OK, I bought a used set of GC/Konis for my 90 Civic and installed them last week. The rear setup feels fine (stiffness on the rear Koni's is a little less than fully stiff) and doesn't bounce too much going over bumps. However, the front is DEFENITLEY off. Both Konis are at full stiffness and I can bounce the front up and down with only one hand. Hitting bumps/dips in the road is a nightmare because the front practically bottoms out and the rear stays solid so it gets hairy driving over bumpy roads.

The rates are 430 rear/350 front (kinda backwards rates I know) and I have a 2 finger gap in the rear and a 1 1/2 finger gap in the front. I don't think my Koni's are blown but when I adjusted both driver's side front and driver's side rear fluid came out of the top (not a lot just a little) but they still feel stiff. I'm wondering if I need stiffer front springs or what. Also my bushings/ball joints aren't exactly in perfect shape either but I don't think they should be THAT much of a factor in this problem.

Any help is appreciated

 

i wouldnt eliminate the possibility that the shocks are damaged just because you think they feel stiff with your hands. a 1/3 of the cars weight is nothing compared to what you can push down.

especially if they are leaking fluid...

 

I mean when I adjusted them stiffer a couple drops of fluid came out but nothing major. But also when I got them in the mail 2 of them were kinda upside-down and some fluid had leaked out as well. I might just bite the bullet and get 2 new Konis and stiffer front GC springs anyways since I kinda want to go stiffer springs up front anyways.

I think this will be the last time I buy used suspension components

 

When fitting dampers (rather, prior to fitting), it's important to stand them upright and pump them fully up and down several times to purge gas from below the piston.

It's worth taking them out and trying this, but it's not out of the question that they are shot (leaking any fluid from any point for any reason is not a good sign). Front Konis are a lot stiffer than rear ones and work a lot harder, so it wouldn't be surprising for the front dampers to last less time than the rear dampers.

With Konis, they should never be adjusted to fully stiff as this nearly closes off the rebound valve and the damper becomes exponentially stiff in rebound (way too stiff for even very stiff springs). If you want very stiff then adjust to full stiff and back them of just enough so you feel the internal adjuster move slightly toward soft.

 

Sounds like it is time for a rebuild. Send them to a koni service center. One pass on the shock dyno will tell the tale. Konis should not leak any fluid anywhere.

Even if you got screwed on buying used parts, at least you got used parts that have a good core value and can be rebuilt.

 

Check the price on rebuilding, though. It may very well be cheaper to buy a brand new set of Koni shocks.

 

That's the only thing: Since I didn't buy them from an authorized Koni dealer the lifetime warranty isn't good anymore. I'm about to just say screw it and buy a pair of Koni fronts and a stiffer GC spring (maybe 450 or 500) from weaksos or something so I don't have to put up with this crap anymore. I was driving home today and I went through a new construction site and my car felt like it was a goddamn trampoline in the front

 

I'm already contemplating buying a new front pair with stiffer springs.

 

shocks are done.

 

It's not the springs being too soft causing the 'bounce', if anything it's the opposite, i.e. the springs being too stiff for the dampers. You don't need stiffer springs to reduce 'bounce', you need dampers that are stiff enough to control the springs (i.e. stiffer spring needs stiffer damper). If you fit even stiffer springs then you'll need even stiffer dampers or the springs will be 'bouncy' (where less stiff springs may not be).

Be careful of making your front springs too much stiffer than the rear springs as this may tend to cause increased understeer (but may sharpen turn-in). IMO, for a road car, much stiffer and your springs might be too stiff for all but very smooth roads...

 

Yeah I used to have 380f/450r GC's and it was stiff as crap for my 100 mile daily commute. If I had to do it again, I would probably do 350 or maybe 400 lb/in springs up front, and probably 300 lb/in springs in the back.

Rear springs play a much bigger role in overall ride quality. IMHO stiffer rear springs just ain't worth it for a daily driver.

 

i agree. its the rear spring that matters for driving comfort. its because of the weight leverage of the engine up front, the rear suspension become more of a moment arm. i found it quite regardless what spring i had up front in terms of ride comfort. i discovered this when i only had time to swap out my rear 900 lb springs to some street springs and left my 450's up front, for a day.

 

Oh dear!

Of course it's the 'wheel rate' and not the spring rate that's important. And, the rate will be relative to the mass being carried on the spring, so a spring giving a wheel rate of X and carrying a mass Y+ will in effect be less stiff than if it were carrying a mass of Y-.

So, if we had a car with say 600kg of mass on the front wheels and 400kg on the rear wheels and wheel rates at all four corners nominally equal, then the front wheel rates will be effectively softer than the rear wheel rates.

We could make the front springs somewhat stiffer than the rear and still have them being effectively softer than the rear springs, or at least the effective difference being a lot less than the raw spring rate numbers suggest.

E.g. CB7 Accord has stock spring rates of (approximately) 180 inch lbs front / 110 inch lbs rear, but the rear mass is a lot less than front mass (as carried on the springs) so the effective spring rates may be somewhat more like '150 inch lbs' and '140 inch lbs' (if you get my meaning).