Well I bought a complete Koni suspension since last year and finally put in on the weekend.

I have the white "dial" to adjust the front struts, the dial has a slot in it, however the rear struts are not the same. I misplaced the directions and I am not sure on how to adjust the rears. I did notice that there is a fitment on the top of the strut inside the trunk ofcourse. The fitment looks like either and Alan Key or Torque, but not sure.

PLEASE HELP

 

http://www.koni.com/_cars/_general_i...djustment.html

 

I appreciate you providing the link, however in Fig 1 it only shows my front's, but I do not see any for my rear (alan or torque) adjustment.

 

I think the rear one is the last pic on the URL that I sent you.



I have 4th gen koni on my 5th gen. I *think* the 5th gen rear koni is the same as mine.

 

I have Konis on my SAAB, I know they are probably a different product, but to adjust the rear you had to remove them from the car, compress them and then turn the piston rod.

A real PITA, thats why I got the Illuminas when I did the suspension on my I30. Plus, the Illuminas were a direct replacement while the Konis were inserts. I didnt feel like sawing apart my strut housings again. The Konis are damn good struts though.

 

that's the same as my rear konis. I left on the softest setting.

 

Damn, wish I knew that before I mounted them. I think it maybe possible for me to adjust it while on the car, but I have to double check. Thanks for all the input guys.

 

I just finished installing my new KONI's with H&R on my 5th gen. To adjust them, they must be out of the car and also must be disassembled (no spring). Then, you can use locking pliers/vice grips to lock onto the very top of the shaft just below the threaded section where it is a little more narrow. You then fully compress the shaft (not too difficult to do) and rotate the shaft. I think clockwise rotation is firmer rebound damping and counter clockwise is less. The struts come on the full soft or lowest setting from the factory so you should be able to figure it out. So far, I've tried two settings, first I tried three 1/2 turns (meaning 3 x 180 degrees turns or a total of 540 degrees total rotation) towards the maximum and then I tried the maximum setting. After each setup, I had to re-assemble and re-install the struts and drive for a few days To be honest, it is a PITA, but it is worth it since the difference between the two settings is dramatic. I would not consider running these struts at less than the three 1/2 turns setting since I'm pretty sure the rebound damping would not be sufficient for an aftermarket spring at a lower value. The full up/max damping setting is very stiff, really too much in my opinion, for the H&R and the ride has actually become "bumpy" with lots of very frequent but small oscillations in the rear end from its being overdamped. This setting gives the best control over big bumps but regular driving ride quality suffers. The maximum setting is about 4 to 4.5 half turns. I don't yet know what's best - 3 half turns is good but it could bear to be a little stiffer. My current thought is that something near 7 one quarter turns might be dead on (this would be 630 degrees total rotation of the shaft). This setting will be between full up and the three half turns setting.

I almost forgot to mention, I'm also running the rear KONI's on the upper perch and I like it a lot better. The rear end isn't sagging any more and the car has more room for the suspension to move thereby decreasing the chances of bottoming out - you might consider using the upper perch . . .

Please post your results if you do decide to change the settings.

 

ABS,
Excellent write up. Anyway when did you want to come by my place? There will be free beer and food!

I will try your recommendations and let you know what I think. By the way how do you take off the "C ring" from the pirch to put it on the TOP pirch?

 

Well, I don't know about coming to your place, but that "might" be an option. Where in Northern NJ are you - you can PM me the info - if you're not too far away, I might be able to help. As it turns out, I still need to adjust my struts again anyway, so maybe we can adjust both cars at the same time. Perhaps you could come to Queens?

Regarding the ring, it actually adjusts very easy. I used a special tool specifically designed for the job. It looks like a big pair of needle nosed pliers but when you squeeze them, the pliers open. It makes simple work of gently opening the ring, sliding it up and then releasing the pliers. The ring snaps right back into place. If you don't use the right tool, you might over extend the ring and expand it too much which could cause a problem later. The tool is available in most decent auto parts stores for around $20. It's sometimes called a "snap ring" tool.

 

Actually I was kidding about you coming, but if you want to you are more than welcome to, honestly. As far as me coming to Queens, I always do, but not with my MAX, the ride down there is not the best due to all the bumps, potholes and I don't want to put my 19" through that.