On  4 Jun 98 at 13:28, Steven X. Schwenk wrote:

> KYB's use cheaper materials and an inferior design.  Mine seem to make a
> noise when they top out.  Also, the dampening is not good...they try to
> compensate by using too much gas pressure.  As a result, the shocks are
> not very responsive and consequently additional load/work is transfered
> to the front suspension, thus throwing the whole system a little askew.
> This is why you can buy them for $25 each down here.  Wholesale I think
> they're about $12-15.  They're a cheap shock painted up and charged with
> gas to give the appearance of being a performance product when they are
> not.
>
> steve

That's a pretty strong criticism for what seems to be considered a decent shock
in the VW (auto) performance club (albeit not as good as Koni). Euro Car has
always talked of them in the same terms as Boge, and a notch below
Koni/Bilstein in performance and price, or at least that was my impression.

Are you saying that KYBs are just not up to the kind of torture a heavy beast
like a Westy throws at them? The problem is I kind of told BowWow to get me a
set of KYBs, but if they are really junk, I'd rather know now. I am really
afraid to deal with US mail order, mainly because of customs and duty, not the
dealers themselves. I figure I can probably double the US cost by the time I
get it here, which means about $55-60 each for KYB - BowWow can get them for
$60 CDN. BowWow swears they have no complaints with KYB, and will honour the
lifetime warranty.

Should I hold off and try to find Koni or Boge? I've never even seen a price
for either of these in the US or Canada... Help!!

========================
Shawn Wright
Computer Systems Manager
Shawnigan Lake School
250-743-6240
swright@sls.bc.ca