mrkanda

iTrader: (3)

So, I've done my research (searched) and read a lot of threads, asked a few questions, and finally need to make a decision. I need new struts (ASAP) and hear that Koni is the way to go. They seem to be the only strut replacements that will hold up to lowering in the long run (I have Eibach Pros) and give the best ride, especially with the adjustable feature.

The concerns I have, besides the price, are:

#1) Longgevity - how long will they last (if initially set on a firm setting)?

#2) Warranty - after they give out will they be replaced for free under a lifetime warranty?

#3) Adjustability - how easy is it to set the adjustment in the beginning to the "right" setting (a balance of sport and comfort), and how easy is it to adjust later if one wants to change the setting. Also, is it worth it to have Koni modify the red inserts to be externally adjustable and maybe also re-valved to be more similar to the yellow sports? And, if so, would they still honor the lifetime warranty/free replacement on those moddified units? If they did, maybe that would make the price worth it in the long run. (I will be calling Koni about this also, but they are closed for inventory until Wed.)

#4) Installment - How easy is it to get these things installed? Could I do it without air tools or a lift, never having done suspension work? What about a friend of mine who used to be ASE certified? I don't know if he has air tools now. Would a non-specialty shop be able to install them without screwing it up? How long would it take to do all 4 corners?

#5) Fitment - Will these fit my car? I ask because I have the sonar electronically controlled suspension with the control units mounted on the top of my strut towers. Konis require that the OEM stuts housings be cut and drilled out. Will that work with my struts, or do I need to get some non-electronic housings to use for the Konis? BTW, the Konis are inserts. Do the KYBs and Tokicos fit easier because they come with a complete housing?

Thanks for your patience with all these questions. I just want to make sure I have all the information I need before I dump a ton of money and time into the project. I have limited funds, but want to make sure the parts I have in the car will be the right ones for me and last for the long haul.

-Mrkanda/ Mark

maxitech

iTrader: (7)

#1) yes, they last...lifetime warranty...have never heard of anybody having to use warranty.
#2) see above
#3)They adjust somewhere around 1&1/4 turn so you just 'eyeball' the right setting on all 4. Forget whatever the hell you are saying about putting in yellows. Any alterations to the reds will void the warranty so trust me and just don't screw with it. Adjustment will require removing strut assembly (no biggie) but then popping off the spring to readjust them, which requires a spring compressor (dangerous if not properly used).
#4)I took new strut mounts, eibach springs, and koni struts to a reputable local shop to have them install the new parts. I didn't have access to a spring compressor and installing the new cartridges and springs is something worth paying someone to do.
#5)The bacsks shouldn't be any problem, but I'm not 100% on the fronts.

Might I also add that Konis are worth the extra money, especially since I don't feel like d!cking around with trying to claim a warranty on blown out struts on my daily driver. Koni/Eibach setup kicks @ss! Trust me, you wont' be disappointed!

mrkanda

iTrader: (3)

I wasn't saying I would put in yellows. I was referring to getting the reds re-valved by Koni to be more sporty in nature, like the Koni yellow sports. I only mentioned it because a Koni technician told me this might be possible. I also was looking to get the reds made externally adjustable so that I don't have to go through the big hassle of taking them off and on again when I want to adjust them. That would also be done by Koni in their warehouse, so I was wondering if they would have the same lifetime warranty that the regular reds would have.

-Mark

maxitech

iTrader: (7)

I don't know any Koni technicians...I've never heard of them being made to be externally adjustable, but if it is a possibility, follow up on it!

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

contact propartsUSA.com about doing the work on the Konis.
I believe it's $125 per shock to convert them to externally adjustable. so when you're done, you're looking at about $1000 just in shocks.

