is there a test i can do to see if these shocks are still good? i heard that if you turn them over and press the shock toward the ground and watch the rebound you can see what kind of condition they are in. is this true and if so what should i expect to see?

 

That is not true, infact if you turn them over and compress them and let them extend upside down under their own gas pressure then you will suck air from your outer cylinder into the inner cylinder. Then you will have a dead spot in the shock from the air by the piston and then you will think that there really is something wrong when in fact you just caused it yourself.

Short of running them on a dyno, there is no quantitative test to see who they are doing. Although everyone is tempted to stroke the shock by hand, humans make really bad dynos and can't move the shock fast enough to open any valving.

If the shocks are not leaking, the adjuster mechanisms are working the proper number of turns and stopping properly, if the car was not handling odd then the shocks are probably just fine. The actual wear rate on them internally is very low so unless they have 100,000+ miles (and even then likely), the are probably just fine.

 

how many turns should i expect to get when adjusting the shock? also im looking for a drag shock for the rears that are really stiff and can handle a high spring weight. i have heard people here on H-T talking about modifying the yellows. do you have any info on this? and would you know who i need to talk to get the setup i need?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GeeSssAre &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> do you have any info on this? and would you know who i need to talk to get the setup i need?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yep call CRX Lee, he works at koni!

 

if those koni yellows are in good condition, you migh have a buyer .

 

so if in fact you DID test the koni's by compressing them upside down, will they be damaged permanently?? or will the air work out of the shock by itself?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by an2ny888 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so if in fact you DID test the koni's by compressing them upside down, will they be damaged permanently?? or will the air work out of the shock by itself?</TD></TR></TABLE>

No, you can move the air back into the outer cylinder through repeating the following process. If you ever find a free motion spot on a shock, do this first to see if it is a simple air bubble. This only applies to twin-tube shocks. Mono-tubes with free stroke have failed letting gas passed the divider piston seal and they must be rebuilt or replaced.

-Adjust the shock to the softest valving setting.
- Turn it upside down and pause about 5 seconds to let bubbles rise then compress it fully.
-While still compressed, turn it right-side up and let it extend on it's own or pull it upwards fully.
- Turn it upside down and pause about 5 seconds to let bubbles rise then compress it fully.
-While still compressed, turn it right-side up and let it extend on it's own or pull it upwards fully.

Cycle like this three or four times and the air should clear itself and the dead or free stroke spot should go away. If there is a small amount of air in the inner cylinder, normal operation of the shock should purge it but this process is so easy to do while off the car and it gives you piece of mind that you are not putting potentially failed parts back on your car.

All too often people will hold a shock in their hands and move the rod up and down, often holding them nearly flat or upside down and thus unknowingly move the air into the inner cylinder themselves. A twin-tube needs to normally be at about no more than a 45 degree angle to work properly. If while driving your car lays over at more than a 45 degree angle, you have bigger problems than just air movement in your shocks!

Every now and then we'll meet a racer mounts a twin-tube shock upside down on his car thinking he is being tricky with unsprung weight (saw a $200k+ car at the Monterey Historics last year like this) but in actuality it just guaranteed that the shock will not work. He wondered why his shock adjustments didn't seem to have any effect.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GeeSssAre &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how many turns should i expect to get when adjusting the shock? also im looking for a drag shock for the rears that are really stiff and can handle a high spring weight. i have heard people here on H-T talking about modifying the yellows. do you have any info on this? and would you know who i need to talk to get the setup i need?</TD></TR></TABLE>
Most Konis have about 2.0-2.5 turns stop to stop but many Honda Sport valvings are in the lower end of the range at about 1.75 turns. The revalved ones are about 2.0 IIRC. It all depends on the stack height and coil spring preload and bind height of the valving components selected in the valving of that shock, but the run of thumb of 2.0-2.5 turns generally covers about 90% of the applications.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Every now and then we'll meet a racer mounts a twin-tube shock upside down on his car thinking he is being tricky with unsprung weight </TD></TR></TABLE>
lol thats great stuff.