Club 80-90 Forums

New to this forum so hello all !
Just thought i would get a general apinion on replacement shocks for my 1984 autosleeper 1.9dg standard height and wheels. seen heavy duty set at just kampers for £100 seem to be made by Al-ko. Or GSF do standard Co-fap ones round about £80. Any ideas or pointers welcome . thanks and enjoy the weather !!

Brickwerks
AVO

I would look at Brickworks..
I have a set of the AL Ko HD on my caravelle and they are quite stiff, should work well on a full camper though.. but I have had 2 sets of rears under warranty and the 3 set have started leaking too......

If you can find the Monroe gas magnum van ones they are pretty good, other wise I would say the OE Sachs/blisteins Bricky has too...

Hi
I replaced front and rear shocks and springs on my van (same as yrs) 2 yrs ago, the Heavy Duty ones from JK. No problems so far although Id have the springs painted with something other than what seems to be 'poster paint' next time! haha

Will you be doing the (often troublesome and squeaky) front top wishbone bushes too? Worth doing but a bugger to press out!

FW

Thanks for info will look at brickwerks stuff - unsure about just Kampers al-ko if you've had three faulty sets - have been thinking bout wishbone top bushes while i'm close to em - did buy 10ton press last year to do golf front wheel bearings so that might get a bit more use and justify the cost ! thanks once again everyone for info !

Transporter wrote:Thanks for info will look at brickwerks stuff - unsure about just Kampers al-ko if you've had three faulty sets

Full set of JK heavy duty shockers fitted less than 15k miles ago. One is leaking already.

It seems I'm always knocking JK products but one can't avoid the truth.

I havent bought anything from JK in 5-6 years...... and I had a trade account with them..... (not that it made much difference!!!)

I've seen plenty of leaky T3 Al-Ko dampers too, T4 stuff seems okay though?
To me, this is a good deal.
And I would say that because i sell them but...
Clicky
Wishbone bushes I hear you say...
Clickety

I have used boge gas turbo shocks on golfs with good results over the years - i know turbos are not suitable but have seen that they list standard and heavy duty automatic shocks for t25, any one outthere had any experience ? thanks for all contributions re this subject

Boge are what VW used from the factory, same as Sachs.
Very good dampers, will last, and last.

Will try and get hold of boge automatics in next wk or so - will post results of these when i have them - so we can all benefit - watch this space - many thanks !

Transporter wrote:New to this forum so hello all !
Just thought i would get a general apinion on replacement shocks for my 1984 autosleeper 1.9dg standard height and wheels. seen heavy duty set at just kampers for £100 seem to be made by Al-ko. Or GSF do standard Co-fap ones round about £80. Any ideas or pointers welcome . thanks and enjoy the weather !!

Bilstein HD's are fairly inexpensive and work great on the heavier campers. The Touring versions offer a softer ride. In the US, you can get them shipped for about $300.

Boge shocks are more than satisfactory. KYB's are disappointment except for the price (about $150 per set of 4). Adjustable Koni's are great but pricey.

BenT wrote:

Transporter wrote:New to this forum so hello all !
Just thought i would get a general apinion on replacement shocks for my 1984 autosleeper 1.9dg standard height and wheels. seen heavy duty set at just kampers for £100 seem to be made by Al-ko. Or GSF do standard Co-fap ones round about £80. Any ideas or pointers welcome . thanks and enjoy the weather !!

Bilstein HD's are fairly inexpensive and work great on the heavier campers. The Touring versions offer a softer ride. In the US, you can get them shipped for about $300.

Boge shocks are more than satisfactory. KYB's are disappointment except for the price (about $150 per set of 4). Adjustable Koni's are great but pricey.

All thats available here are Bilstein B4's, the black ones and the B6's, the yellow ones.
Yellow ones are generally out of peoples price range, moon on a stick syndrome, everyone wants B6's at B4 prices.
I sell B6's at miles less than I should do, but still they don't sell!
I have a set on my Atlantic.
I run B6's on my T4 (Eurovan) also and I think they are really, really good! (H&R use them in their comfort cup kit, and Siekel use them in their syncro packages, but revalved to suit)
But, try to explain to someone with a camper van that they use periodically that they are the shiznit is another matter.
People tend to replace their dampers when they lower their van, and thats it, because the Boge ones last so well and don't leak they keep going through MOT's (our annual safety test) then people just tend to leave them be even though they are absolutley knackered!

KYB's are used in the Jamex, G-max kits and a few other own brand kits, and like you say, they are great for the price but I have had to stop selling them with problems with bushes falling out and I've seen horror stories with snapped damper rods and the like.

Koni's, as you say, good product but priced out of the market with most people not really wanting the features they offer for the price that they are, you have to be serious about your van to fit Koni's.

AVO are a good comprimise of features and price, also are adjustable in bounce and rebound unlike the Koni that just adjusts the rebound.

Things are a little different in the UK than the US, price tends to dictate choice here rather than features or safety, and I'm not having a pop at anyone, thats a simple fact.

Simon Baxter wrote:Things are a little different in the UK than the US, price tends to dictate choice here rather than features or safety, and I'm not having a pop at anyone, thats a simple fact.

Simon,

I have heard this comment before from someone else on your side of the big pond. I have seen my share of frugal T25 owners here in California. However, the vast majority know from the start that these vehicles will cost them more to maintain than the average American van.

Our money is so worthless compared to the UK at the moment. This might be the perfect time to buy your parts here. Shipping is the deal killer.

I bought 2 very sligthly sets (8 dampers) from two different fellows for $50 each set. One front damper lost it's lower rubber bushes. One rear sprung a leak after less than 2,000 kms. of driving. Of course, both rigs were subjected to the washboard roads in Baja, California. The Bilstein B6's have been fantastic otherwise. Lifetime warranty so you can always get them replaced. Hey, just like the KYB's! You still have to donate your time to replace plus time for the replacement part to come in.

BenT

See, as far as I am aware, no lifelime on Billes or KYB's!
Here at least, I sell Billies, never been told about or seen anyhting in any literature about that!