As for whether they last, I've had them on my car for a while using 450lb/in springs and set about 3/4 stiff. I'm still happy with them, but have noticed the settings move over time. I'm not sure how or why. I think it has something to do with my sloped driveway and short springs. essentially the way you adjust these things is to push the shaft all the way in, seat an adjuster piece, then turn them. I believe what's happening in my case is that as I'm pulling into my driveway, the right front shock bottoms out and actually turns while it's bottomed. so it keeps softening itself up.
but again, I've got a pretty highly modified suspension, so you won't see those issues.

nonetheless, I'm very happy with mine and will buy another set again if I still have the car when it's time.

gdmaxse

iTrader: (1)

They dont need to be re valved to be more sporty unless you are racing with VERY stiff springs (like 500-1000 lb)
They are so stiff that i couldnt pull the shaft out to remount them when i had them set at full stiff. i had to turn them about 1/4 turn from full stiff to be able to extend the piston and mount them. at this setting it is way too stiff for anything besides racing, in fact i will probably soften them up a little more for next season so i dont lose as much traction over bumps.

gdmaxse

iTrader: (1)

Bump stops are your friend matt, ES makes some pretty good urethane ones http://www.energysuspension.com/pages/sk_bsp1.html

todamax

iTrader: (6)

Yes, because Matt hasn't ever really looked at a Maxima's suspension. He plays the kind of guy that knows stuff on the internet.

Anyway, to the OP, Other than installation, I don't have much to say. Mine have been in for 5K and are fine. Any competent shop should be able to do it. I did it in my driveway in an short afternoon. In fact, I did 2 complete strut jobs that afternoon.

ColombianMax

iTrader: (7)

pfff you dont impress me! I did mine in 12 hours

todamax

iTrader: (6)

Bah, the 2nd one I ever did took me a whole week. It was an '89 with the auto suspension. The rear castle nuts were rusted on and no amount of pulling and extensions was going to get them off. I ended up using a dremel and cutting it off.

You get better at it after half a dozen times.

ColombianMax

iTrader: (7)

lol yea...I actually ended up buying 2 NIssan $6 each bolts that are 19mm. cuz mine broke. think they were the stabilizer bar that runs front to back of car.. anyhow yea takes practice until you get so cocky about doing it so fast that you fly through it and do it all half assed.

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

Energy suspension bumpstops are the enemy. they're junk. Disintegrated a 7.6105 bushing on the car in four days, which caused the Koni shock to bottom out on the inside of the housing and ruined the whole shock assembly.

I've gone back to OE bump stops and 3/4" hard plastic bushing to prevent the shock from bottoming out again
but even with that, I'm still having these issues. why I don't exactly know.. but I know for damn sure they're not bottoming out to the point of damage anymore.

So you need not lecture me on bumpstop theory. unless you know what I'm doing with this suspension setup, you shouldn't comment.

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

last strut job I did on a Max took me an hour and a half, and that's NOT half-assing it.
Konis take about 30min per front shock... total... 10 to get off and on the car, and 20 min of cutting and drilling.
the rears are identical to stock... maybe 20 min per shock. easy peasy.

todamax

iTrader: (6)

Like I said, better with practice.

mrkanda

iTrader: (3)

Wow, Matt! That's pretty fast. But, of course, that's you who practically live and breath 3rd gens. I've never used an air tool before, nore do I own one, so do you think I could do it in maybe double the time? The reason I ask is because I have a ton of other stuff to do as well, like PS Pump, LCA Bushings, Engine Mounts... and can't afford to spend more than a weekend on it. At least I live in Florida now, instead of up North. Still, it would be better if I didn't have to work fulltime and had a garage and better tools.

BTW, I'm leaning towards going with KYB for the time being, mostly due to cost considerations. Do you think they will die real soon with Eibachs on, and would the ride be that much worse than Konis? Should I just stay with the stock springs until I can afford Konis? I think you're really the authority on suspension here, Matt. Thanks for your comments.

-Mark

ColombianMax

iTrader: (7)

Dude I did it without air tools..I'm poor man..cant you see I'm Colombian

Well we were doing it with impact gun but then it overloaded my CLINICAL aircompressor and the motor on it went so we finished job with regular leTools

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

If you're considering anything other than Koni, then look at the Tok blues. the KYBs are crap when you pair them with Eibachs. just not stiff enough and I don't think you'll be happy with the performance. they ride "okay" but not greats.

