Adjusting Koni Yellows

[zkerikso]

Considering buying some Koni Sports for the rear, but I am concerned about ease of adjustment. Can anyone that has them on speak to that?

How long does is take to adjust them? Can it be done with the car jacked up, wheel off? Pictures of where the adjustment is would be awesome.

 

[Tuna]

Considering buying some Koni Sports for the rear, but I am concerned about ease of adjustment. Can anyone that has them on speak to that?

How long does is take to adjust them? Can it be done with the car jacked up, wheel off? Pictures of where the adjustment is would be awesome.

Here's a how to replace struts video. You can see that reaching the top hat is the hardest part.

View: https://youtu.be/n_uqvopR5ow


As I stated in my AutoX thread, adjusting the strut requires you to fully compress the damper and rotate the lower strut housing 720 degrees CW for full hard. If you were to attempt to soften this setting on the car I'd say remove the wheel and lower bolt and attempt to compress the damper with the top hat still attached to the body. You should have space to rotate the strut housing CCW before bolting it all back up.

It won't be a quick adjustment but it's doable on the car. Not something I'd consider before and after each AutoX as it will get old very fast.

 

[KyleS]

It won't be a quick adjustment but it's doable on the car. Not something I'd consider before and after each AutoX as it will get old very fast.

Have you attempted adjusting with the top hat on still? I just installed the yellows on the rear and I don't think you will be able to fully compress with the bump stop in place, meaning you will have to take of the top hat. I could be wrong but will be finding out shortly as I need to stiffen them up ( went full soft and getting oscillations from the rear).

 

[Tuna]

You know what, I forgot about the bump stop. I haven't installed mine yet. That's either this afternoon or Sunday. I'll report back once I attempt it.

 

[green_henry]

Unless you plan to go full stiff, you're better off removing both from the car at the same time. The issue is that the rebound from a 1/2 turn (or whatever) on one strut is unlikely to match the same adjustment on the other -- it's inexact. If you have them both off the car at the same time, you can compress them at the same time, release, observe the rebound, and adjust accordingly. Maybe you wouldn't notice the difference in rebounds if you don't match them this way, but I was surprised how mis-matched mine were when I turned them exactly the same amount (before I installed them)

 

[Tuna]

^ interesting point. I hadn't considered that until this afternoon when I tested stock vs Koni. My stock strut compression is considerably slower than the Koni. Rebound is similar, except the Koni rebounds very quick on the first few inches of travel which is normally occurred by the bump stop anyway...

@zkerikso here's some pics

 

[Crew Jones]

I just put those in my fist today as well as some swift springs. You will not be able to adjust these unless you have no bump stops at all. You will need to remove the 3 bolts total that hold it in. The front left side was a no go with the brake reservoir, so bracket was made to move the reservoir and that was fixed. 👍🏼

 

[zkerikso]

Given that you guys are saying it's a bit of a process to adjust, doesn't that kinda take away alot of the benefit of going with the yellows over the oranges? Anyone have any experience with the oranges and can comment on how stiff vs compliant they are?

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[Dpro]

Given that you guys are saying it's a bit of a process to adjust, doesn't that kinda take away alot of the benefit of going with the yellows over the oranges? Anyone have any experience with the oranges and can comment on how stiff vs compliant they are?

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The Yellows and Oranges are not valved the same. The Oranges are valved really soft.

 

[MagnetiseST]

I set my fronts to full stiff, backed off 1/8th a turn and left it. The rears were a different story, I just tried to get them to be close in speed and threw them on the car, I have NO idea what they are adjusted to.

 

[zkerikso]

Hey guys thanks for all the info. I have a pair of yellows in hand now and am excited to throw them on the car. Any suggestions on a good starting point to set them to before throwing them on?

Seems like what I'll need to do is adjust one the way I want it (1/4 or 1/2 turn from full stiff or whatever I decide), adjust the second the same way, and then fine tune by compressing both and watching their rebound and tweak it till they come up at the same speed. That sound about right?

