hey all
i've had my koni yellow/gc springs for 50k+ miles and honestly, getting kind of tired of it.

Reason why i'm getting tired of it is because of how loud and how hard it is when i go over bumps and potholes. Sounds like a rifle went off if i hit a big pothole at higher speeds. i have 350/250 GC and i know this is considered soft to many. I want to get something that absorbs potholes like a stock suspension but be stiff when it needs to be..are these called progressive springs? And GC are linear? I have my dampening on full soft.

I want a setup that takes potholes gently and quietly like a stock suspension but gets stiffer when it needs to be. its hard to explain, but when you ride in a stock car when going over bumps, it feels cushioned and the impact is much quieter...much better absorbed.

Im a suspension noobie, please educate me on what i need to do to achieve stock feel when going over potholes. No, i wont use stock suspension, i hate how high it is.

car is my dd(01 integra 3dr)i never bring it to the track or anything. Plan to keep this car for many many years to come. I do enjoy pushing it on turns. any brand suggestions? Needs to be height adjustable and usable on koni yellow shocks

 

ITR suspension I guess. Or Tein makes some soft rate progressive springs IIRC. But you're going to have to live with a higher ride height -- you need the clearance if you're going softer rates. Alternatively you could just get lower rate GCs for your current suspension.

 

How low are you?
Honestly, this is the first time I have ever heard someone complain about 350/250

What about ITR springs on the yellows? Put them on the lowest perch, and you'll still have a nice lowered height.
S tech's, or sport lines on the yellows?

 

adjust that first, before doing anything else. having your dampers on full soft is like riding on your springs only. your car is not using the full benefit of the shock. raise up the damper a little at a time till you have a setting you like.

it sounds easier said then done with the yellows, but you can fine tune them if need be. you'll just have to make a pie cut diagram, and guesstimate how much dampening you'll need before you're satisfied.

 

probably play in the rest of your suspension and steering is whats causing the crashing feeling, not your springs n shocks themselves.

 

350/250 should be comfortable and quiet as long as the dampers are adjusted to match the rates and the car is at a reasonable height for those rates.

 

How low are you? That makes a HUGE difference.

Keep the Konis and swap the springs for Swift springs with their assist springs in the front.

http://www.swiftsprings.net/

 

Dodge the pot holes

 

can't get them all, but i try lol
im on 195/55/15 tires with 1 finger gap
my bushings and everything is still intact. i do need new spring insulators though..
these arent stiff at all, but i just hate that how they dont absorb the bumps that well.
how low can i get my car with ITR springs on Koni at the lowest perch?

ive played around with it..the higher the dampening, the worse it is. this setup can be really stiff haha

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are there any progressive springs thats height adjustable? since there is no pre-load on this setup(springs loose between coil perch and top hat), does that effect the way it absorb bumps? maybe thats why its so loud?

 

Sounds like you are pretty low for the rates. You could be bottoming out the shocks.

 

preload has nothing to do with ride quality. It just keeps everything together if a corner raises during a road course race. Check out Swift springs. They are supposed to be the best springs. They have fewer coils per spring, which makes the rebound better.

 

i think thats why there is so much noise, its not together and its clacking between the perch and top hat and my semi worn out spring insulator doesnt really help lol
my ride height...not very low...




which swift springs are right for koni yellows....i do plan to keep this car for a while so i want some more comfort along the way..

 

From my experience with ride height, the front is the most PITA to get right, the rear you can dump with no rubbing issues. With 350 F rates it MAY be to low. I have 450 front with the height a little lower than yours and on big dips I bottom out my shock sometimes, very low clearance from the shock to bumpstop. I have top hats and even cut the bump stops it came with a notch. The worst is when I hit those off level roads where its like the road lifts up and inch, makes an unpleasant banging sound, sounds like the shock and uca bottoms out at the same time And your front is pretty low imo. GL hopefully someone can help out, also isnt the koni yellows only rebund adjustable? So if its stiff or soft it wont help when your car drops from dips, holes, etc.

 

It's too low. You're having clearance problems.

 

I agree. You are too low for the spring rates.

 

how do i know if i am bottoming out? i installed this setup at 60k, now im at 130k and the suspension is riding great. wouldnt my shocks be blown by now if it kept on bottoming out? plus, my objective isnt to get stiffer springs, i just want a setup that can absorb bumps better...stiffer springs would make things worse... ??

 

thats makes no sense.

im not saying anything bad about swift springs, just the message/messenger.

it should be very easy to check how much shock travel you have by just jacking up the suspension with the chassis safely supported on jack stands.


btw, you dont have any sort of dust boots on, right?

and when i said make sure the rest of your suspension is tight, its not just the bushings.

 

You can also put a ziptie on the shock rod and see how high it moves up the rod while you're driving (it will stay at the highest position). Unless you've done something weird with the bumpstops I'd be willing to bet you're riding on them pretty often as well.

 

I could have said that better.

Direct quote from their website:

We utilize a less coil design to create a much more responsive spring. With fewer coils, we can completely eliminate the chances of coil binding and increase the amount of usable stroke. Also, fewer coils on lowering springs will create a faster reaction speed towards any road conditions. So instead of skipping on the harsh road surface, the spring will reacted to the road surface as needed.

Un-sprung mass are also less on our lowering springs. With a fewer coil design, you can expected a far lighter spring. It will take less effort for the spring to compress and rebound. Therefore, with swift, street users or track users will experience an increase of predictability during high speed corners and straight line traction.

 

my bumpstops are always at the very the top of the shaft when i look at my suspension.
i did not install dust boots.

are there any height adjustable progressive style springs?

 

As they should be -- but that's not what I'm talking about. Depending upon how short you've cut them, at that ride height you may be riding on them or regularly contacting them with the shock body. This would cause a major loss in ride quality. You can see if this is happening using the method I described.

 

i cut them at where GC or koni suggested on their instructions when i got it. Should i cut it a little bit more?

 

? really? have you tried it at full stiff?

 

You may need to figure that out. But how can you do that??

 

I just re-read your post. Are you sure there isn't anything wrong with your surrounding suspension setup? I'd check every bushing and bolt. You shouldn't be hearing a loud noise like described unless your completely bottoming at which point the noise is from the control arms hitting the upper tower or if your bottoming out because your hitting bumps at 90MPH. Check every bushing, every bolt. My first guess would be front lower control arm bushings or front upper control arm bolts. It could also be the rear trailing arm bushing. If your hearing a loud noise then something is wrong besides having selected "incorrect" spring rates.