>you a betting man?  If I can get KYB's for the price I quoted, will you
give me
>a pair of Bilstiens?

IMHO, Bilstiens are a far far far superior product that will be around long
after the KYB's bite the dust.  This said the KYB is a good shock, got em
all round on the '77 and the '81 and a '85 GTI (those last from Ron at a
very fair price actually.)  For the price hard to beat, but you'll get
likely half the wear if that, rear van OEM Bilsteins easily go 90,000 miles
without even beginning to show appreciable change in damping
characteristics.  Koni makes a superior product as well, just sort of
depends if you want to pay $30 or $50 or $75 or $90 a shock.  The KYB's will
be far better than any local bargain part I'd bet.

John
vwbus@mindspring.com