 

[zkerikso]

Follow up question for you guys that are running these. Lee Grimes from Koni describes different shock problems this way:
Overdamped - Car hits a bump and you are jostled in your seat because the shock isn't letting the spring oscillate enough to absorb the energy of the impact and excess energy is being transferred into the body and then into you.
Underdamped - Car hits a bump and bounces up and down afterwards because the shock isn't slowing down the oscillation of the spring quickly enough.

To me it feels like our car suffers from the former. If you guys are saying the Konis have stiffer compression, wouldn't that exacerbate the problem? Feel free to tell me I'm way off base if you guys that are running them feel the ride quality is definitely better, but that's my mediocre understanding of matching valving to spring rates.

 

[Dpro]

Follow up question for you guys that are running these. Lee Grimes from Koni describes different shock problems this way:
Overdamped - Car hits a bump and you are jostled in your seat because the shock isn't letting the spring oscillate enough to absorb the energy of the impact and excess energy is being transferred into the body and then into you.
Underdamped - Car hits a bump and bounces up and down afterwards because the shock isn't slowing down the oscillation of the spring quickly enough.

To me it feels like our car suffers from the former. If you guys are saying the Konis have stiffer compression, wouldn't that exacerbate the problem? Feel free to tell me I'm way off base if you guys that are running them feel the ride quality is definitely better, but that's my mediocre understanding of matching valving to spring rates.

Actually no stock our cars suffer from the first description. What Lee Grimes is describing is a single bump situation which is exactly how our car would be.
If you are talking about the bobbing motion the suspension can do when on a freeway with a bunch of expansion joints one after another or hammered from Semi’s that is actually what a over damped suspension will do.
Stop trying to second guess, you are going down a good road already. We all told you what we noticed and observed with our cars.
People change out to a softer or adjustable shock and notice an improvement.

 

[zkerikso]

Actually no stock our cars suffer from the first description. What Lee Grimes is describing is a single bump situation which is exactly how our car would be.
If you are talking about the bobbing motion the suspension can do when on a freeway with a bunch of expansion joints one after another or hammered from Semi’s that is actually what a over damped suspension will do.
Stop trying to second guess, you are going down a good road already. We all told you what we noticed and observed with our cars.
People change out to a softer or adjustable shock and notice an improvement.

Yeah, I was saying that it seems like our cars are over damped so we're in agreement there. Somehow I completely misread Tuna's comment earlier about compression as saying the Koni's compress slower. My bad on that!

Not that I didn't trust the results you guys are having, just want to understand why we're getting those results and what the original problem was. Thanks for your help clearing it up!

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[Dpro]

Yeah, I was saying that it seems like our cars are over damped so we're in agreement there. Somehow I completely misread Tuna's comment earlier about compression as saying the Koni's compress slower. My bad on that!

Not that I didn't trust the results you guys are having, just want to understand why we're getting those results and what the original problem was. Thanks for your help clearing it up!

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You are welcome enjoy the Koni’s. They are great shocks.

 

[Tuna]

After speaking with one of the fast guys in my club I'm considering putting front Koni's on as well. I have my rears set to the highest compression setting on the rear and they're great, even comfy on the street. I have a fast right hander near my home which used to be sketchy/bouncy on the stockers but is now foot to the floor on the Koni's.

 

[zkerikso]

After speaking with one of the fast guys in my club I'm considering putting front Koni's on as well. I have my rears set to the highest compression setting on the rear and they're great, even comfy on the street. I have a fast right hander near my home which used to be sketchy/bouncy on the stockers but is now foot to the floor on the Koni's.

I'll start them off full stiff then. I have quite a few autox events coming up in the next 3 months so tipping the balance towards handling over comfort sounds good at least for now.

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[Tuna]

Post back with your feedback.

 

[zkerikso]

Just got the rears on yesterday. Set to full stiff. First impressions are ride is worse on the highway, i.e. more bumpiness going over seams in the road surface or bridge joints. Feels more planted around corners though and the back end is quicker to come around. @Tuna you are on stock springs, correct?

Edit: Just remembered I also filled up my front tires to 39 psi (factory spec) after Autox on Saturday where I normally run 34-36. That could definitely be accounting for some of the extra bumpiness I was feeling on my 3hr highway drive yesterday. I'll put the pressures back to what I normally run and report back.

 

[Tuna]

Yes I am