Like the title says, I bought new GC coilovers (and new Koni yellows) and after assembly, had 4 black o-rings left over. I emailed GC but haven't got a response yet. Since I'm going back in to readjust today, I was hoping to get a quick response here. Thanks for reading.

 

I'm pretty sure those are used between the shock body, and sleeve. Normally around the top portion of the shock, and sometimes below it as well.

Example:


It may not be needed in some cases, as I believe they are direct fit these days, and little bit of electrical tape is all that is needed.

 

Thanks for responding. Do you mean between the shock body and dust boot? Because, between the shock body and coilover sleeve, there isn't enough room to fit anything. I mean, it fits snug like a machined fit.

Update: Didn't see your picture upload at first for some reason.

Now, I see. So, I'm going to assume that I don't need these as I couldn't even fit a strip of electrical tape. Thanks!!

 

Yeah that's what the o rings are for.

And do not attempt to use the OEM dust boots. It will not work, even if the instructions say to cut them. They will end up being so small it won't even be effective.

You don't need them. So don't bother.

 

If you got the Koni Yellow specific sleeves with the machined lip to fit over the Koni circlip then you got these rings in excess. Couldn't fit any tape either but the perches turn with no problem.

I thought the cut boot maybe would serve for centering the spring PU rubber like the bottom 'tube' of their extended top hats does (which I used so I did't try it)

This was the content I got and I assume is standard:
Content Koni specific kit


Machined lip

 

no, the outside diameter centers the poly ring in the top hat. which is really not an issue anyway. it usually just settles on top of the spring.

and look at the diagram and the process, why would you want the bumpstop to bottom out on something hard? you want the bumpstop to linearly increase its compression, not suddenly bottom out and crash the metal dust boot into the shock/GC sleeve.

and yeah, OP, did you actually get the "koni specific" sleeves? you likely wont need those o rings since they hug the shock pretty close. i can see a GC employee just throwing extra stuff in while packaging the box tho.

 

Thank you, I had concluded on my own that the OEM boots were a waste of time and assembled without them.

 

Yes, I got Koni-specific sleeves. I'm using them now and they seem to be doing well. I didn't get custom spring rates and I sort of feel that these springs are too soft, but I'll live with it for awhile and see what I think.

 

Looks like your all set, if you need to up the spring rates just hit me up.

 

Thank you!

 

BTW OP could you tell me the socket size of the nuts of the top hats -I used a metric 16 but this is too large and I don't have or needed inch sockets till now, thanks.

 

I believe they're a 14.5mm. LOL! Seriously, I don't know WTF is the deal with those. There is no tight fitting American standard or metric socket that I could find. I swear they must be Whitworth (British Standard).
A 5/8" is loose and sloppy, but a 9/16" doesn't fit. Must be a 19/32", but I don't have one of those. I used a 15mm.

I'm sure they're American standard as are the socket-head cap screws ( allen bolts) used to lock down the sleeve adjuster rings. <--That was frustrating to learn.

Two tools that I found to be very helpful to have in the arsenal:
A 3/16 hex key socket for the adjuster ring. Carlyle tool model # SH3806, (for the adjuster rings)
A bicycle wrench AKA cone-nut wrench, Park Tool model # SCW-19, (for the thin double nuts at the top of the shock ram)
.

 

Thanks -so you didn't get a key for the adjuster ring with the GC set? It should'v been included: see the picture of the contents of my set. Or do you just don't like the provided L-style key, which worked for me; do not overtighten them.

I contacted GC via Facebook and the person was friendly but didn't know about these nuts (of the Honda mounts) being inches or iac non-metric for he stated/thought they only used 13mm metric lock-nuts with washers. This is stated on their website and you can see some pictures of them on the web however most if not all pictures of the top hats nuts on the web, the GC website and GC Facebook are nuts like ours The GC person showed a GC tech a picture I sent and the tech appeared to have stated "this is not our hardware"

If you don't like the 19mm nuts of the Konies (they come standard with them) you can use a Honda nut used on the Civic for the front lower shock mount -I learned this from a picture on the GC site I think
#20 90215-SB0-003 Nut, Self-Lock (12mm)

Civic front lower arm


Honda Tech Special Kit, GC website picture

 

Yes, the kit came with a hex key. I found it very tedious to use while adjusting ride height with the wheels on the car. The socketed one that I purchased separately made it the job much faster.

The 19mm nuts are fine, but it's difficult (impossible?) to lock them against each other without a thin cone wrench.

That's weird about GC not recognizing their own hardware.

 

I grab the shaft-top 9mm together with the top 19mm (with ring spanners) for that.


This is a ring spanner

 

You really shouldn't tighten that socket head screw that locks the perch, much. An extra tool to torque it is probably too much. It really doesn't need much torque to ensure it doesn't rotate out of position.

There is a tendency for that screw to get locked in place. It's typical of aluminum, it's galls easily. When it does, you can spray it with WD-40 to help break it loose but really just don't over torque it.

 

Thank you for the advice. I'll continue to be careful to not torque it heavily. I just find that a ratchet and extension to bring my hand away from the shock allows me to work much faster. At first, I thought I'd only be adjusting them a couple times each, but I quickly learned that it takes a lot of adjustments to get everything dialed in. And I haven't even started on the rebound damping adjustments yet.