Bus Shocks

Bus, Microbus, Transporter, Station Wagon, Vanagon, Camper, Pick-Up.

Moderators: Sluggo, Amskeptic

Post Reply
User avatar
jimbear
Getting Hooked!
Location: Athens, GA
Status: Offline

Bus Shocks

Post by jimbear » Fri Nov 13, 2015 10:32 am

I know, this should go in the suspension thread, put it there if need be.

My question is: If you needed to buy shocks today and did not want to lay out $500 for Konis, what would you buy? I am leaning towards the KYB's; GR-2 for front and gas adjust for rear. You?

Also, do I need the mounting kit for the rear only?
'74 Hardtop Westy
Pretty much stock engine setup

User avatar
sped372
IAC Addict!
Location: Waunakee, WI
Status: Offline

Re: Bus Shocks

Post by sped372 » Fri Nov 13, 2015 11:15 am

I went Sachs/Boge and have been happy with them.

http://www.autohausaz.com/pn/701131
http://www.autohausaz.com/pn/794031
1971 Karmann Ghia - 1600 DP
1984 Westfalia - 1.9 WBX

User avatar
Amskeptic
IAC "Help Desk"
IAC "Help Desk"
Status: Offline

Re: Bus Shocks

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Nov 13, 2015 3:55 pm

jimbear wrote:I know, this should go in the suspension thread, put it there if need be.

My question is: If you needed to buy shocks today and did not want to lay out $500 for Konis, what would you buy? I am leaning towards the KYB's; GR-2 for front and gas adjust for rear. You?

Also, do I need the mounting kit for the rear only?
KYBs are fine. Sachs are fine. Boge is fine. Konis are fine.
KYBs will be harsh for the first several hundred miles.
Sachs/Boges are fine for not terribly loaded buses. I have Sachs on Chloe, they have held up fine.
Konis do not cure cancer and save kittens, they just have a nice adjustability and an alleged lifetime warranty, that is why I am using them on the BobD.
Can't remember what the deal is with mounting kits, I think it depends on the shock set you buy.

Do not tighten your new shocks until the bus is on the ground.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

User avatar
asiab3
IAC Addict!
Location: San Diego, CA
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Bus Shocks

Post by asiab3 » Fri Nov 13, 2015 11:42 pm

I prefer to rough-install the shocks, especially the rears, with the axles off the ground. The new run of Monroe shocks can be up to an inch too short, depending on how your bus was put together. A few Samba members had issues with KYBs as well last year.

Make sure the shock is not the limiting factor in your suspension travel; that is the job of the stoppers. The shock absorber will rip the upper mounting bolt off the shock tower if it is too short.

Get the bolts in during this process, THEN tighten on the ground. Return them with a frisky call to the manufacturer if they are not long enough.

Robbie
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

71whitewesty
Addicted!
Status: Offline

Re: Bus Shocks

Post by 71whitewesty » Fri Nov 13, 2015 11:48 pm

I went with the Bus Depot boge versions as well. I like the ride just fine but I have had two pop off the bushings in 9,000 miles. One right front lower bushing and the left rear upper (I think the upper?).
I took them off and drove out the inner steel bushing the bolt goes through. Then with some WD40 and a vise, squished the rubber bushing back in the shock collar as best I could and then with some more WD40, drove the smaller steel liner back in. The front shock I backed up with a larger washer so it couldn't pop all the way off. The rear, I didn't. So far so good for both, maybe 500ish miles.
But for the record, when this happened, I took the front shock off and finished the trip. I really could barely tell any difference in the ride. Trip was only 70 miles but 20 of it was fairly rough forest service road, lightly loaded with 4 people.

Anyone else have this happen occasionally? I haven't on my other bus with kyb's that were on it when I got it and I've put a good 60k on them. They seem to ride just fine too comparatively.

User avatar
Amskeptic
IAC "Help Desk"
IAC "Help Desk"
Status: Offline

Re: Bus Shocks

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Nov 14, 2015 7:12 am

71whitewesty wrote:I went with the Bus Depot boge versions as well. I like the ride just fine but I have had two pop off the bushings in 9,000 miles. One right front lower bushing and the left rear upper (I think the upper?).
I took them off and drove out the inner steel bushing the bolt goes through. Then with some WD40 and a vise, squished the rubber bushing back in the shock collar as best I could and then with some more WD40, drove the smaller steel liner back in. The front shock I backed up with a larger washer so it couldn't pop all the way off. The rear, I didn't. So far so good for both, maybe 500ish miles.
But for the record, when this happened, I took the front shock off and finished the trip. I really could barely tell any difference in the ride. Trip was only 70 miles but 20 of it was fairly rough forest service road, lightly loaded with 4 people.

Anyone else have this happen occasionally? I haven't on my other bus with kyb's that were on it when I got it and I've put a good 60k on them. They seem to ride just fine too comparatively.
I have never never never had shock bushings pop off.

