I picked up a new set of koni yellows and koni specific ground controls (ots 340/250 rates) and was looking at recommendations on the proper snap ring position and adjustment settings for a daily street driven vehicle.

Im currently driving a 91 civic sedan and am sitting on Sprint lowering springs (2.50F & 2.25R) with Tokico HP shocks and would like to retain the same drop or about a 2" drop all around without bottoming out.

The front koni shocks came with the snap ring on the 1st setting (2 settings) and the rear konis came with the snap ring on the 2nd setting (3 settings)...Ill be using my stock top hats front and rear and all my suspension has been upgraded with Moog parts and bushings.

Im not looking for a dumped ride just something that rides decent...I also use my vehicle heavily as a grocery getter/two kids mover and so on so my trunk might be filled with extra weight at times.

Im currently riding on 15" LS Mesh wheels with all matching 195/50/15 Nexen Tires and no camber kits...Im currently using washers on the rear so that I don't have so much negative camber.

 

There is no "proper" snap ring position.

Whatever height change you make through the snap ring can also be made through the threaded spring perch.

Leave the snap rings alone, since right now they're at the "stock" height setting. If you max out an adjuster and need more range, then move the snap ring.

 

For a 2" drop you will definitely NOT need to mess with the Koni circlip rings. I used to be lower than that on my GS-R with the circlips in the stock positions (same as yours) and had no problems at all.

 

The snap ring is so you can go higher or lower than the sleeve will allow.

 

Actually it's for ride height adjustment with OEM springs (which is what I have). With sleeves you should not need to mess with the circlip rings.

 

yeah, in addition to what i mentioned because he has coilovers.

 

I put them snap-rings on the lowest postion to keep the spring from rubbing against the threaded sleeve. This can/will happen if your lowered quite a bit. Because the upper hat is mounted rigid to the chassis, the spring takes on more and more of an "S" shape as the suspension compresses. If the upper spring hat was mounted via a spherical bearing (like a race damper), this wouldn't be a problem.

 

Did you specifically have problems with this? I never did. I think you'd have to have some pretty soft springs such that the car's weight compresses them quite a bit before you run into that issue.

The OEM upper mounts do allow the shock piston to rotate a bit due to the rubber bushings used in them.

 

The shock rotates yes, but the spring can't, and that is what causes the bowing on the spring. It also causes side loading on the shock shaft, increasing friction, and doing a bunch of other bad things. Yay for mass production car design!

My front GC sleeves have flat spots in the threads where the spring rubbed them. It's a good thing I'll never need to use that portion of the sleeve, as it's at least 2" above where preloading the spring begins.

So, yeah, it can damage the sleeve, but only in a spot you (probably) won't be using anyway.

 

thanks for the advice guys...i just installed the complete setup with the clips in the stock position that they came as and it looks great...i have them on full firm and just need to get an alignment now...!!!

 

Same with mine when I had the stock shocks.

When I switched to Koni, I purchased the "baby tubes" that are smaller in diameter and slip right over the shock body. Now there is no chance of rubbing. I still put it on the bottom though and there was pleanty of adjustment room. Here is what mine looked like with ride at -2.75" (Yes the Konis were stripped and clear coated):

 

I'm also running the Koni specific GC sleeves, assuming that's what you mean by "baby tubes". GC extended upper shock mounts too.

Then again, my suspension has seen some abusive use, including my knuckles hitting the spring and perch at partial droop (with one wheel off the car, you can turn the steering wheel and watch the knuckle spin the perch...) and dented shock towers from UCA contact. So, um, yeah, my suspension might not exactly have the correct geometry in all areas anymore...

Your stripped and cleared Konis look 100x better than my painted flat black ones, but I wanted "stealth" instead of "steal me".

 

I don't know for sure, but they called them "baby tubes" when ordered them. instead of using that adapter ring at the bottom, these sleeves fit the shock body perfectly.

If I remember correctly, your running reversed UCAs with LCA spacers to hyper-boost your caster? Am I correct? I wonder if that could start some clearance issues. I've also never worked with the Integra (bigger brake) knuckles. Perhaps they have less clearance as well.

 

They just called them "Koni specific sleeves" from where I purchased, but that is what I have (no adapter ring).

Used to run SPC camber & caster adjusting UCAs swapped to the wrong side. Yeah, that created all kinds of fun interference issues.

I had a fascination with caster some time back. Learned my lesson. Honda engineers know more than me.

Stock UCAs, spring still rubs the sleeve, UCAs still hit the shock tower (much less often though), knuckle still rubs the perch, but less than before when I had much more camber.

I think my knuckles are bent, which would explain the knuckle / perch contact. The spring rubbing the sleeve is something I have seen several other people mention though.