Koni Reds with H&R springs ???

[RCracer]

Hi
this question is meant for Jim but anyone else that has a opinion please answer.
I have finally got my H&R springs today.
The first thing I noticed is that 1 of the springs was a slightly differant color and had a differant date stamped on in.
Both front and one back have 5/98 and the other has 97 they all have the same spring code of 29673 so ?????
Anyway I have the Konis 1 full turn up and it still tends to be a little soft on the back. Should I turn the shocks up by another half turn? My konis seem to adjust from soft to hard in 2 full turns.
Have I just got the shocks set a little soft?

Thanks for any help anyone can give.
Paul
AERODECKUK

[Jims 86LXI HB]

The rear's feel soft? My rear's feel just right. Walk out to your car and push down on the rear bumper real quick and hard. It should not go down real easy. Please tell me what you are experiencing, in detail.

Tell me why you think the rears are soft? Do you have bounce? Also tell me what size of tires and rims are you running?

Your koni's should not be adjustable more than like 1 7/8 turn's. I clearly remember that mine would not go 2 full turns.

Are you absolutly sure you adjusted the struts in the right direction. Did you do the install yourself? I'll tell ya right now Koni's directions really stink on that.

Based on how my car drives on 1 full turn I cannot tell you "I" think you should pull them and max them out,(see below).

The adjusting your doing is for rebound. Rebound describes how quickly the strut will uncompress after being compressed. It does not effect how firm the struts are at all. Adjusting in too much rebound control can do 2 things. Since you've restricted the suspension's ability to "rebound" after say absorbing a bump, the car will quickly go down after being pushed up by the bump,(real hard to describe,sorry). Also if you encounter a series of bumps that compress the strut, each bump my push the strut further and further up, since it's ability to rebound has again been restricted.

Get back to me on this, I'm real interested to have you answer all my questions.:)

[RCracer]

Hi Jim
to start with the car has 14inch rims with TOYO 195/60-14.
When I push down on the rear bumper the rear of the car pushes down by 3/4-1 inch there is a little flex from the tyres but nearly all of it is from the rear suspention. Plus I have noticed that it is siting slightly higher on one side.
The reason I say I think it maybe too soft is that over road bumps where it went "floaty" at speeds of 35-45mph before it still struggles to cope and yes almost starts to bounce (same floaty feel but less than before)(suspention movement) on the springs. Dont get me wrong I think my back springs were past it (the car has towed a caravan) as even the H&R's have only lowered it by 3/4inch.
It does feel better than it did in some respects (it feels better damped) but that will be down to the shocks and not the springs.
The front shocks seem to adjust 1 7/8 turns the back maybe a little more (nearer to 2) anyway the rear shocks are 1 full turn from full soft so there is another 7/8 to 1 turn to go.So I supose the rear shocks are on half.

The UK importer of H&R has just got back to me to tell me that the springs are simular to the U.S. ones and that it is normal to have springs of mixed dates/batches.
Thanks for your help
Paul

[Jims 86LXI HB]

DING!


So I supose the rear shocks are on half.

Pull them out and adjust them to 1 full turn and that should improve things tremendiously. And that would explain why they are bouncing. Some of the floaty-ness my be coming from the tires. I recently had my oem rim and tires on for a week and I noticed the fun factor really went away and the car felt kinda spoungy. But for me that ment 185/70-13's. Lower profile rims and tires will better explote what your setup offers.

[RCracer]

Hi Jim
just pulled the back shocks off again. They were set 1 full turn from full soft and the ones I have turn just over 2 turns. (the front only turn 1 7/8 turns) so I suppose I had the rear shocks on 50% anyway I am going to turn them up by another half turn so that they will be on 75% and will have the final half turn so wont be maxed out.
Im not sure if it is stiffening up anyway before I took them off maybe they hadent finished priming themselfs.
Before I put them on I pushed them full in and out at least 6-7 times to prime them.
I will let you know what happens
Thanks for the Help
Paul

[RCracer]

Hi
I have now got all 4 shocks set to 1.5 turns and everything is great no floaty feeling no really hard crashing with bumps it is now "what I call nice" its amazing how much turning the shocks up by the half turn really makes.
I cant really see the need to turn them up the further half turn to max when everything is nice.
It does tend to catch the front bumper/towbar when going over speed humps so it is lowered just right.
It still sits 8-10mm heigher on one side though
I will post some pics of it lowered when I can get some.
Still couldnt get the bolts out that go through the forks(that the front shocks mount in) & the bottom arm but managed anyway.

Thanks for All the Help

Paul
AERODECKUK:smokin:

[Jims 86LXI HB]

Cool! I'm glad to here it's ok now. I imagine that the speed bumps your talking about are quite different in height or shape compaired to what I drive over here in california. I have never ever touched one while going over one, and I don't slow down to a crawl either.

[bobafett]

ok i need help in this same sort of problem too!!!

i need to adjust them, and i dont know the proper way!

do i just turn the allen key and turn the shaft, or do i have to completley disassemble the spring from the strut??? start from scratch, i cant tell where to adjust them! these are fronts on my car, since i only have tokico's in the rear//

how long will it take the shocks to become "normal" if you dont prime them first? i think i did, but they may have sat for a while...

[RCracer]

The way to adjust the koni struts is to dissasemble them from the car take the spring off, take the bump stop off and push the rod all the way in. When you are pushing the rod in you will feel it drop into the adjuster slot (if not turn it whilst it is pushed right in)inside then you can start addjusting them. I ended up putting paint marks on my srtrut body and on the rod that were lined up when the strut was set to minimum then turned them to the same setting using the paint marks as a guide.
As for the priming well I primed mine up-down 4-5 times.
Then they were assembled onto the car.

[Jims 86LXI HB]

Once the strut rod is down all the way twist it until you feel the rod sink down a smidge. Turn it counter clock wise while pushing down on the strut rod until it stops. Now while pushing down on the strut rod, turn it one full turn clock wise. Now pull up at least a inch to disengage the adjusting mechinism. Take a moment to do all the above to all the other struts, and your done adjusting them.

[bobafett]

ok, so i am gonna have to take the spring and cap and all that off again! GRR!!! oh well... i guess its smarter to do it right the first time!

my tokico's for the rear will have no such adjutment, right?


thanks for the reply jim!

[Jims 86LXI HB]

Your welcome.

No the tokico's are not adjustable.