I'd suggest looking carefully at vertical alignment. Sometimes you need a spacer to maintain verticality.
I cannot say if quality control may be part of your issue.
If you need a spacer to locate the shock, please use it on the *lower* mounting. Do not "shim out" the shock from the chassis mounting area. The less bending moment the better.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

71whitewesty
Addicted!
Status: Offline

Re: Bus Shocks

Post by 71whitewesty » Sat Nov 14, 2015 8:35 am

I put the washer on the outside of the lower front shock. No change in the alignment of it at all.
Basically I was wondering if this was a quality control issue. I've never had it happen either with any bus I've ever had.
When I reinstalled the rear shock, I rotated it so that if it has a tenacey to come off one way, it would come off now towards the shock mount vs failing the other way and coming off the mounting bolt.

User avatar
wcfvw69
Old School!
Status: Offline

Re: Bus Shocks

Post by wcfvw69 » Sat Nov 14, 2015 10:43 am

Back in the 80's, I was doing front end, alignment work. I saw several shocks slip off the rubber bushing over the years. The owner would bring their car into the shop with a complaint of a noise under it. Usually, it was the most inexpensive brand shock that suffered that problem. We wouldn't recommend pressing the eye back over the rubber. We'd just replace the shock/shocks.
1970 Westfalia bus. Stock 1776 dual port type 1 engine. Restored German Solex 34-3. Restored 205Q distributor, restored to factory appearance engine.

TrollFromDownBelow
IAC Addict!
Location: Metro Detroit
Status: Offline

Re: Bus Shocks

Post by TrollFromDownBelow » Mon Nov 16, 2015 9:59 am

FWIW - Installed a set of Monroe's all four corners about 7 years, and would guess about 8k miles ago. So far so good; much better than the worn out Koni's they replaced (so much for lifetime warranty). If you DD your bus, or put 10's of thousands of miles a year on a bus being an ambassador / crusader / itinerant wanderer /philosopher, then I would spend good coin on shocks. For my purposes, the Monroe's have been fine.

Cheers,
Mike
1976 VW Bus aka tripod
FI ...not leaky, and not so noisy...and she runs awesome!
hambone wrote: There are those out there with no other aim but to bunch panties. It's like arguing with a pretzel.
::troll2::

User avatar
Amskeptic
IAC "Help Desk"
IAC "Help Desk"
Status: Offline

Re: Bus Shocks

Post by Amskeptic » Wed Nov 18, 2015 8:28 pm

TrollFromDownBelow wrote:If you DD your bus, or put 10's of thousands of miles a year on a bus being an ambassador / crusader / itinerant wanderer /philosopher, then I would spend good coin on shocks. For my purposes, the Monroe's have been fine.

Cheers,
Mike
Hey, I think I did, I must be a philosopher and a bit dense, because I do not know what "DD your bus" is.

Did your worn Konis have adjustability? That is what I was planning to do. I have never gone above full soft on the front or 1/2 turn out on the rear, I was expecting to ratchet them out slowly as they wore . . . if they ever will even after my terrible abuse off-road and especially Michican's interstates :blackeye:
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

TrollFromDownBelow
IAC Addict!
Location: Metro Detroit
Status: Offline

Re: Bus Shocks

Post by TrollFromDownBelow » Thu Nov 19, 2015 6:02 am

DD = daily drive. IIRC, my Konis (Konii?) were not adjustable.

Cheers,
Mike
1976 VW Bus aka tripod
FI ...not leaky, and not so noisy...and she runs awesome!
hambone wrote: There are those out there with no other aim but to bunch panties. It's like arguing with a pretzel.
::troll2::

User avatar
Amskeptic
IAC "Help Desk"
IAC "Help Desk"
Status: Offline

Re: Bus Shocks

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Nov 19, 2015 5:55 pm

TrollFromDownBelow wrote:DD = daily drive. IIRC, my Konis (Konii?) were not adjustable.

Cheers,
Mike

DDD . . . daily driver, duUuh.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

User avatar
Mr Blotto
IAC Addict!
Location: Northern Burbs / Chicago
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Bus Shocks

Post by Mr Blotto » Fri Nov 20, 2015 12:09 pm

jimbear wrote:I know, this should go in the suspension thread, put it there if need be.

My question is: If you needed to buy shocks today and did not want to lay out $500 for Konis, what would you buy? I am leaning towards the KYB's; GR-2 for front and gas adjust for rear. You?

Also, do I need the mounting kit for the rear only?
FWIW, I put the GR-2/gas adjust combo on my (old) 78 Westy. Pretty firm ride with properly inflated load range D tires. Never had any issues with them.
1978 Sage Green Westy - 2.0 FI - SOLD WITH 109887 miles :-(

User avatar
Amskeptic
IAC "Help Desk"
IAC "Help Desk"
Status: Offline

Re: Bus Shocks

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Nov 20, 2015 7:07 pm

Mr Blotto wrote:
jimbear wrote:I know, this should go in the suspension thread, put it there if need be.

My question is: If you needed to buy shocks today and did not want to lay out $500 for Konis, what would you buy? I am leaning towards the KYB's; GR-2 for front and gas adjust for rear. You?

Also, do I need the mounting kit for the rear only?
FWIW, I put the GR-2/gas adjust combo on my (old) 78 Westy. Pretty firm ride with properly inflated load range D tires. Never had any issues with them.
That is what the Road Warrior had from 1986 through 2004 or something. Very firm for the first couple of hundred miles, then they settled down to sort of acceptable.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

Post Reply