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Koni Yellows not good....

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Old Dec 4, 2002
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Koni Yellows not good....

Here's the situation....
I bought Neuspeed sport springs (2") and installed a stereo system in my trunk to include two 12's, two amps, audiocontrol, and capacitor all in custom fiberglass enclosures. Then, I called Koni and they recommended the Koni Yellows for strut and shocks. I bought them. After a few months, the spring perch from Koni warped and bent around the safety clip causing the rear of my car to fall to the ground. They sent me a brand new pair of struts and recommend that I purchase new springs that have a different spring rate. I bought the Eibach Sportline (1.3") and installed them with the new shocks in the rear. After a month, they failed again doing the same thing. I am told by them that there is too much weight in the trunk for the springs and they are going into "coil bind" causing the perch from Koni to warp and fall down. Now, they are recommending to me to purchase coil-over sleeves. OKAY, not that I have a problem buying the coil over sleeves but why didn't they tell me that in the first place!!! This is the fifth time that the perch has failed in the rear after following their recommendations. I've had enough. I used Tokicos on my MR2 before the civic and never, ever, ever had a problem with them. If you have any extra weight in the rear and you have the Koni yellows I hope that you use them with a coil-over sleeve or your butt will be dragging along the road like mine....[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-puke.gif[/IMG]KONI
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Old Dec 4, 2002
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Did you tell them that you were going to put extra weight in the trunk??
(cause your post sounds like you did the install before your system...)





PLEASE MOVE THREAD...
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Old Dec 4, 2002
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first time I've ever heard of this on any car, interesting though. I like my koni's, though my rear bushings are shot because I used wd40 on them (a no-no for rubber bushings), they just slide around a bit now, lol. Hope it gets resolved tho dude.
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Old Dec 4, 2002
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I've got 15,000 on my Konis with Pro Kit and never a problem. But then I'm not using the back seat and trunk as a pickup truck either.
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Old Dec 4, 2002
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Eibach Sportlines dropped by car about 1.7 inches. I had a sub, amp and extra weight in my trunk. No problem
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Old Dec 4, 2002
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that happened to a friend of mine. he has Ground Controls and we took them apart in the rear and the clip broke at the edge. We were able to fix it, but its the principal of the matter...
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Old Dec 4, 2002
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Do you have a sedan? I have a sedan with a huge system in my trunk. I was going to go with the koni's and my coilover's I have now. If your having this trouble with a coupe I might as well forget about the koni's for my sedan.
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Old Dec 4, 2002
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having too much weight from a system? thats bull ****.. having 3 people in the back seat weigh much more then your average system... it just sound like poor quality to me.. and yes it is weird coming from koni, a very reputable company. it has to be something else cause i dont buy both stories.. having too much weight and koni being poor in quality.
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Old Dec 4, 2002
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Maybe you installed them wrong.........get them done professionally.
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Old Dec 4, 2002
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[hr]Originally posted by: VNlilMAN
having too much weight from a system? thats bull ****.. having 3 people in the back seat weigh much more then your average system... it just sound like poor quality to me.. and yes it is weird coming from koni, a very reputable company. it has to be something else cause i dont buy both stories.. having too much weight and koni being poor in quality.[hr]
Check the sticker on the inside of the drivers door frame. Get the GVW and then add up the weight of passengers and other stuff you have in the car. You might be surprised.

Then when you figure putting on short, monster springs, and expect the shock spring perches to hold up, maybe anothe surprise. Some of those fat springs aren't reallly made for everyday driving.
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Old Dec 4, 2002
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yeah man i have Konis and Neuspeed Sport. I have people in the back all the time along with amp and sub, spare, etc... No problems.... Something ELSE is causing all of this. I definitely would think installation was an issue.
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Old Dec 4, 2002
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How did you contact koni to fix this problem? Because one of my front struts are blown and i keep on emailing them about there "lifetime warentee" and i ahvent herd a single response back..
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Old Dec 4, 2002
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Maybe go through the dealer you got them from.
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Old Dec 5, 2002
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ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS LOOK AT MY CAR IN MEMBER RIDES... STOCK STRUTS AND SPORTLINE SPRINGS..... 4 SUBS... HEAVY *** BOX AND AMP RACKS.... BACK SEAT FULL OF PEOPLE AND MY CAR STILL HANDLES LIKE A ROADSTER AROUND THEM TURNS... i


