My Koni Yellows stuck at full stiff and will not turn? Anyone have any ideas what is going on?


[Modified by urbanlegend21, 9:23 PM 11/5/2001]

 

last time I looked at the Koni documentation that came with the shocks, it said to never set them all the way stiff. You can go all the way stiff and then back it out a little bit. Something about oil passages getting completely shut off and subsequent shock damage if ran this way. Seemed to make sense when someone explained it.

Sorry, it seems you may be an example of why they included those warnings in the instructions. Bummer.
Then again, I could be full of it. Not like that's never happened before...

 

If that were the case, surely they'd design it so one couldn't turn it to full stiff?

 

you know, I thought the exact same thing as I was reading that tiny piece of paper from Koni that came with the shocks when I installed them. I was looking for a place to start with my settings (ended up somwhere in the upper 25% of the settings, btw.)

I was not courageous enough, however, to test the veracity of their instructions. They came from the manufacturer, after all, and considering the price/quality of those shocks, I was willing to live with a few idiosyncrasies. I have found in my testing that setting the shocks too stiff just overdamps my springs anyway, and the car tends to "jack down" on ripples in the pavements. I found the place to get my springs critically damped, which is the way I like them for my dual purpose application (street/some track).
YMMV, of course.

 

that was exactly what I was thinking and afraid of....dammit! My own stupid fault. Wonder why they did not stick the first two events? Oh well guess I will be getting new konis if these are not fixable.

 

you should ask around. These shocks ARE rebuildable, and re-valvable, btw. So, if you need to get them rebuilt (it may or may not be cheaper than buying new ones) maybe you should get them revalved to match your springs better.
In a previous thread we had heard quotes from various Koni-knowledgeable sources that these shocks were valved for 400-600lb maximum spring rates (at least for the integra, different shock specks for the 'lude?), depending on who you ask. I don't know what you run (or plan on running in the future) but you may be able to get them valved so that you don't have to run them full stiff to get the amount of rebound you are looking for. Just an idea.




[Modified by SJR, 9:51 PM 11/5/2001]

 

You may see about getting them rebuilt. Koni, TrueChoice, ProParts, et al are authorized Koni service providers and can probably rebuild them. Cost?!? I don't know, but it's worth investigating before you buy another new set. Also, they can custom valve them too for whatever application you are using them for, auto-x, roadrace, etc.

 

yeah,
Mine is a truechoice setup and I have a call in to them about a rebuild. I guess you live and learn and the suggestion about having them set up so i don't have to set them at full stiff for race days is a great idea. thanks for the help.

 

Everyone I've ever talked to about custom valving (cuz my car just doesn't feel like it's got enough compression damping) has been in the neighborhood of $100/shock. Conversion to double adjustable (for my car, where they can't put it on the bottom) was $400/shock. I've never asked about rebuilding.

-Mike