K-Sport Coilovers Talk
Originally Posted by Tommy Boy
Here's my .02 DrKlop;
1) Are you guys happy with the maintenance? (How much time do you have to spend to keep them in a proper condition?)
I only have a couple thousand miles on them, however I'd say that once you get them TIGHT they should almost be maintaniance free.
2) How long does it take to get new shocks under warranty.
We'll, this has been a particular sore subject for me now. It took 2 weeks of calls and emails to K-sport and finally I had to ask Jinsu for his assistance before I finally got K-Sport to agree to send a replacemenmt shock while a removed mine and sent it back for a rebuild. Checking my old emails indicates my first email contact with K-sport was on 4/10, they finally agreed to send my a "loaner" coilover on 5/10 and here it is 5/18 and I still don't have my coilover!! I placed a call to them on the 17th only to here they are "out of the office till 5/21". So to say the least I'm not thrilled nor pleased with their customer service.
3) How much would it cost me to replace one shock after warranty expires?
The cost to get a "loaner" is $150 plus $9.95 shipping so I'm assuming that would be replacement cost.
4) What's the brand of the shock absorbers?
Not sure
5) If you had to do it all over, would you get k-sports again? If not, what would you get?
I really don't know about this one. Part of me says yes, you can't beat the price and features, but another part of me is concerned that I only have a couple thousand miles on them, yet the 1 year warranty is running out, so what will happen after 10k, 20k etc. Will I have to go through this all over again? I sure as hell hope not!! If I did it over again I might just do a regular lowering spring and adjust damper int he stock set-up and not a coilover, but then again the Boss Chen's do look interesting and more robust.
I hope some of this was helpful.
1) Are you guys happy with the maintenance? (How much time do you have to spend to keep them in a proper condition?)
I only have a couple thousand miles on them, however I'd say that once you get them TIGHT they should almost be maintaniance free.
2) How long does it take to get new shocks under warranty.
We'll, this has been a particular sore subject for me now. It took 2 weeks of calls and emails to K-sport and finally I had to ask Jinsu for his assistance before I finally got K-Sport to agree to send a replacemenmt shock while a removed mine and sent it back for a rebuild. Checking my old emails indicates my first email contact with K-sport was on 4/10, they finally agreed to send my a "loaner" coilover on 5/10 and here it is 5/18 and I still don't have my coilover!! I placed a call to them on the 17th only to here they are "out of the office till 5/21". So to say the least I'm not thrilled nor pleased with their customer service.
3) How much would it cost me to replace one shock after warranty expires?
The cost to get a "loaner" is $150 plus $9.95 shipping so I'm assuming that would be replacement cost.
4) What's the brand of the shock absorbers?
Not sure
5) If you had to do it all over, would you get k-sports again? If not, what would you get?
I really don't know about this one. Part of me says yes, you can't beat the price and features, but another part of me is concerned that I only have a couple thousand miles on them, yet the 1 year warranty is running out, so what will happen after 10k, 20k etc. Will I have to go through this all over again? I sure as hell hope not!! If I did it over again I might just do a regular lowering spring and adjust damper int he stock set-up and not a coilover, but then again the Boss Chen's do look interesting and more robust.
I hope some of this was helpful.
To be honest, I've already told Larrio to get a set of Boss Chens for me. So if everything goes the way it was planned I will be the first person with Boss Chens on the East Coast. 
Well, I went back to my installer and got him to preload the springs and check everything since I was getting a horrible noise in the rear. The ride heigth is good now but the noise is worse and is now squeaking a lot. He thinks my shock is blown and it sounds like it to me too. This is starting to be more trouble than its worth.
Wow. Have you checked for oil leakage from the shock? What kind of noise is it?
BTW, add me to the list of leaking shocks. It's my rear right one, and I've already got the ball rolling for a replacement. I was surprised... The mechanic doing my inspection had to point it out to me, because I hadn't actually noticed anything wrong, ride- or handling-wise. Guess it's a small leak.
