I finally saved up enough money to start putting together my ultimate setup for my 4th gen. Here's my current setup:

AGX and H&R
Ben's rear mounts
stage 2 SFC
stage 2 LTB
traction bars
FSTB
all ES bushings and motor mounts
no aftermarket RSB

I'm going to buy the 4th gen Koni Yellows with Eibach springs, and trim the front threads roughly 1". Is 1" too much?

Here's my understanding how to install the front Konis, taken from an old Dave B post:
"Drill a 3/8" hole in the old strut to remove the oil, take a dremel and cut around the upper edge of the strut, and remove the internals. Slide the insert in the old strut housing, run a bolt through the hole you drilled in the old strut, and thread into the Koni strut. It takes all of 15 minutes."

So in addition to that, what tools will I need to trim the front threads? Has anybody actually done this before? Any pics of what to expect?

Here's the Koni website that talks about the normal install (no trimming)
http://www.koni-na.com/pdf/boltstrut.pdf

From an old JStutter post:
"In a nut shell you cut off a bit of the bottom of the insert and let it poke out the bottom of the housing. This doesnt effect piston travel or the rod, just the overall length. Ill have to put a shortening how to up soon, its pretty easy to understand with pictures. The housing does need to be cut a bit more than what Konis originally call for."

Here's a link to a sr20forum where they talk about cutting Konis:
http://www.sr20forum.com/technical-i...ni-struts.html

From what I understand, the Yellows are externally adjustable up front, but not in the rear. Apparently, setting the rear to 70-80% stiffness is a good setting to run. Does this sounds right?

Has anybody ever used the upper perch on the Konis in the rear? I'm thinking about using it to keep the rear from sagging and hopefully give me a little more clearance for the SFCs. Does using the upper mounts affect ride quality or handling? Suspension travel? Keep in mind I want to reuse Ben's rear mounts.

njmaxseltd had this to say about possible issues with the front inserts:
"The fact that the fronts are not a direct replacement unit does leave room for problems. I've seen them become loose in the old housings and rattle slightly. You have to be sure that the cartridge is very very tight in the old strut housing. I'd even go as far as putting some sort of epoxy on the cartridge so it's totally fixed to the sides of the strut housing. And remember to lock tight that bottom bolt so it doesn't back out!"


So I'm looking to get all the information I can about installing Konis up front, and then trimming the threads. After the basic install, how much extra work am I looking at to trim the front threads?

Has anybody actually done this for a Maxima, or are we just going off the Sentra guys?

Am I missing anything here? Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

 

just give it up. You'll never beat me in autocross

 

I just want a better DD...

What suspension are you on right now?

BTW- I'm also interested in getting some camber plates. Does anybody make them anymore?

 

I just checked with my local KONI distributer and he says that he can supply KONI replacemnts not just inserts for the Maxima.. SOO if your not keen on cutting I enquire more about the direct replacements.

 

Nick, your Koni dreams will never compare to my setup! Just face it...

(Subscribing, since I will probably help with the install.)

 

How's that setup treating you anyways? I never heard much about it...

 

I'm on eibach/illumina/LTB2/SFCs/RSB,etc.....

Camber plates...nobody makes anymore. Too bad I sold my stillen plates. The adjustability was nice, but they made alot of noise and made the front of the car sit about 1/2" higher. I never really got around to really using them anyhow, since you need an alignment each time you adjust the plates to more neg camber....I'm too lazy

 

I <3 my hybrid setup!

 

So nobody else has input on the setup? Has anybody done this before on a 4th gen?

 

i believe JSutter has done this before...

 

Since nobody said anything I'll assume that all of what I said is correct and that there is nothing to add




*paging JSutter*

 

You should trim them as much as you can while still leaving adequate thread. 1" sounds about right.

As far as I understand, just a sawzall or similar tool.



See the necked-down portion on the bottom of the insert (at the top left of the picture)? That's the part you'll be trimming off. Just don't forget to trim the top of the housing/body down at least an extra inch or so.

You heard right, you must compress the rears fully and then turn the strut rod in order to adjust them. The fronts come with a cute little **** that you can use to twist an adjustment screw at the top of the strut housing. Konis are only single adjustable--you can only adjust the rebound damping. Compression damping is fixed. Firming up the rebound in the rear will make the rear more resistant to extension/the car more resistant to dive. So when you turn in/trail brake, the rear will stay a bit more composed on smooth pavement (but will also feel a little "loose" on corner entry as you will unload the rear more quickly). Likewise for the fronts, except you'll notice those on corner exit when you get back on the accelerator (this will make the car more "tight" as the front tires will unload more quickly).

IMO you shouldn't have any problems with the rears topping out.

Honestly I've had Konis installed for 100k+ miles. I experienced rattling, but that was because they were blown. I wouldn't epoxy the inserts to the bodies unless you never plan on getting another set of Konis. You do NOT want to permanently attach them to the bodies unless you want to find new strut bodies and do the whole procedure over again when the old Konis wear out (or, in my case, if something happens to them). Loctite on the threads should probably be sufficient.

It should be pretty straightforward, but I'd make at least 2 hours just in case.

JSutter's done it for a Maxima I believe.

Yeah. Take the amount of time that you'd think it would take to install them, and triple it. Although this goes for most things, leave plenty of room for error.

And make sure the threads on the tip of the rod aren't damaged.

 

Thank you for the excellent post, that was great

 

I'll disagree, on that point. With my INTRAX my rears suspension travel "bottomed" out more than my front. In fact, after I got my front Koni's modified (shortened), it was less noticiable improvement than the rear improvement...

 

Using the top lower spring perch will raise the rear up further, making the static state of the strut less compressed. So basically, using the TOP lower spring perch will make you less likely to bottom out and more likely to "top" out (extend or droop fully).

 

I've used both positions on the Koni lower perch:
INTRAX - upper
H-Tech - lower

Neither of them bottom out... but yes you are correct.

I misinterpreted your reply originally. I thought you meant WITHOUT the modified rear mounts. My bad.

 

http://www.sr20forum.com/general-sr2...iscussion.html

If repost = g0 fyxsor uself.

 

The more I read about this, the more confused and uncertain I am.

The guy on the SR20 board seems to swear by JB Weld to hold it in place, but MorpheusZero has a good point about not being able to take out the insert if something goes wrong. If you're reading this, what did you do JSutter?

Also, if I'm reading this correctly, you trim 1" off the bottom thread thing, but also 1" from the body of the shock? The pics are kinda helpful, but I think I could use some before/after shots so I know what I'm looking at.

I'm also not sure what other small parts are needed for the job. The Sentra guy mentioned: "1 1/4 inch bicycle headset spacer on the bottom of the strut and then the OEM Koni washer tightens down onto that". He also mentions the weld on spring perchs from GC, but I assume this is only for a GC setup....?

So.....do I have this stuff right, or am I missing something?

 

How did I miss this one?!

I need to take some pix and make a write up. Tell you what give me a few hours and I will spill the beans.


KONI>all

 

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....33#post5818533

 

repost.....