finally I got it installed this weekend:
thousands thanks to Turbo95max and Evil Yak for the install!
and Kevin, JAY25, Y2k Max Luv, soundmike, Deven2kStickMax, DNA21, and Lovesick for helping me on making decision of getting koni shocks!

now, days of SUV are over.....

Before lowering, front


After lowering, front


Before lowering, rear


After lowering, rear
http://home.earthlink.net/~doctorkiw...after-rear.jpg

Looks like the drop I got from my Maxspeeds.

Congrats on the install.

Why Koni and not KYB AGX? Cost?

Just curious.
DL

flash dont work?

That is the setup I will one day have. My lack of decent help is a big factor. Usually, my boy, 4 years old helps out with my mods, handing wrenches and what not while under the car. But with this mod I may need a bit more help, and someone who has done it once or twice before would help too. Looks real nice. I bet the ride is nice too. Bye bye body roll.

Why did I pick koni shocks?
I didnt use tokicos is becuae they are too soft for eibach and Bay Area roads...even with life time warranty, I dun want to bother with RMA and re-installation later on.

KYB AGX is not on my list because the fit issue with eibach on the rear shocks. The perch on the rear koni are dettachable and it fits the 5h gen eibach. Some people are using 4th gen springs to fit the AGX. but I dun feel too confident about using them.

koni front installed, the dust boots are removed and you have to sacrifce your stock front struts for the koni inserts.


koni rear, a height adjustable shocks with 2 setting, standard or sport. I have them on standard so it gives me a 2 inches gap.


I have all shocks one the softest setting and the handling is great, like riding a roller coaster
and the softest setting is already stiffer than the tokicos blue.

How much did everything cost you? And how long did it take you to do the install, if you did it outside a shop?

uh....not true...
if you set the Konis to the softest, they are just as stiff as Tokico blues..

Where da heck have I been? All this time I thought the only aftermarket struts available for the Max were the KYB's and Tokico's

Maxi-od, can you tell us where you bought the Koni's? Part #'s and prices would be greatly appreciated

www.shox.com

I think tirerack has koni too.

Thanks, I'll check it out.

thx guys....
this is what I've spent.
koni fronts and rear - 550 shipped
eibach prokit - 217
4th gen strut mount - 70
installation - 120
alignment - 39

so, almost 1000 for the suspension. (no more mod for my suspension)

the konis are 4th gen, check out koni-na.com for more info

here is the part no.
front - 8641-1362 sport
rear - 8040-1242 sport
4th gen strut insulator - 54320-40U00

off camber was obsereved as expected during alignment by -0.75, was corrected by 0.5. Toe was perfect and caster is differed by .5 dgree, and couldnt be adjusted.

You aren't using dust boots???

get a rear sway bar while you are at it...it'll improve your handling little bit more

nope...turbo95max said it is not necessary.



I already got it! my very first mod (right after OSCAI).....I think I am done with my suspension, the only part missing in the family is the RSTB.

One more piece to the puzzle......Warpspeed SFC's.

After struts and the sfc's, then I'm done. I think.

probably because koni's are a better shock than those cheap KYBs.

looks good!

Good luck on your install and your car looks nice even though you on 16" ummm imagine bigger rims she will look goood, but keep a close eye on the 4th Gen mounts that you used. I used them before with my AGX install and they got torn up. The rubber ripped on the upper part where the nut catches on. They are the wrong ones to use. I see that for myself. Some people other than you had used them with no problems, but sooner or later the rubber on the top part will tear up and will develop a knocking sound . If anyone thinks i'm wrong explain why, because i don't see how it's possible to spin freely. The 5th gen ones will work fine, just have to grind the spindle down a little.

Nah don't need um some cars don't even come with dust boots stock. I had to dump mine in the rears to trim the bumpstops. I guess you didn't do that Looks good and I bet she handles like a champ while keeping the ride smooth!

ah....almost forgot SFC...I wonder how good it's going to hold up the chasis.

Deven: thx for helping me on selecting my shocks! your information is really helpful for me to compare those three available brands. Will rims be my next project? prob not until my old tires are finished. I've spent too much recently on cars and now I need sometime to slow it down.

I didnt do the all wheel alignment alignment, but just the front wheel, hope it wont go off and the eibach are sitting good in the perch. (perch seems a bit bigger than the eibach).

about the 4th gen strut insulator...are you refering to the rubber pieces on the reverse side of the black insulator? If so, I will pay attention to that. I didnt buy the 4th gen bottom piece insulator, the silver one and I re-use the 5th gen. Seems it fits good.


thx again!

So far the reviews have been real positive. I think the only problem that I'm going to run into is to find a shop that won't try to rip me off installing these bad boys.

it's better you buy a spring compressor from jcwhitney.com or somewhere else and do it yourself. you will be surprised how easy this intall is. i didn't belive i could have done the AGX intall, but i did it and it's easy. the koni ones seems the same too. in this way nobody will rip you off.

yeah i have been spending a lot recently too. i'm awaiting these bad boys and i don't see FEDEX yet. i spoke with tirerack this morning and seems they had an outage recently so everything is delayed.

Actually I will install my own struts. I was talking about the SFC install earlier...

sorry for the mixup man .

See this is what I'm talking about
People need to read before opening their mouths!














Just playin man, no biggie

those are some nice rims u got.....how much did u pay for them? I got my shocks purchased from tirerack too....they are pretty good at it and the shipping charge is very low...they charged me 20 dollars for all 4 shocks. I was going to buy it from shox.com since their price is lower. but I had to pay tax on those which the grand total is higher than tirerack.com.






Arent those SFCs needed to be welded onto the car?

thx! I am really happy with its enhanced handling.


thx circo


I did have the bump stop taken off from the boots, cut and trim, then re-insert back into the shocks.
and yes! it handles like a dream and now I am in love with her again. I tried couple turns today and tried to exceed the usual max speed that the car can handle. It was like riding on rail and I barely felt any body roll.

Driven EF9, are you talking about GR2's or AGX's. EXPLAIN why they are not better and why you called them cheap. did you ever used KYB AGX before? i used them before and note KYB AGX at the highest settings is like driving a race car...explain cheap...