Oh, and for the record... I will still take on anyone who says these are bad coilovers because of the failure rate. We've had 3 or 4 more failures since the last time we ended this discussion, but don't forget that Ksport has still been selling kits in that time. Besides, I've driven over some very serious crap with these things, and I honestly feel lucky I only have one leaking shock after a year of ownership (and doubly lucky because it's a rear one). I've also been speaking with them here and there and they have some very interesting products in the pipeline, so this is not some crappy company.
I should also add that this was the shock that had that freak rear mount issue all those months ago, which by all rights should have blown that shock out right then and there.
BTW, add me to the list of leaking shocks. It's my rear right one, and I've already got the ball rolling for a replacement. I was surprised... The mechanic doing my inspection had to point it out to me, because I hadn't actually noticed anything wrong, ride- or handling-wise. Guess it's a small leak.
Oh, and for the record... I will still take on anyone who says these are bad coilovers because of the failure rate. We've had 3 or 4 more failures since the last time we ended this discussion, but don't forget that Ksport has still been selling kits in that time. Besides, I've driven over some very serious crap with these things, and I honestly feel lucky I only have one leaking shock after a year of ownership (and doubly lucky because it's a rear one). I've also been speaking with them here and there and they have some very interesting products in the pipeline, so this is not some crappy company.
I should also add that this was the shock that had that freak rear mount issue all those months ago, which by all rights should have blown that shock out right then and there.
Freak rear mount issue? Right now Ksport is manufacturing rear mounts because the stock ones had to be used in place. They think this is the problem, Im really unsure. My friend said its all tight and he removed the coilovers to inspect them and retighten everything. The noise was a loud popping/clunking sound on unsmooth roads, now its squeaking real bad plus the popping. Theres no oil leaking from them but he thinks it has to be the shock. I guess we'll see once I have the rears removed again so he can install the rear mounts which should have already been designed and included.
Whether or not they manufacture a rear mount depends on how they design the coilovers to suit the specific application. AFAIK, 4th gens are the only Maxima applications that don't have to re-use ANY stock parts except the bolts. I'm not really sure why that is, but there you have it.
The problem I had with my rear mount was a really, really strange one, and I have no idea how it happened. I posted about it way back in this thread... Somehow the top nut came loose, and over a period of time the bushings worked their way loose. Eventually they came off, and then at some point, with nothing holding it in place, the piston descended below the mount and got stuck there. It even started taking out bits of the top mount on hard bumps.
It never got bad enough that just digging the parts out of the recesses of my trunk and putting them back in place didn't hold it long enough for Ksport to send replacements, which they were pretty quick to do, so I don't really mind. No harm, no foul. I just wanted to point out that that situation put a LOT of stress on the shock absorber, which must have contributed to its failure.
The problem I had with my rear mount was a really, really strange one, and I have no idea how it happened. I posted about it way back in this thread... Somehow the top nut came loose, and over a period of time the bushings worked their way loose. Eventually they came off, and then at some point, with nothing holding it in place, the piston descended below the mount and got stuck there. It even started taking out bits of the top mount on hard bumps.
It never got bad enough that just digging the parts out of the recesses of my trunk and putting them back in place didn't hold it long enough for Ksport to send replacements, which they were pretty quick to do, so I don't really mind. No harm, no foul. I just wanted to point out that that situation put a LOT of stress on the shock absorber, which must have contributed to its failure.
Hey guys, I just got my Ksports...can someone plz tell me exactly what is supposed to be included in the package??? because when I tried to install my front coilovers, the original 3 nuts that go on the top of the strut doesn't fit all the way in. The treaded bolt on the coilover is longer than the whole nut itself. Is ksport supposed to include new nuts or what? please I need some input asap...thanks
actually, after looking at other maxima engine bay pics, I realize that my strut tower nuts are different than the others. Mine are closed off at the top, and are 22mm, the other ppl's are the regular hollow type of nut and are 14 mm. sometimes my 99 SE-L drives me insane.
99s have the nice beefy 22 millis, 95s through 98s? have the smaller nuts. Why does it drive you insane? Almost everything different on the 99s are improvements....from little things like this to big things like the much improved steering system....
