 8:29 am Post subject: |
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I put Bilstiens up front and KYBs in the back (don't know why I mixed). I had lost that famous smooth VW "over axle" ride that I love about the Vanagon and I was hitting the rubber stops. But I did not feel the improvement I was hoping for. So with 170K on the springs I am looking at replacing them too. Hell while I'm in there the bushings need to be replaced too (I got a lot of squeaking going on).
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Curent ride: 87 2WD Westy, 2012 Jetta Sportwagon 2.5S
Past Rides: 62 (23 window) Bus, 64 Ghai convertable, 68 single cab, 72 Super Bettle, 78 Bay window Bus, 84 GTI. |
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wolfej1
Samba Member
Joined: August 15, 2005
Posts: 679
Location: North Royalton, Ohio
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| Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 8:30 am Post subject: |
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| psych-illogical wrote: |
| wolfej1 wrote: |
| The cheapest ones you can find that fit....you can use the money you save for other improvements/parts/ etc..... |
As long as you don't give a $h!t about handling or ride quality? |
Ah.... but I do give a poop about handling and ride quality and if the inexpensive shocks were detrimental I would have removed them. 
My 82 Westy has a set of cheapo shocks and the ride is fine.  The tires and springs play a much more important role in ride quality than the shocks ever will. The average person is not going to notice a huge difference in ride quality by spending big bucks on shocks alone. The springs and tires will make the big improvements.
When I first got my westy the ride was terrible, could feel every bump in the road and it swayed badly when turning. Also the rear sagged pretty badly. First thing I did was replace the tires with the proper size Continentals with proper load rating and then I put spacers in the rear springs to level the ride out. Made a world of difference - rode like a new vehicle - no bounce, no sway, no nuthin..... I was prepared to buy some new Bilsteins - as that is what I run on my 4Runner - but I liked the ride so much that I left the cheapos on there.
Not saying that Bilsteins or Koni's are not good units, they are - I have used both in the past on my 4WD vehicles, however, I am just stating that regular old shocks with GOOD tires and springs are pretty good as well, and if you are on a limited budget, your money could be applied elsewhere.
Of course if money is no object get the best - you cant go wrong and you will have a good ride as well.
Whats the point here? There is a very good chance that you will not notice much of a difference between a $20 and $70 shock.
Go ahead guys flame away - but there is some truth to what I am saying... just offering it up |
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