Need to change the shocks on my lowered 69 beetle and im wondering what everyone recommends/uses. what are the pros/cons of different brands/types? I want good handling and a reasonable price, much as i would like to fork out exorbitant amounts for bilsteins, it just isnt going to happen... i can fork out a bit for good shocks, but reasonably.

I mainly use my car for city driving (and the roads in my area are atrocious), but it also gets highway/long winding drive usage alot too.

any recommendations?
Thanx

Hi

Buy Konis, you will never need to buy shocks again, my rears are 24 years old. Not cheap but.

1302Steve

I've heard good reports for:

Koni

Cofap

KYB

I went the Koni's. They are adjustable so once they are on you can trial-and-error the best setting.

Anyone else ........

I think you will only have a choice of the 3 anyway as these are the only brands that are made for VW nowdays.

what kind of konis are best suited?

I went the RED ones. I think there are yellow ones but they are competition ones and priced accordingly.

Are you sure that you need shocks?

Some guy in another thread who has a "degree in Automotive" said they may not be necessary.

He also said
"It has been mentioned by someone here that narrowing the Leafs(some call them torsions) stiffens the ride.
This is true. It also lesses the sping. So by narrowing a beam you are stiffening sping tension".

Considering that, do you need the spings? Or should you lesse up the spings?
Imagine how low you could go and how kewl you could be without spings!

He also said
"You wouldnt need a dampner(shock) on a car with a straight axle and no suppension would you? It would be useless."

So instead of paying $$$ for shockers you could just remove them and the spings and get the car
r_e_a_l_l_y l_o_w and it would ride better than new, for certain values of the words "ride" and "better".

hth

koni's in my super and i have never looked back.

Hi

The good thing about Konis for a lowered beam front end the removable & trimable bump stops.

1302Steve

I have stock shocks as well for my 74 super, would it mean better handling and tighter turning circle if I change to newer shocks?

A friend of mine got a quote for a set of koni specials for his mk4 golf - $1500 fitted

personaly i wouldn't go to the koni reds on the front of the super without new springs and if possible higher rate ones. I ran the specified koni red on the front of my super with old spings and the shocks were doing alot of work with the old springs.

also u should be able to fit the porche 914 koni reds to the front of the supers adn they are externally adjustable.

Modulus, much as i would love to go lower than low, the streets around my part of town are basically potholes with some bitumen around them. Ive got the car pretty low as it is, and with crappy shocks im scraping my side skirts on the driveway. great idea tho!

Ive decided to go the koni reds, getting them on wednesday so this weekend, Im going to learn how to change shockies!
Thanx for the help

[Edited on 13-10-2003 by Starbuggy]

Hey
howm uch did they set you back?

I just used KYB Gas shocks... around $120 each for the front of My 68 Beetle.
I also have a new set of CoFap oil shocks.
If the front gas shocks are too hard I'll change over to the Oil shocks.
I have a new pair of Gabriel (USA) oil shocks for the rear.

Changing Shock absorbers is one of the easier jobs on a Volkswagen Beetle with torsion bars....

Starbuggy,
I have to remind myself that you can't do irony on the Internet...

Modulus... dont worry. i got the irony... you just cant hear me snickering and laughing in text form hehehe

new koni reds set me back $560 for fronts and rears, from "the shock absorber reconditioners" down at underwood... that was the cheapest place in all brisbane. Lowered the bug just a tad bit more, and its not scraping off my side skirts anymore! and the handling is much more smooth and cornering much more pleasant! And it was an easy job, took all of 90 minutes to do!

thanks muchly for all the help

That's a reasonable price, i thought they were closer to $1K; and it sounds like you've got a good result.

I paid about 300 each for my Koni adjustables for the Formula Vee.

Interestingly, even tho Konis are marked "Made In Holland" (or somewhere over there anyway), all the plain non-gas konis shocks are made in Australia in Albury and have been for years.
Proven Products have been assembling Konis and handling other Koni products for many many years.
There you go.
E

Hay Tassupervee how long you been racing Fv's? I have one two but don't race it, to bissy at the moment.