FWIW, I replaced my Boge shocks with Bilstien HD on all 4 wheels.

Seems to handle better, especially in cross winds.

My Boge shocks seemed to be in decent shape, though I don't know if
they were orig.

I didn't remove spacer on bump stopper. Though I managed to damage one:

http://web.mac.com/tubaneil/iWeb/Site%205/Welcome.html

the silicone I repaired it with seems to be holding!

Neil.

--
Neil Nicholson. 1981 Air Cooled Westfalia.

http://web.mac.com/tubaneil

On 7/3/07, Jake Beaulieu <jbeaulie@nd.edu> wrote:
> On Thu, 28 Jun 2007 21:05:24 -0400, Jake Beaulieu <jbeaulie@ND.EDU> wrote:
>
> >Howdy,
> >
> >I have new front Billstein shocks for my 1982 AC Vanagon to go along with
> >my new Hankook tires.  Hooray!
> >
> >Alright, Bentley calls for replacing the brass spacer sleeve with PN 251
> >413 439A.  My new shocks also came with a new set of spacer sleeves.  So
> >what to do?
> >1) re-use original spacer sleeves
> >2) use spacer sleeves that came with new shocks
> >3) order PN 251 413 439A
> >
> >I know many of you have replaced front shocks, so what have you done?
> >
> >thanks a bunch,
> >Jake
>
> I have installed the shocks and realized that I posted my question a bit
> prematurely.  The spacer sleeve that the Bentley wants us to upgrade (PN
> 251 413 439A) is integrated into the bump stop.  The spacer that comes
> with the new Billstein shocks is a totally different animal.  In the end I
> discarded the new spacer that came with the shocks and reused the bump
> stop and integrated spacer sleeve without modification.  This seems to
> have worked fine.  I would be interested to know if any of you have
> installed the spacer upgrade the Bentley refers to.  Judging from the
> responses I got to my original posting few people do.  I wonder what the
> advantage of the new part is.
>
> I had one surprise during the job.  The shocks I replaced appeared to be
> the original BOGE's and still seemed to have plenty of life in them!  The
> shocks compressed and extended smoothly with no dead spots.  I am trying
> to convince myself that I didn't waste money because new Billsteins are
> still better than the best BOGE.
>
> jake
>