I DONT UNDERSTAND HOW UR HAVING PROBLEMS.. MAYBE UR PROBLEM WAS CHANGING THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE... YOU SHOULD HAVE JUST LEFT UR STOCK ON AND SPENT THE MONEY ON UR ENGINE...[IMG]i/expressions/moon.gif[/IMG][IMG]i/expressions/laugh2.gif[/IMG][IMG]i/expressions/laugh2.gif[/IMG][IMG]i/expressions/laugh2.gif[/IMG]


Sorry to Flame.. couldnt help it .... its the WEEE hours .lol
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Old Dec 5, 2002
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I took an ARC welder and spot welded the perch to the shock body(3 lil spots) now they're fine, but mine were slipping just on the install...but haven't had any trouble since...cept I can't find anyone to install the fronts and I'm not sure if I can do it myself.hehe
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Old Dec 5, 2002
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Had my Koni's and GC's with my huge audio system in my trunk for over a year now, never had any issues with the rears slipping or anything. I'd say it is an improper installation.
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Old Dec 5, 2002
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[hr]Originally posted by: Maverick
I took an ARC welder and spot welded the perch to the shock body(3 lil spots) now they're fine, but mine were slipping just on the install...but haven't had any trouble since...cept I can't find anyone to install the fronts and I'm not sure if I can do it myself.hehe[hr]
Why won't anyone do your fronts?

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Old Dec 5, 2002
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the two places i went to wasn't sure about the whole cutting and drilling part of putting them in and i didn't have any detailed instructions on how to do it. still don't
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Old Dec 5, 2002
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i should be getting my Konis today. I have the ground control set up. I will take a good look at the perches before i install them. and if need be the spot weld idea sounds like a good one.
spring bind ???? does that mean that the spring actually bends to one side, under overload? kind of makes sense that it would cause the perch to tweek. maybe that was what happened to those guys a while back that had the skunk2 coilovers with the chewed up sleeves. But i would think that more people would have the same problem. bla bla bla now i'm rambling.
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Old Dec 5, 2002
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[hr]Originally posted by: Maverick
the two places i went to wasn't sure about the whole cutting and drilling part of putting them in and i didn't have any detailed instructions on how to do it. still don't[hr]
The instructions that come with the Konis are pretty good. I've done a couple of sets. Anyway here's a link to a DIY which is pretty much the instructions that come with the shocks.