Originally Posted by Darius
2 questions:
1. i wasnt thinking about it when i put my coilovers in, but now that i read up on it, i see you're supposed to have the camber plates a certain way... horizontal when you're looking from the front of the car. Well mine are diagonal pointing in towards the engine... but i took it to firestone and they aligned it and set the camber with no problem... do i need to take my coils out and reposition them or is it ok the way it is?
2. Do we have to use the tophats from our original rear shocks? My friend was helping me install them and he said i didnt need them. The coilovers bolted up fine and i've been riding on them for a few weeks with no problems.. Do i need to redo this?
Thanks guys
1. i wasnt thinking about it when i put my coilovers in, but now that i read up on it, i see you're supposed to have the camber plates a certain way... horizontal when you're looking from the front of the car. Well mine are diagonal pointing in towards the engine... but i took it to firestone and they aligned it and set the camber with no problem... do i need to take my coils out and reposition them or is it ok the way it is?
2. Do we have to use the tophats from our original rear shocks? My friend was helping me install them and he said i didnt need them. The coilovers bolted up fine and i've been riding on them for a few weeks with no problems.. Do i need to redo this?
Thanks guys
1. I have seen various Max's with the coilover and the camber plates arent lined up the way you think it would. They have no problems and have gotten there car algined and all is fine. I dont understand how that is, as the camber plates need to be a certain way so that camber can properly be adjusted.
2. Not too sure about the 5th gens but I've heard the top hats needed to be re-used for the rear. . . but I'm not too sure.
2. Not too sure about the 5th gens but I've heard the top hats needed to be re-used for the rear. . . but I'm not too sure.
1. They should appear to have a slight diagonal slant, but nothing major. Take a picture and show us.
2. I've heard what MDeezy said as well, but I also can't swear to it. You might want to hit up Ksport's tech support.
2. I've heard what MDeezy said as well, but I also can't swear to it. You might want to hit up Ksport's tech support.
Originally Posted by VQuick
99s have the nice beefy 22 millis, 95s through 98s? have the smaller nuts. Why does it drive you insane? Almost everything different on the 99s are improvements....from little things like this to big things like the much improved steering system....
hell i just put in a couple of washer to fill in that gap, torqued the nuts to spec and 3 weeks(ish) later no probs/sounds as of yet.
Since im gonna swap em out with the stock suspension come winter i want to see if i can go the 6 months without any sort of maintanence. Only time can tell i suppose. Except maybe checking the rears every now and then since those apperantly are the most problematic.
Since im gonna swap em out with the stock suspension come winter i want to see if i can go the 6 months without any sort of maintanence. Only time can tell i suppose. Except maybe checking the rears every now and then since those apperantly are the most problematic.
okay i talked to ksport support today and it appears that i have a 4th gen kit.
I have this:
when i should have this:
The 4th gen kit has the bolts on top of the rears... and it happened to bolt right up to the rear of my car with no top hat used. I still need to send them pictures of my setup so they can tell me what to do, so i'll let you guys know when that happens.
I have this:
when i should have this:
The 4th gen kit has the bolts on top of the rears... and it happened to bolt right up to the rear of my car with no top hat used. I still need to send them pictures of my setup so they can tell me what to do, so i'll let you guys know when that happens.
Originally Posted by tikiboom
Since im gonna swap em out with the stock suspension come winter i want to see if i can go the 6 months without any sort of maintanence. Only time can tell i suppose. Except maybe checking the rears every now and then since those apperantly are the most problematic.
I jacked the car up and i found that the springs were loose. I guess after they settled the compressed a little. So i just raised the lower spring perch a little to make them snug again. I also put grease between the top spring isolater and that orange metal piece.This didnt fix it.
Its not the axle because its not a constant clicking noise. What else should i check out. Tie rod end maybe? Not sure what telltale sounds that makes.
Only happens when i hit bumps and not all the time only on the front driverside. No clicking when i turn the wheel so everything is tight.
When the sound happens i can kinda feel it on the other side of the left foot-rest.