In order to do the Konis, you're going to need some power tools. a drill is absolutely required, and a sawzall or chop saw is highly recommended. if not, you can do it with a hacksaw, but it will take you hours to cut through the strut housings with a hacksaw.

If you're budgeted on time, do the fronts first.. they take the longest, and everything else will be easy compared to them...

ColombianMax

iTrader: (7)

you are honestly scaring me for future strut upgrades..I got rear KYB GR2 which are great for daily driving but i know I'm eventually gettin koni/eibach but now that you mention that iono...since you take about 40 minutes total...I might just drive and have you install em for me when I decide to upgrade

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

the 20 hr drive from Chicagoland would suck....

then again, if I get to hook up with the chick I dated up there in college, I might drive for free..... you don't live near Lansing, do ya?

ColombianMax

iTrader: (7)

But of course I do! its 32 miles away which means its about 30 minutes away C'mon over Matty

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

heh... now I just wonder if she's still around... last time I talked to her, she was in grad skool in Ohio, but headed home at the end of the semester... that was last spring... dunno....
besides, I'm married now anyway.

gdmaxse

iTrader: (1)

you're right, i assumed you werent using bumpstops because the only way i can imagine the konis could compress enough to engage the adjuster is if there was no bump stop in there.

anyway good luck sorting that suspension out

todamax

iTrader: (6)

Struts are just dampeners, they don't prevent the suspension movement. There isn't any reason they wouldn't compress that far, you can do it with your hands...

mrkanda

iTrader: (3)

Those older women from school in Ohio are definitely bad news! I know That's why I married a nice girl from Michigan and then moved to Florida. Plus, her Dad bought me my Max five years ago. Gotta love the Guy!

So, since price definitely seems to provide quality, where is the best and cheapest place to get Konis & Tokicos? What price would they be? What about the mounts and boots? They seem to come to around $200 just by themselves. Are the cheaper mounts on Brian's site just as good? Thanks.

-Mark

gdmaxse

iTrader: (1)

i am talking about while they are installed on the car, the bump stops prevent them from traveling all the way. reread Matts first post, he has a problem with them bottoming out and adjusting themselves

bvtran

iTrader: (3)

Our car don't even worth $500, I don't know why would you even consider it LOL

maxitech

iTrader: (7)

An English major, are we???

mrkanda

iTrader: (3)

Well, because the car only has 84k miles on it, and I've grown very attached to it and already have all the parts to fix it except the struts. Plus, to get a better car with the same or better mileage and all the features and color and performance for the same or lower price it would take to fix it is next to impossible. Besides, I really hate the idea of consumerism in our society - if it's inconvenient, throw it out and get a new one. Where do all the perfectly repairable and usable cars go? Into a landfill in my grandkid's backyard? We really should all become extremely environment and social impact conscious immediately. We can't afford to let the future generations have to clean up all our crap!

-Mark

mrkanda

iTrader: (3)

I found out from Koni, from Paul at 800-922-2616 ext324, that to make the Koni reds externally adjustable, like the Yellow Sports are, it costs approximately $200 to $240 each. That includes $140 re-valve charge, plus $40 for a replacement shaft that's hollow instead of solid, plus some other misc. parts. And the revalved units would NOT have the same lifetime warranty that the stock units have, although he did say that they revalve 40-year old units all the time. So they should last the life of the car anyway.

What I would like to do is just get the Konis and then do the conversion later if I end up taking my car to that level. The plan was/is to make it as close to a 4-door Skyline as possible. We'll see

-Mark

92 Max

THere's a high school recycling program here on Mercer Island where you can take car parts in to be recycled. Why throw them away?

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

You've got one MAJOR issue with that plan.....
the engine is attached to the wrong wheels. :

mrkanda

iTrader: (3)

Well "AS CLOSE" is going to have to just be that - as close. Unless, of course, you can tell me how to make a Maxima into an AWD or RWD car! I'm sure if anyone can, you can Matt. What about it?

