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Inspect your Koni Sports

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Sammamish
#1
I just installed my Koni Sports today and then went for a test drive. The damping characteristics are really nice but I developed a loud clanking from my right front. Turned out the swaybar bracket had torn loose from the shock and was bouncing against the rim.

It looks like they tack welded it and forgot to finish with the full weld. I hope Koni is quick is getting me a replacement as I'm running without a front bar now.

I would suggest that you thoroughly inspect yours - it's not fun loosing a front bar on a fast turn on the track, I've been there. Can you say sudden oversteer and agricultural excursion?




 


Sekred

1000 Post Club
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#4
Wow that is piss poor, I can only see a spot weld that was holding the bracket on ?.
 


airjor13

2000 Post Club
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#6
Would not expect that kind of crappy workmanship from Koni....hope they take care of you and keep us updated!
 


OP
E
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Sammamish
Thread Starter #7
what's the part #? is that made for ST or just the regular Fiesta
The P/N is 8741-1565(L or R)SPORT and they are listed for the regular Fiesta. They fit the ST but do not have a bracket for the factory mass damper or a properly sized hole for a secondary clip for the ABS wire. Neither one really matters.
 


OP
E
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Sammamish
Thread Starter #8
What a hassle it is dealing with Koni! The retailer I bought it from, Race Consulting Agency, said that Koni prefers dealing with the customer directly rather than having the retailer just ship a replacement.

So here's their process; you have to go to Koni NA's website and fill out a warranty claim form and fax that along with proof of purchase and a copy of your car's registration. I don't even have a fax! Once approved, they will give you an RMA number to return the defective product. You pay shipping. Once inspected and approved, you will receive a replacement.

If you don't want to wait for all of this, you can simply buy a new one and hope they will give you a refund on the defective unit. There's also this little gem on their warranty that's of concern if you've modified your car - "Used on any vehicle that has been modified for a use other than or in addition to its originally intended use." Good thing I have not.

Regardless, you pay shipping and incur additional costs for their defective product!

I think this is terrible customer service. If I was buying again, I would reconsider buying Koni.
 


OP
E
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Sammamish
Thread Starter #9
Kudos to Koni for Keeping Kustomers Kontent!

They really came through after I sent them a link to this post. This is the response I received;

"Thank you, for the completed warranty documents and pictures. I can see from the pictures the issue with the little to zero weld on the strut body/sway bar mount. I am currently in the process of trying to locate a replacement shock for you to be drop shipped from one of our distributors, as we do not currently have any inventory in house of the 8741 1565rsport. In this case once I have located a replacement shock, I will have the replacement strut sent out at no charge, if is one is not available from our distributors the next available stock is scheduled to arrive here the week of April 19th and the no charge order will have to be fulfilled once we receive those dampers . As well I will send you a prepaid UPS call tag for the return shipment of the damper with weld issue, so that we can report/track the issue."

I've used their products for decades and, after this response, will continue to recommend them.
 


Messages
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Newark
#10
Well, I'm glad they are willing to go the extra mile for you on this. It would be severely messed up if they just ignored this post and stood by their usual return process.

I take it you already checked the other side?
 


OP
E
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Sammamish
Thread Starter #11
I did, the other side is fine. I'm willing to bet that this failure was a rare occurrence.
 


OP
E
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Sammamish
Thread Starter #13
Despite my original concerns about getting a replacement shock, i do have to say I've been a fan of Koni's for a long time.

On our cars, Koni Sports completely eliminates the harsh, high-speed compression damping of the OEM struts/shocks. Expansion cracks and broken pavement are absorbed in a really supple manner. Lower frequency compression is nicely controlled. I set my shocks for street use and occasional HPDE days. The rears are harder to remove to adjust, so I set them a bit stiffer at 1/2 from full hard, knowing that I would probably not remove them to re-set for track days. I think it's stiffer than needed for aggressive street use. That roll stiffness does maintain the car's willingness to rotate. Probably not much more than stock though. Any less of a setting would provide more comfort at the expense of turn-in response. I had the rears on for awhile before I installed the fronts. For the fronts, I have them set at 1/4 from full soft. This combination transforms the car for daily driving. All the harshness and banging is gone. You have to remember that, in this combination of settings, you have more rear roll stiffness balance than stock and that will accentuate turn-in and tendency to oversteer. I think it's great. There's still all that easy adjustment available on the fronts for track-use to increase front roll stiffness. For autocross, going near full-stiff for transient response would likely be great. For track use, I'd probably start with another full turn to stiff. This is all just my impressions after having these for a short time on this car but I have owned Koni Sports before. They are a completely different type of shock compared to gas-pressurized monotubes that have high compression resistance from that pressurization. Koni's are supple which is really good for the ST. If you can't tell by now, I like them.

All the disclaimers, no relationship to Koni.
 


koozy

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#14
I've had Koni yellows on other cars and may get them for the FiST in the future. I'm happy that Koni is taking care of you, and was initially disappointed by their first response to you regarding this serious incident. They are lucky no one got hurt. A good lawyer would have a field day. Hopefully Koni pays more attention during QC.
 


Messages
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Location
Grass Lake
#15
Wow. That is the first time I have ever seen a workmanship fail of any koni product! I also have the sports on my fiesta, but I have had zero issues in7,200 miles. I am a multi time purchaser of the brand and have been More than satisfied over the years.
 


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