Newbie - Just Registered
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 2
Hi,
I was hoping someone could give me some advice. I have only had my coilovers installed for a week or two and I noticed the driver side coilover seems to making some noise when going over bumps... (almost as though something was loose).
I took a look and everything seems to be secured; however, I noticed some grease at the very top of the coilover ( seen from under the hood).
Can anyone suggest to me what the problem might be ?
Thanks,
slevytam
I was hoping someone could give me some advice. I have only had my coilovers installed for a week or two and I noticed the driver side coilover seems to making some noise when going over bumps... (almost as though something was loose).
I took a look and everything seems to be secured; however, I noticed some grease at the very top of the coilover ( seen from under the hood).
Can anyone suggest to me what the problem might be ?
Thanks,
slevytam
I am not sure, but grease should be OK. I packed wheel-bearing grease into the pillowball joint under the hood to try to reduce noise. If you see oil leaking that is a different story.
I have been playing with my K-Sports for about 8 months now, and I have come to the conclusion that they make noises. Anyone who has read this post since the beginning notices that almost every person here has noise issues, myself included. I installed and have checked my coilovers about 4-5 times and have had 2 alignments. I know everything is tight, so I accept the noise as a side-effect of the greater cornering ability. These are a racing part after all, not designed to be on a daliy driven car.
Just to note- I finally got everything finished and aligned yesterday (ES motor mounts, LCA, sway bar, and subframe bushings, new control arms, LARRIO's Poly shifter bushing, and JClaw's traction bars) and I must say that the bushings made a huge difference in how these coilovers react. Now I have instantaneous response, and can spin the wheel from lock to lock with zero body roll. Definitely fun.
I have been playing with my K-Sports for about 8 months now, and I have come to the conclusion that they make noises. Anyone who has read this post since the beginning notices that almost every person here has noise issues, myself included. I installed and have checked my coilovers about 4-5 times and have had 2 alignments. I know everything is tight, so I accept the noise as a side-effect of the greater cornering ability. These are a racing part after all, not designed to be on a daliy driven car.
Just to note- I finally got everything finished and aligned yesterday (ES motor mounts, LCA, sway bar, and subframe bushings, new control arms, LARRIO's Poly shifter bushing, and JClaw's traction bars) and I must say that the bushings made a huge difference in how these coilovers react. Now I have instantaneous response, and can spin the wheel from lock to lock with zero body roll. Definitely fun.
Newbie - Just Registered
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 2
Thanks for the reply,
I think it must be oil that leaked because I can even see it on the underside of my hood. (Most likely it shot up and out of the top). It doesn't seem to be seriously leaking now but I am getting some serious noise when I go over any bump same or big....
Any advice,
Thanks,
slevytam
I think it must be oil that leaked because I can even see it on the underside of my hood. (Most likely it shot up and out of the top). It doesn't seem to be seriously leaking now but I am getting some serious noise when I go over any bump same or big....
Any advice,
Thanks,
slevytam
Originally Posted by VQuick
Any coilover with no rubber parts at the shock towers is going to make noises.
Originally Posted by slevytam
I think it must be oil that leaked because I can even see it on the underside of my hood. (Most likely it shot up and out of the top).
There are lots of possible causes for a noise over bumps. What kind of noise is it?
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 6,344
Is everyone's front upper spring isolator holding up? Mine is chewed up again. This is the second set of upper spring isolators that I replaced. Should I use more preload? They are just so thin that I don't think anything less than a thicker replacement will help.
Mine are mostly okay... One or two are slightly chewed, but other than that they're holding up just fine.
When I was installing mine, I did notice that sometimes the springs wouldn't fit flush over the isolators with normal hand tightening. One time I ended up with almost a half-inch's worth of preload and the isolator still wasn't properly seated. Needless to say, improper seating is a great way to chew up an isolator.
Try this:
- Raise the car
- Adjust springs to zero preload
- Put the car back on the ground and give it a quick drive around the block to let everything seat properly
- Raise the car again and re-check preload
That oughtta do it.
When I was installing mine, I did notice that sometimes the springs wouldn't fit flush over the isolators with normal hand tightening. One time I ended up with almost a half-inch's worth of preload and the isolator still wasn't properly seated. Needless to say, improper seating is a great way to chew up an isolator.
