Hi all,
New member here trying to switch out some suspension parts on my 96 Teg coupe. The car came w ground control on some tokico blues, which were nice for a while, but I'm now trying to switch out the blue for some yellow (koni). The only problem is the sleeves for the gc are stuck to the tokico blues. Any one know a quick way (without cutting) to get these off of here? Tried dowsing them in PB Blaster and going at it with a rubber mallet, but nothing.

Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks :vtec228:

 

Did you try heating?

Letting it soak for a while (days, a week) and a wooden hammer let me loosen some very stuck spring perches.

 

Do those sleeves even have the machined lip on them to work with the konis? Worth noting that not all GC's come with that lip.

 

Well I let the PB plaster sit for a couple days, maybe I'll try a few more days and take a heat gun to it? As far as I can tell, it looks like most of the problem is coming from a bunch of dirt and grime that got stuck in between. Also, would a wooden hammer be more affective than a rubber mallet? So far I haven't got much progress w the mallet

Not sure. They were already on there and tbh I dont know how to check without getting at least one off. However, I'll be sure to check as soon as I get one off. Just wanted to see if I could re-use these before I bought new sleeves.

 

I had also dirt and grime that got stuck in between the perches and the sleeve, I suppose the needs to be soaked and penetrated by the lubricant in order to reacht the metal surfaces, maybe this takes some time.

You could pry and old screwdriver in between the sleeve and shock and give it a tick with the mallet to scare things loose.

I put a piece of wood on the corners of the perches where you'd put the adjustment wrench and hit this with the wooden hammer to make them turn/loose. Things got nicely loose and undamaged in the end

 

I've never tried to get the sleeves loose before, but could he just put two large screwdrivers (or small crowbars) on the lower blue flange and then pry up on the sleeve like I'm showing below with the screwdrivers in yellow? If there isn't enough room to get onto the sleeve, then he might just put the threaded adjuster back on, adjust it to the bottom area, and carefully pry up on it. - Jim

 

Put the shock back in the car. Jam the jam collars together. Turn the jam collars back and forth so that the threaded sleeve breaks loose from the shock. Then remove with a mallet.

 

1. just wrestle it off like everyone else is saying.

2. you shouldnt be reusing the sleeves with koni's. you really need koni specific sleeves. they wont fit properly, or SAFELY.

 

Oh. Yes...they definitely wont work on Koni Yellows.

 

Is the machined lip the only difference? I see, now, that on the ground control website they ask for your specific shock brand. Maybe I'm just naive (Id like to say hopeful), but is there any place I can buy just the sleeve itself to place on the konis?

 

When I tried a few years back.....GC wouldn't sell me just the sleeves. I heard they do now?

The Koni spec sleeve is a LOT smaller in diameter and has a machined base to accept the Koni specific clip.

You cannot safely use your sleeve on a Koni yellow. They will need to just rest on top of the spring seat...but the spring seats are not welded to the shock. They float on top of a clip. The shock body is also a smaller diameter than your Tokico.

To use the Koni specific GC sleeve, you remove the spring base and slip on the sleeve. The sleeve seats into the clip safely.

 

So if I can get my hands on the sleeves by themselves, hopefully from GC, will they still be able to fit the original gold ring that I had originally? Or will I have to get that too? I'm kind of assuming it should, since the spring will have to be the same diameter.. but I'd rather be safe than sorry

 

I called GC about this and they will sell just the sleeves, but it is a call-order thing, you won't find it on their site.

 

You need the threaded sleeves and the gold ring. The Koni yellow spec sleeves are smaller diameter.

The corresponding gold ring has a smaller inner diameter....but the same outer diameter as your current gold ring.

The springs are the only thing that will cross over.

 

Finally decided to give GC a call and asked them about switching to Konis; it turns out they sell all 4 sleeves and the gold rings as a kit for $125.
Thanks all for the help