I'm surprised to hear you say the Bilstein HD were soft and wallowy.  I have read quite a few posts the past 2 days and the only complaints have been that they are too stiff.  

The Konis are adjustable.  Did you dial them up, or was that on the lowest setting.  I read they can be very jarring when dialed up but the vanagon people that posted about them recommended dialing them up some (I forget what the consensus was, more in the rear than the front though).

I am going to get the Koni's so I guess I will be able to figure that out myself.  I decided from posts that I don't want the ride of a gas charged shock (better performance but stiffer and translate more bumps on highway).

--- On Tue, 3/29/11, Jake de Villiers <crescentbeachguitar@GMAIL.COM> 
> I have used several of the shocks
> that you mention.

> The Bilstein HD shocks were too soft and wallowy for me, so
> I sold them. If you think a '68 Thunderbird has a good ride,� you
> might like them.
> 
> The Konis were much too bumpy and hard riding on the jounce
> part of the stroke, so I removed them. I didn't like them with the
> Carat springs or with the '89 Westy springs.
> 
> I went back to my former ALKO shocks, the same ones I have
> on my '84 and like them a lot. If they were a tiny bit firmer on rebound
> I'd reach Vanagon suspension nirvana.� ;)
> 
> IMHO, YMMV, etcetera
> 
> 
> 
> On Sun, Mar 27, 2011 at 4:29 PM, David Vickery <david_vickery@yahoo.com>wrote:
> 
> > My rear shocks are leaking (oil residue all around the
> shock tube) so I am assuming it is time to replace them.
> >
> > What are people recommending?� I am more
> interested in quality over cheap
> > but a good deal is nice to find.� And for what
> it's worth I put a set of
> > Bilstein's on a previous van and I didn't think there
> was much difference
> > from the stock Boge.� I wouldn't rule out getting
> them again, but what do
> > you recommend. I drive highway and dirt roads in a 2wd
> Westy.
> >