Try this:
- Raise the car
- Adjust springs to zero preload
- Put the car back on the ground and give it a quick drive around the block to let everything seat properly
- Raise the car again and re-check preload
That oughtta do it.
in the beginning i couldnt get the bottom collar to stay tight. but now i can NOT GET IT TO LOOSEN FOR THE LIFE OF ME.
i've been hammering with the screwdriver method, i took it off the car and put it in a vice grip and i honestly just can not get the collar to seperate from the bottom mount.
i'm really frusterated..
i've been hammering with the screwdriver method, i took it off the car and put it in a vice grip and i honestly just can not get the collar to seperate from the bottom mount.
i'm really frusterated..
Okay today inspected the ksports to make sure everything was tight and clean. I also took most of the day messing with collar position and stuff. It was until now that my understanding that the best thing to do was to raise the spring up to the top mount so it fits snug (to my understanding this was 0 preload). BUT, today i lowered those collars so in the front there was about a 2 inch gap between the top mount and the top of the spring when the car was up. This actually softened up the ride quite a bit. there was way more give and was definately not as harsh. Is this okay? I may be wrong, but the only way to really have zero preload would be to somehow adjust the collars with the weight of the car, is that right? Because making is snug to the top mount would still give preload once the car is lowered.
Sounds silly but make sure that you're turning the right way, its easy to get messed up. If you're trying to take off the lower collar, you need to turn it up the shock, therefore counterclockwise.
Originally Posted by chillin014
in the beginning i couldnt get the bottom collar to stay tight. but now i can NOT GET IT TO LOOSEN FOR THE LIFE OF ME.
i've been hammering with the screwdriver method, i took it off the car and put it in a vice grip and i honestly just can not get the collar to seperate from the bottom mount.
i'm really frusterated..
i've been hammering with the screwdriver method, i took it off the car and put it in a vice grip and i honestly just can not get the collar to seperate from the bottom mount.
i'm really frusterated..
Originally Posted by Poowill
Okay today inspected the ksports to make sure everything was tight and clean. I also took most of the day messing with collar position and stuff. It was until now that my understanding that the best thing to do was to raise the spring up to the top mount so it fits snug (to my understanding this was 0 preload). BUT, today i lowered those collars so in the front there was about a 2 inch gap between the top mount and the top of the spring when the car was up. This actually softened up the ride quite a bit. there was way more give and was definately not as harsh. Is this okay? I may be wrong, but the only way to really have zero preload would be to somehow adjust the collars with the weight of the car, is that right? Because making is snug to the top mount would still give preload once the car is lowered.
Remember, whenever you adjust the spring position and then put the car back on the ground, the car will sit on the spring and compress it a little. That initial compression is the same, no matter how much distance there is between the spring and the top mount when the car is in the air. The only difference will be shock travel: the lower you move the spring, the less travel you get. Also, if there is space between the spring and the top mount when the suspension is fully extended, the spring might fall out of alignment if your suspension ever unloads. That is a great way to chew up your top spring isolator. That's why you make the spring snug against the top mount.
When the spring is just barely touching the top mount, that's zero preload. Any tightening beyond that point is preload. Loosening it until there's a gap is still zero preload, no matter how much of a gap there is.
Originally Posted by d00df00d
When the spring is just barely touching the top mount, that's zero preload. Any tightening beyond that point is preload. Loosening it until there's a gap is still zero preload, no matter how much of a gap there is.
I am almost sure that i had no preload on it the first time, when being snug to the top mount. I tightened it just enough so the spring would move, no way did hand tightening compress a 9kg spring. When i dropped the car back down it was sitting about a 1/2 inch higher...and it rode considerably stiffer.
I understand your point d00d, with the purpose of the springs fitting snug so they would not unload and get dismounted. But i am just thinking about this as if there could be a ratio or some measurement that could say that for how much you are lowered, to where to position the spring on the strut- to get the best nuetral spring compression. This make sense? Maybe i'm thinking to much into this.