I was actually thinking about the possibility. Afterall, someone just recently converted a 240SX into an AWD GT-R. Maybe we could hammer out a tunnel for the drive shaft, re-work the rear axle and suspension, moddify the interior to fit on top of the tunnel, and add an AWD BlueBird or GTI-R tranny to the VG. That would work wouldn't it?

In all seriousness, though. The plan is to first fix the basics (like to PS pump, struts, bushings, leaks...) and then start on adding things, like all the bolt-ons, then go turbo or VG34 swap or stroker, and then do a Skyline ER34 front/rear conversion. It would all be to just be different, to have the car I really want but can't import, to maybe get a little notice.... Wouldn't it be nice to have a nation wide car Mag feature a tastefully modded 3rd gen? Would that ever happen? - And also, because I don't believe in wasting cars! Why pay for stupid things, like depreciation and interest? When you can put those hundreds of dollars a month into the car you have and love and make it just the way you wish it could be?

Thanks for listening to the dreams.....

-Mark

mrkanda

iTrader: (3)

On a very practical note: I forgot to mention my car has the Sonar Suspension II setup with the OEM struts, and most of the aftermarket manufacturers, including Koni, say that their struts don't work for those cars. What can I do? Do I just disconnect the electronic actuators that are sitting at the top of each strut tower and perhaps the control unit at the base of the console? Would that do it, or is there more complicated things I would have to change to fit the aftermarket struts/inserts? Would I be able to drill out the existing struts housings after I remove the control units or should I get non-electronic struts from the junk yard to use for drilling? I need to know this before I order the Konis or any other strut. Thanks.

-Mark

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

sorry to be pessimistic, but I think your dreams are laced with LSD.
a skyline this car will NEVER be. you can throw tens of thousands of $ in mods and work at the car, but it will never have the proper weight distribution or chassis design to make the car truly handle properly. that's why I bought a 240 and started modding it. I've still got the Max for a DD, but the 240 is the one that's getting the go-fast goodies.

as for converting your struts over, you *should* be able to just disconnect all of the sonar stuff and install the konis. the issue would be that the housings on the sonar struts may not be the same internal diameter and length as the regular OE struts.. as long as they're the same diameter and as long or longer than the stockers, then you're good to go. just cut the old stuff out and install the Koni inside it.

mrkanda

iTrader: (3)

Hmmm... You may be right. About the Max not ever matching a Skyline, not about the LSD

I just really like the look of the R34 Skylines, so that's why I would maximize the performance of the 3rd gen and then do some body mods to bring up the esthetic element. For performance I am planning on going to a classic BMW 6-series, probably an M6 or turbo 635csi. I've gotten the classic bug lately and BMW is the way to go. As for the 240, I just think they've been too over played and I don't like the styling very much at all! Too "teenager"-ish.

About the strut housing diameter, where would I find the information? Would I have to actually open it up and do measurements? Thanks.

elusivemax93

did you all ever concider getting the floor pan from the rwd nissan cefiro and cutting out the maxima floor pan and rewelding the new floor pan in its place and then concider trying to put in the gt r34 motor and tranny or even the tranny out of the gt 25 sport ( four door skyline) always ways of doing things you just have to think and figure it all out

elusivemax93

gtr 34 skyline rims = $2400
gtr headlights = $1200 without hids $2400 with hids
gtr 34 tail lights = $700
that alone is quiet a bit and you still would need the hood fenders brakes motor tranny wing driver and passanger side rear view mirrors and whatever else i forgot to add to that list lolz

todamax

iTrader: (6)

Dude, don't spend that kind of money on the Max. I know its a great car, but its not worth that. Get a 240 or something like Matt did. He speaks wisdom.

Hollywood!

yummmmm ER34
the blitz one is secks for a fourdoor.
you could always try importing a cefiro.. looks kinda cool.. i belive it has the rb25.. not too sure on that though

elusivemax93

Laurels, R32 Skyline and Cefiros used the second (1988-1993) series RB20E/DE/DET. This series of engine has an improved head design over the previous version, and used the new ECCS injection system. These later motors are known as 'Silver Top' engines.


thats the motor the nissan cefiro has