Many years ago I put a set of Koni's on my '62 Splitty.  Made a world of
difference (how that relates to a V'gon suspension, I don't really
know).  They were still on it when it went the way of all good things.

Fast forward to 1988, when I put Bilstiens on the front end of my '85
Westy.  "Hmmm.  It rides better than it did the old Boges."  One of them
lasted about 6 months till the mount exploded.  Broke at the weld.  Took
it back to where I bought them.  "Nope, don't carry them anymore.  Gotta
send it to the distributor over in San Diego for replacement approval."
Sho nuff - four weeks later a brand new shock arrives at my doorstep.
Two weeks later the other one blew up - same place.  It's been KYB's
ever since, though I did go to the wrecking yard and get Boge mounting
doughnuts.

Bilstiens - Beah.

Koni's - don't know, it's been a long time, but I'm thinking of getting
them again since the rear KYB's (with 350,000 miles on them) are
starting to leak.

KYBs - great for the $$$.

Karl Wolz

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
Behalf Of
> John Reynolds
> Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:15 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Shocks ~ Konis anyone?
>
> >Unlike Bilsteins, Koni dampers don't break.
>
> I wiped out a set of Koni's in one winter once. Pot hole ice encrusted
> roads.  Put Bilsteins on and ran them for the rest of the life of the
> car, something 5 years more.   The Bilsteins I had were not adjustable
> however.
>
> BTW, warranties on shocks / struts are typically useless. With the
> Koni's, (at least back in the 80'1s) it was "Send them in, we'll
evaluate
> them and if they are bad, we will replace them. " Translates into,
better
> have the sales slip, and then be prepared to put your car up on
> jackstands for a few weeks awiting their decision.
>
> just my $.02
> John