'85 Westy; Konis dialed a turn and a half; Hankook 185-14 tires; Go Westy
springs; urethane bushings: all works very well for me.

Karl Wolz
 

|-----Original Message-----
|From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
|David Vickery
|Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 1:06 PM
|To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
|Subject: Re: Shock Advice Sought
|
|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.
|> >
|
|