Yesterday I installed my Koni/Ground Control setup on my 98 GSR with the help of a friend. It took us awhile to get 'em on cause we ran into some minor problems along the way, but we finally finished the job....we thought. After we bolted everything back together, we were testing out the firmness of the the front and rear suspension by physically pushing down on each corner of the car. The fronts felt OK, they had a pretty firm feel to them but they weren't too stiff. The rears however were as stiff as shiite, so stiff that it didn't feel right. There was hardly any give, if any at all.

It was pretty late at night when we finished so I wanted to drive home as soon as possible. We then read that you were supposed to lift the rear suspension before you tightened the the 2 bottom bolts on the rear. So we did that, but it didn't seem to help much. So I figured that I could drive it home without a problem. Well needless to say I was wrong. The drive home was so fluckin harse I almost crapped my pants. Every little bump in the road I went over it felt like my car was gonna break into two.

So this morning we took a look at it again, and noticed that the rear springs aren't even making contact with the top of the strut assembly. We can actually move the rear springs up about a cm before it makes contact. We then noticed that the dust cover looked like it was actually jammed against the top of the threaded collar. The dust cover itself has two parts to it, the top part that is the same diameter as the front dust covers, then on the bottom part it the diameter of the dust cover increases where the rubber part of the cover starts. When we cut the dust cover's for the rears we only cut it off where the rubber part stopped leaving a little bit of the larger diameter part still on the dust cover. Its kind of hard to explain, so I hope somebody understands that. So we're thinking that the little part of the dust cover thats wider than the rest of it won't fit through the top of the threaded collar. Does any body know what I'm talking about, or has anyone had the same situation happen to them? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot.

 

Try to get some pics... Sorta get what you're saying but can't tell exactly what part "is wider and won't fit".

 

hey man, i was in the exact same boat as you like 4 months ago. Just get rid of the rear dust boot, it isnt needed and it will hit everytime you go over a bump. I was so pissed that the instructions told me to cut the rear boot and leave it on, what a waste of time and a load of BS.

 

So I won't really need the dust cover? I'm not an expert in suspension, but won't that let dust and dirt get into my strut setup? I just need some clarification on that.

 

i thought it would too, so for the first few weeks i checked out the shock. so far it keeps nice and clean.

 

OK I made a quick .bmp in paint but I don't have anywhere to upload it too. Can anybody help me out?

 

you need to cut the metal dust boot, or leave it out altogether. i cut mine on all 4 corners and everything is cool.

 

i didnt bother putting on the dust boots.. it looks better w/o the dust boots lolz.. did you have trouble getting off the bump stops? i did my install 2 yrs ago.. anyway i've had my springs/shocks for a few yrs (like 2 or 3) and they have been fine w/o the dust boots..

i have the fronts on 4 stiff and 3 on the rear.. your prolly wondering wtf is this guy talkin about. .Koni's have no numbers..

anyway for my hand/wrist.. it takes me 7 turns.. in 1/4 increments to turn from full soft to full firm... so based on my hand/wrist.. it was 4 on front and 3 on rear.. i like how the car handles w/ this setup..


[Modified by GSRaCeRbOI, 10:25 PM 2/14/2002]

 

Thanks for the input guys, it looks like I'm just going to drive my car back to my friends house tonight and cut off more of the dust cover. From what you guys are saying I know I probably won't need it on there, but better safe than sorry. Unless you don't think I should even put 'em on? What are the negative effects that will happen if dust or dirt gets onto my strut?

 

You should cut the dust cover and keep it on there. The short stubby dust cover acts like a tender spring. When you are working with really short springs like those found on the GC kit, you have to worry about the way the spring seats itself after the suspension arm has been fully extended. You don't want the spring to pop out of the hat and seat wrong. That could cause damage. Have I ever heard of this happening? No. Do I have cut dust covers on my GC setup? Yes.

HTH, Rainmaker.

 

Rainmaker: Thanks for the help.

 

i just did this last weekend and had to pull thesuspension apart 3 times to get it right. 1st was no trim just the rubber off like the directions and it rested on the dustboot. then in half and it hit when i drove it. then i just took it off altogether

 

Well we finally fixed the problem last night. We just cut most of the dust cover off so there is a little bit of it left on there. So far the ride is smooth as hell and I haven't had any problems with it.

Once again just wanted to thank everyone on their input.

 

If you're paranoid as i am, you can make dust boots out of power steering boots...


HTH

 

haha, that's a very good idea for the people that live in areas with dusty or wet conditions. great idea

you'll love the koni's... they are a wonderful shock, and good choice with the sleeves... ground control are the best sleeves around to my knowledge.

 

did any of you guys use the o-rings supplied with the kit on koni struts?, i couldn't slide the threaded sleeve over the urethane inner sleeve with the o-ring(s) in place so i just the left them out

 

Your sleeves are designed for use with the Koni's, right? Or are they meant for OEM shocks? I don't think you <u>need</u> them with the GC sleeves... They help reduce chatter/noise from the metal on metal of the sleeve and shock/strut.... i think

 

Did you remember to increase the diameter of your dust boot hole? you've gotta file it down from 10MM to 12MM diamiter... maybe thats why it never went down the shock properly.. the dust boot is supposed to rest on a washer on the little bump on the silver thing that sticks out of the shock... Wish i had pictures to show you, unfortunately i dont. the spring should in NO CONDITION move around by itself, did you uncompress it properly and in alignment to she shock tower cap? you've got to remember how the old shock were and have it somewhat close to how it was before (where the spring coils start etc).. hope this helps

Alex

 

I think Energy Suspension makes universal dust boots, similar to the power steering boot shown up there. I would probably do that if I were using GC's. The stock dust boot won't even go over the threads on top of the shock unless you open it up to 12mm, so I doubt that was the problem.

 

What power steering boots did you use and how did you attache them (looks like cable ties). Great idea please post the specifics

 

Sorry for the late reply but i used some universal power steering boots i found @ autozone (any regular auto parts store should have em). I just used zip tie after i trimmed it to the right length. HTH.