OK, just for those of you out there considering a strut upgrade consider this..I was gung-ho about the Koni Adjustables..yeah they are money, but adjustability is cool. I checked their website about how to adjust them..you have to remove the strut AND spring, Fully compress it, turn it blah blah blah. That is alot of work to adjust! Especially considering they cost more than double than the KYB and others. SO now what? Does anyone think that the Koni's higher quality and performance, disregarding adjustability (like if I installed them at an intermediate setting) FYI they are Koni Special 86..They sell an externally adjustable special 8610 catridge style, but it is hydraulic. Any opinions??

 

I have had Tokicos, but they were gone after 20K miles. Everyone that I have known to have used Konis had them last the life of their car. However, I have read of a Max driver who had his fail outright. They come with a life time warranty, but the exchange would be a hassle.

The Koni adjustability will allow you to start stiffer than a Tok or a KYB, and as the shock inevitable settles in after 20-30K it will be as stiff as a new Tokico.

My Toks were an upgrade when new, rode like atock at 10-12K, and in the front, were weak at 20K and pretty well gone at 25K miles.

To me Koni is a significantly better shock, and gives the expectation of much longer life.

My .02

John

 

yah tokico sucks yo

 

You guys are crazy. My car has nearly 30K on the tokico, and while its not "rock hard", its pretty damn firm. There is no bouncing going on here, and I have Eibachs. The only time I notice a bounce is if I take a turn and hit a big dip that basically bottoms out the suspension. There is this one bump in particular that I can't avoid while turning at around 35mph. The car hits it, dips down, recovers and bounces again, but thats only beacuse of its extreem compression. Other than that, they are still very firm.

 

how big is the drop for eibachs, and are tokicos or konis the best ways to go for the max?
Miles

 

Mike S:

You pretty well describe a worn Tok. Remember, your Eibacks are stiffer, so they bounce less. A good shock will not let the car bottom out on regualar roads. Even with four wheels off the ground (like over a bridge) will not bottom out a healthy suspension, and it will still recover in one Sine motion. My Koni's do.

My Toks, when "shot" were fine for undemanding day to day driving, and not hitting any big dips in roads at over 35 mph. But if your suspension no longer supports spirited driving on any road condition, the parts are worn.

The stock struts are known to be lifeless after about 25-30K. Yet you read about people that replace them only after 120K. Just because people can tolerate worn parts does not mean they are not worn

John

 

I haven't read much about the adjustment setting for the Koni's but do they have only three settings being soft, firm and hard or something like that? I'm also riding with one blown Tokico and one OEM strut with Eibachs for various reasons. I have my Sprints ready and waiting for the Koni's and SFC's and I'm curious to know what's a good setting when installing the Koni's. I'm totally into a firm solid suspension ride but not to the point where my tooth fillings are falling out. So in your opinion what's a good setting for both front and rear for the first time, of course everyone has their different point of view. But knowing myself, whatever setting I install them at I'll probably be wondering what the next firm setting will feel like leading me to tear it down again

 

konis have a **** on top that you turn so you have alot of settings, and its just preference on matter what setting they are going to be stiffer then stock. if you get the 7 way adjustables then you can adjust them up and down also but in not sure if they make them for our cars. what kind of konis did you get? and how much did you get em for?
Rane

 

The ones for our cars, unfortunately, are not externally adjustable (with a ****)

With the cartidge in your hands (not mounted with the spring etc), you compress it all the way in. You can then feel it engage a valve. This valve has 2-1/2 turns of adjustment. People then set the adjustment in half turns (1-5). I am not sure whether this lines up valve holes, or whether you have continuous adjustability. Given that you have to disassemble the strut to adjust, I did not take any chances, and set mine two half turns towards "stiff".

John

 

what price did you guys pay? shox has them for $520 shipped.

 

that's what they quoted me, i'm defenitely goin koni. .. . .

 

I just finished installing my Konis today. I also set them at 2 half turns and they are great with the Eibachs.

 

I paid a few bucks less but I paid for shipping, so it was even.
Shox is cool because they carry most of them in stock.

If you just installed your Eibachs, install a camber kit of some kind or be prepared to bald your tires on the inside front in about 600 - 1000 miles.

John

 

John,

I'm not quite sure mine are as bad as I made it sound. I can drive hard and fast. This bummp I'm describing basically throws the car up in the air and she lands hard. This road has been this way for at least 2 years. It was reconstructed, but they goofed and left it that way. My car has behaved the same on it. I think that without a doubt, the toks are not as good as the Koni's, and have a hard time controling the eibachs, but they are NOT blow.....even after 30K. You can push down on the bumper and its Hard.

Mike S.

 

Are the camber kits really necessary for the relatively minor drop on the Eibachs? I heard you end up w/ 1-2 degrees of neg camber, which actually improved turn in and overall performance. Don't want half bald tires in 600 miles though!

 

They were necessary on mine, and ditto on many others' cars who have posted the need to do this. If you don't want to do this, take it to an alignment shop. They'll confirm th eneed before your tires are shot.

John

 

John: how would you classify the Koni install? I've done a spring job a few times, and have no problem with it.

thanks

 

If you have a good vise, and a strong drill, it's an ok job. It's not trivial, but after 5 bolts you hold the whole (front) assembly in your hands. I used some cheap spring compressors from Harbor freight. I lubed the threads, but I was nervous as a cat when the spring was under full tension that one of those little holders would break, causing a real bad situation. I have since bought two more of them. Next time I'll have three or four of them to hold the pressure and compress the spring more evenly and distribute the force better.

I have not done the rears yet. From what I have read and from what I can tell reading the fsm, it's a bit more involved as more needs to be disassembled (like the rear brake and the rear seat. Then the packing gland nut could be tricky.

Now the Konis will slide in the rear housings, the fronts you need to cut open and remove the guts from, before the Konis will fit in. Also, install Konis only in oem strut housings for a tight fit. In my Tok housings they slid in too easy and don't get that compressed fit. I need to redo mine one of these days (hence the extra spring compressors)

Drilling 14 mm hole requires a good drill (I used a drill press and a vise which worked great.

Good luck,
John

 

I have had Eibachs for over 15,000 miles and have had only minor tire wear problems with no camber kit.