ooopps....sent that last one before I was finished.  I do not think you
will be sorely dissappointed with the KYB, and they will not fail on you
or anything.  If I had to do it over again, I'd pay triple the amount
for the Bilstien and forget the KYB.  Others would not.  For just
regular highway use, the KYB's are probabl;y fine, but I do think you'd
notice a defference with the konis/bilstiens...if it's worth it to you,
only you can decide.
steve

Shawn Wright wrote:

> 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