Karl wrote:

<<I put almost 200K miles on the first set of KYBs, then removed them and
put them on my seven passenger van, where they still reside with close
to 300,000 total miles on them.  The new set on the Westy has around
100K on them.>>

.

As no two manufactured items are exactly alike, my experience with KYB and
Bilstein are almost opposite.

I had KYB gas riders on my '82 Westfalia for 7 years. The ride was OK most
of that time, but then it became increasingly worse.

I ordered a set of Bilstein shocks.

I discovered the front shocks were completely out of gas and leaking.

I put the Bilsteins in and the ride was comfortable again. Gone was the
rough ride.

But after a month the left front shock began making noise and leaking.  I
sent the shock in for replacement -that's been over a year now and all are
working fine.

So, my conclusion is that some parts fail early and some late. There's just
no telling how long anything will last.
Your brand is your choice. But which one is better is not definite . Your
results may vary as they say.
Just like you can find one race car driver who advocates K&N filters and the
other one stock paper.

Boges may be very good.

I have a heavy duty set of Sachs that came off a mid-'80's camper called
Dehler Profi . I have'nt seen these giant shocks on any US Vanagon ever.

I might put them on my rig as they have more dampening than my Bilsteins.

Robert

1982 Westfalia