The Cal-look Lounge

short of a stroked motor, I'd have to say swapping KYB's out for a set of Koni's out back is the best thing I've done to my car, bar none.
The difference is beyond explanation.

konis all round combined with drop spindles make a massive difference to a ball joint car  8)

Was having a look at these for mine, anyone had experiences??

http://www.dcdezign.com/cheap/81113/volkswagen/koni/classic-front-dampers/76-1293.html#top

(http://www.dcdezign.com/images/products/koni_classic.jpg)

Konis are a pretty penny today, especially compared to KYB.
I think KYB's problem is they are valved too hard in compression and have no rebound characteristics at all (compared to a better shock). I found my car even brakes better after the Konis added. The ride is taut, but light years ahead of the KYBs.
I ran KYBs becuase they were durable. I wiped out a set of Boge's on the rear in a matter of years. I think with weight distribution of a VW, you need a shock with some rebound cranked into the setting.

Konis are a pretty penny today, especially compared to KYB.

Quality cost..............................................

After riding in Sarge's car with the Koni shocks its all I will use on my '66.

--louis

Agreed, I'm running Konis out back on my 69', great shock, also ran them on a 67' I had years ago, same thing, the best shock I've ever ran. My front shocks now are a set I got from Bruce, TOP SECRET  ;), but also works great. Thinking about getting a set of Konis for the front, but later.

Ted

You guys use red or yellow ones ?

Mine are the red adj. ones.

Mine too. they say Special D on them. I turned them up to full heavy,

I had Konis for an opel Kadett  # 80-1580 on the front of my lowered 68 ball joint front end.
they were adjustable so you could make them stiff or soft.
you have to drill the bottom sleeve out to the Vw stud size

 ;)

I think I would rather have worn out oil shocks than KYBs. My '72 had them and it would beat the 'ell out of you. Just paint them like Konis and pocket the diff.

--louis

Is koni still in business? Or you guys getting lucky and finding old stock?

HAHA!! That's awesome. Two thumbs up for your creativity. Was your '72 a Standard or Super?


http://www.koni.com/ (http://www.koni.com/)

I think that is the steering damper.

Koni part numbers (OTTOMH)
K&L front: 80-1349
Swing rear: 80-1350
BJ front: 80-1787
IRS rear: 80-2149

Yes, bought adjustable red ones couple of years ago.

You can find it at CSP http://www.csp-shop.de/cgi-bin/cshop2/front/shop_main.cgi?func=anzeige&wkid=16271462821&rub1=Suspension&rub2=Shock%20Absorber%2CKONI

Jim, was kind of KYB did you have grey GR-2 or white Gas-adjust?
I've got the white ones and they're not that bad (coming from coil-over shocks)  :o
But I have no reference for Koni shocks.

Koni's are amazing, night and day difference. I'll never again run another gas shock, they are valved way to stiff for a Beetle. I've got mine set at full soft.

I second, - or third or fourth ;D the Koni´s.
The hardest part is convincing the customer before the buy.
T

Where in the US are you buying them?  I found some for about $120 ea..  I'm assuming that is a pretty good price.  What say the rest of you?

It was a ball joint/IRS car. I will admit it had been lowered by removing a few springs so I am sure that contributed as well.
There is a place that sells them online and your price is about what I have seen for them. Now the real trick is a Koni steering dampener.  ;)

--louis

Those the same ones that were on my car?

I already have one of those Louis.  I got them in a group buy.  I think Deano got it started.

Yeah, the infamous CLF Koni buy. I almost had one, but the guy backed out.

--louis

you guys might check with Mark Preisendorf @ LPI racing. He got me my Koni dampener.
925 292 5522

LPI-got some Setrab bits from those guys.  They were easy to deal with.  Good thing I didn't tell them I know Ratto...   :-X

;D ;D

what's up there, Mike? Jack driving the 2110 yet? :o

Not yet...PM'd ya for thread cleanliness.   :P

Just ordered a pair from jegs.com $253.98 shipped!

how do spax compare to koni's?

i have a deal waiting on some spax, but if they are not up to par i might reconsider them.

btw KYB, they are just not good on any off my type3's. at first i thought they were OK, but the handling did not improve at all.

What about Bilsteins? They are in the simillar price range as Konis...

Hi Guys,

I run red Konis on the front ( special shortened type for lowered beam  available at CSP)
and Bilstein Rally at the rear ( IRS/with heavy TYPIV engine ).
With a TYPE I engine the red ones are ok.
That combined with a 14mm Sway bar at the front and 19 mm Sway a way bar at the rear gives a second to none
suspension that takes you around corners like an early Porsche at the same time with fantastic ride comfort.
I also had KYB and yellow Konis, They where way too stiff.
Also the Bilsteins at the rear are great for the 1/4Mile.
My car is transferred from 1/4 Mile to road just by changing over shocks and wheels.
The only downside is the gear box is no longer good for Autobahn cruising, but a lot of fun
in Town and the open country  8)

For me Konis are the way to go!

Knowing that a lot of the cars here are Cal-Lookers and 1/4 Mile racers you may take no notice of my written word!

Cheerio    ;D

Where did you get a 14mm front sway bar??

Also, try this company,
http://www.eshocks.com/bil_veh.asp?Model_Index=2Q45&Manf=All&SubChar=Q

is that the stock size? I think the holes in the bushes are 13mm

I believe that I had a stock factory 14 mm front sway bar on my Thing. The one on the beetle is thinner and uses other bushes.

Stock Beetle is 10mm. I had no idea the Thing used a 14mm bar, that's good to know ;)

Yeah the Thing ones are thicker but the sway bar bushings are NLA so you have to modify some urethane ones.

or you can drill stock rubber ones. I've done that on countless cars to run sway a way

yep just drill out rubber or urethane bushings to the correct size. Nice feature of the Thing sway bar is that it is more rolled upwards, so is close in shape to Sway-A-Way front swaybar for lowered balljoint beam. It was made like that to maintain clearance for offroading and on lowered balljoint beam it doesn´t come close to the ground.

I suppose that now the demand for Thing swaybars will skyrocket:-)

In the 90's Eibach ( I think ) used to make them they where power coated blood red items !
But correct VW 181/Thing uses a 14mm sway bar!

About a year ago I saw a few for sale NOS or still produced??

Cheers Stephan

I bought from CSP 4 adjustable red Koni.
They have totally changed the handling; more precision making curves and comfort more than acceptable, enough to justify money spent.

Really suggested.