Shocks - is it worth the cost to upgrade to Spax?

[cotswoldiver]

I've had a good quality standard shocks on my westy since the rebuild and last week it decided to drop out of the bush on the front which caused a few issues.

I know from searching and reading the various threads that Spax units are highly thought of for lowered buses, but is it really worth the extra for stock height?

I've found some on offer at £70 a piece instead of the usual £98 which makes it a bit more palatable cost wise, or is there really no need to do this and just replace with a standard stock version?

 

[Dirty Harry]

I upgraded the shocks for Konis, whow :shock: :shock: ... what a difference these make absoluty amazing!

 

[mattp]

I've gone for an HR cup kit on my T3 and this is regarded as the best -and they use Koni so another thumbs up for Koni

 

[mister]

I've had three different types of shocks on the front of my bus to date. First KYB which where ok, then Spax adjustables, and currently Gaz coilovers. The Spax had by far the best ride in my opinion. The only reason I changed to coilovers was it rubbed too much when loaded. I miss the Spax.

 

[curly head]

i bought my spax from creative and they made a huge difference, i wish i had done this ages ago.

apparently they also have the units especially made from spax to suit the varying height of vans, great customer service and delivery too.

 

[cotswoldiver]

I've had three different types of shocks on the front of my bus to date. First KYB which where ok, then Spax adjustables, and currently Gaz coilovers. The Spax had by far the best ride in my opinion. The only reason I changed to coilovers was it rubbed too much when loaded. I miss the Spax.

Thanks Andrew

At the moment it seems a straight choice between Spax and Gaz Coilover. Gaz have been great with their responses to questions, but one of the guys that looks after some of the technical side of my westy thinks Gaz may be just the current fad/fashion adjustment, and I think they may be well suited for a lowered bus but I may be just as well sticking with Spax for stock height even though they are about £15-20 more expensive in price per unit. I'll talk with Graham this weekend at Berkeley me thinks. But with the bus now weighing a measured 1860 kg fully ready for camping I just want to get this right.

 

[mister]

I've had three different types of shocks on the front of my bus to date. First KYB which where ok, then Spax adjustables, and currently Gaz coilovers. The Spax had by far the best ride in my opinion. The only reason I changed to coilovers was it rubbed too much when loaded. I miss the Spax.

Thanks Andrew

At the moment it seems a straight choice between Spax and Gaz Coilover. Gaz have been great with their responses to questions, but one of the guys that looks after some of the technical side of my westy thinks Gaz may be just the current fad/fashion adjustment, and I think they may be well suited for a lowered bus but I may be just as well sticking with Spax for stock height even though they are about £15-20 more expensive in price per unit. I'll talk with Graham this weekend at Berkeley me thinks. But with the bus now weighing a measured 1860 kg fully ready for camping I just want to get this right.

I think if you are at stock height then there is no need for the GAZ coil overs, people have been moving to them who have 3.5" drop spindles. You can wined the coils up tighter to help your torsion springs to stop tyre rub on a lowered bus, this does make the ride more bumpy. The ride from the spax really was great, when I fitted these the bus was already lowered. I'm sure they would be great at stock height too. I think I got mine from machine 7.
Having said that I had no problems with the KYB's when the bus was stock height and they are a lot cheaper, as are Konis.

 

[aogrady]

At the moment it seems a straight choice between Spax and Gaz Coilover. Gaz have been great with their responses to questions, but one of the guys that looks after some of the technical side of my westy thinks Gaz may be just the current fad/fashion adjustment, and I think they may be well suited for a lowered bus but I may be just as well sticking with Spax for stock height even though they are about £15-20 more expensive in price per unit. I'll talk with Graham this weekend at Berkeley me thinks. But with the bus now weighing a measured 1860 kg fully ready for camping I just want to get this right.

Hi,

Have you thought about using air shocks such as the Monroe or Gabriel ones? You can then adjust for camping weight, towing etc.

I have a set of front and rear, with compressor, dash gauge with up/down switch, but sat in the garage waiting to fit. :roll:
IIRC Mycha (Mychatype3) is running a set of air shocks, albeit on a lowered bus, and Dirtyharry is also running some i think.

Mine are just for stock height, but with adjustability built in, and for towing to lever out the already lower saggy westy rear end....

Cheers,

Alistair

 

[Bluesnailman]

Another thumbs up for Koni adjustables from the bluesnail. Can't believe how good a ride I have (standard ht).

 

[cotswoldiver]

Another thumbs up for Koni adjustables from the bluesnail. Can't believe how good a ride I have (standard ht).

Which version of the koni adjustables did you fit?

 

[Bluesnailman]

Ratwell gives you the spec and codes here

http://www.ratwell.com/technical/Koni.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and i got them from here

http://www.paruzzi.com/webstore/?zoektrefwoord=21308&" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and

http://www.paruzzi.com/webstore/?zoektrefwoord=21307&" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

it is a lot more that the boge ones, and was difficult to justify until i remembered the manta - What campervan wants, campervan gets. it wanted....

 

[cotswoldiver]

Ratwell gives you the spec and codes here

http://www.ratwell.com/technical/Koni.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and i got them from here

http://www.paruzzi.com/webstore/?zoektrefwoord=21308&" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and

http://www.paruzzi.com/webstore/?zoektrefwoord=21307&" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

it is a lot more that the boge ones, and was difficult to justify until i remembered the manta - What campervan wants, campervan gets. it wanted....

Thanks for the link, that's a big help - I keep forgetting about ratwell and how useful the data is there - and with the codes I've managed to find them on Larkspeed @ £81 and £89 each

 

[mike202]

I've just put Koni's on my stock height '70 and had a test drive in the windy conditions at the weekend. They have made a huge difference to the ride and handling, although I can't comment on other makes these ones are great.

 

[rpp123456]

Do people think these spax or konis will help improve my ride currently on adjusters down approx 3 inches?