EM Civic Suspension
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Old Dec 5, 2002
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weird, mine didn't come with instructions. this will help..thanks bartkat
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Old Dec 5, 2002
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i think its really unfair to make a statement about the shocks being no good, whereas you dont even know if they were installed correctly. konis are some of the best shocks made with one hell of a rep, so im going to believe everyone elses testemonials as apposed to this one.
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Old Dec 6, 2002
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in my opinion there HAS to be some other factor to these konis giving out. and by blamming it on the manufacturer, well i think it has to do with how the car was driven. not saying that the driver doesnt now how to drive, just saying that the car has been through some major bumps on the road. i had this exact thing happen to me. i have a sedan ex sitting on H&R sport springs and a set of koni yellow adjustables, also with a system in the back. the first time that the ring that holds the spring seat gave out on me was when i hit a dip made in hell. my car immediately was slammed to the floor cuz the the ring gave out and the spring seat warped, therefore giving no support by the springs, just the shock. i think koni made it this way so that in case of something like this is to happen, only the spring seat (lower perch) gives out and not the whole shock. so what im trying to say is that koni knows what they are doing. they try to salvage the shock itself in case of situation like dips made in hell, and in the end, you only pay for the spring seat (perch) and not a whole new shock. the perches are cheap. you can call up koni and replace the parts. but you will have to wait like me, cuz they dont have the parts in stock. they have to go directly from Holand. so good luck to whom gets this problem. just be more careful with the bumps and dips on the roads. these shocks arent god sent. nothing man made is perfect. thas just my opinion and thoughts. piece outside!
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Old Dec 6, 2002
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you know what.. my mind is slowly starting to change.. thats bs..the spring seat takin a ****... i mean even if you did hit a bump really hard, it shouldnt break off(fold down whatever..) yes its cheaper to replace then the whole shock but its also more dangerous... your riding with no rear suspension when this happens.. and if you have a body kit, chances are you'll f**k it up.. it just sounds like poor quality to me. i'm not saying its really bad but i'm saying koni could have done a better job.
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Old Dec 6, 2002
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looking at the perch and shock that i just got. It kinda looks scary. i mean the tolerance between the shock and the perch is not what i would expect for this type of part. the groove and perch have a noticable gap. I also got my G-C koni adapters. now here is some quality they fit very tight around the shock body with no movement made of hi grade aluminum (no flex) and a good durable coating.
The koni perches rattle around a bit, stampings ok the groove for the clip is ROUGH,and cheap looking gold cad plate. Now I am involved in manufacturing aftermarket restoration parts for the vintage VW industry and I know shitty tooling when I see it. They could have done a way better job on that perch. The design makes economic sense being this shock has more potential to be used on more applications and it must have saved them a buttload of money not to weld these to the shock body. The shock quality looks kick ***. I just wish they would have went the extra mile and just zapped the perches in place. Thank god for ground control. Having someone put a few spot welds on these sounds like a Very good idea.
not too much heat though. you dont want to harm or warp the tube
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Old Jan 5, 2003
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gshock, do u have struts also cause my sporlines are going on tomorrow and i didnt buy aftermarket struts yet....hows the ride??
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Old Jan 5, 2003
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does anybody have sprint springs with stock shocks? hows the ride? got pics?
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Old Jan 6, 2003
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Hey...where how much did it cost for you to get the fronts installed..and did the shop talk liability....????
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Old Jan 6, 2003
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[hr]Originally posted by: newshus
Here's the situation....
I bought Neuspeed sport springs (2") and installed a stereo system in my trunk to include two 12's, two amps, audiocontrol, and capacitor all in custom fiberglass enclosures. Then, I called Koni and they recommended the Koni Yellows for strut and shocks. I bought them. After a few months, the spring perch from Koni warped and bent around the safety clip causing the rear of my car to fall to the ground. They sent me a brand new pair of struts and recommend that I purchase new springs that have a different spring rate. I bought the Eibach Sportline (1.3") and installed them with the new shocks in the rear. After a month, they failed again doing the same thing. I am told by them that there is too much weight in the trunk for the springs and they are going into "coil bind" causing the perch from Koni to warp and fall down. Now, they are recommending to me to purchase coil-over sleeves. OKAY, not that I have a problem buying the coil over sleeves but why didn't they tell me that in the first place!!! This is the fifth time that the perch has failed in the rear after following their recommendations. I've had enough. I used Tokicos on my MR2 before the civic and never, ever, ever had a problem with them. If you have any extra weight in the rear and you have the Koni yellows I hope that you use them with a coil-over sleeve or your butt will be dragging along the road like mine....[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-puke.gif[/IMG]KONI[hr]
Whatever happened with this. Was the problem resollved? What was it that caused the problem. I think there needs to be some follow up here, since the thread title says "Koni Yellows not good...." , which may not be the case at all here.


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Old Jan 8, 2003
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Everyone...look at step 23 in Bartkat's article link. It is imperative that the perch sit with the droop over the ring clip(droop facing toward the ground when installed) (just like in the picture). Reason: There is a small indentation all the way around the hole of the Koni perch that basically keeps the ring clip locked into its place on the shock body.

Does this make sense?

If not installed this way (i.e. the perch installed like a cup), the ring clip could relatively easily spread apart under extreme load and let the perch and spring drop to the suspension arm as described in the initial post.

TJ
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