So here is the situation - the bottom bolt that holds the Koni insert strut replacement to the base of the stock (old/original) strut housing is starting to loosen up and move down. It’s currently loose enough to finger the metal washers between the bolt head and the outside bottom of the strut housing and get them to clink clink.
Obviously I need to tighten that back up to keep the car safe - I cant imagine having the sprint BURST off the perch launching the drivers front corner into the air @ high speed on a crowded interstate during rush hour @ 70Mph..... bad scene it would be.
And so this is my question - obviously the Koni (reds in my case but yellows are the same) struts are "Inserts" - which means they spin freely inside the strut housing. When I go to tighten the bottom bolt the whole Koni just spins. I've been thinking about this and the best I can come up with is oversized vice grips with two layers of rubber cabinet covering on each jaw to protect the strut it's self and also give extra grip. I'd clamp the top of the Koni at just point where the piston exits the top of the strut with them and then use the wrench with my other hand to tighten the bolt........ But is there a better way?
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inthemeantime. . .
EASY!!!
CLRH2O (Clearwater)
Label Manager / Producer / DJ
FORCE RECORDINGS
www.forcerecordings.com
www.clrh2ostudios.com
www.hallucination.com
Every Koni Red I have ever installed (close to 20 sets) has been seated tightly into the stock housing. There are small protrusions near the top of the koni strut that get pulled tightly into the body of the stock strut. These prevent any movement of the koni in the housing. If the stock strut was cut to short, that would prevent these protrusions from doing their job. This would mean they were installed incorrectly.
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Ditto with Ian. Mine don't move EVER. I've also helped install 2 Sport Kits from Koni and neither of them spun any. I think you cut your strut a hair too short and you lost your catch point.
I used to race cars, now I race myself.
5K PB: 24:50
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To add to that... I've never actually been able to pull one back out after inserting it, they go in so snugly.
Are you sure you've used a stock strut body? Are you sure it's not some OEM replacement of some sort?
I've pulled one back out. After that experience I know the bolt is there more for looks than to hold anything. Something is messed up, most likely cut short as everyone else said. Picking up a set of blown/old struts from a yard would be the best idea probably. Putting the Koni's in those...
C.T.S wrote:I've pulled one back out. After that experience I know the bolt is there more for looks than to hold anything. Something is messed up, most likely cut short as everyone else said. Picking up a set of blown/old struts from a yard would be the best idea probably. Putting the Koni's in those...
It's happened to me more than once that I've drilled the hole off-center and realized it once I dropped the strut in. It ended up easier dremelling the hole wider with the insert in place than trying to get the damned thing out again!
As he said... go get some garbage struts. Shouldn't cost you a dime. Then put the Konis in them. There's something not right about the housings you've got. They're either not actually stock struts or they're cut wrong or something.
tighten it down, use hardcore lock washers and a splash of loctite if need be, and then def tighten using a torque wrench....
Hiya guys,
The likely case about it spinning that the original housing were cut too short on the top opening. But I cant say if that is exactly the case since I bought the set from the old J-Body central Florida chapter president/leader (he left the org and moved to an F-body about 2 years ago and I'm sorry to say I've forgotten his name - either way, he lived in Brandon and had the black cav with the RKSport 2 Piece spoiler that I STILL WANT and the flat lines I own now as well). I bought all of this kit from him pre-configured.
Since I did not do the Koni mod and install myself I can’t say if the top is cut too short - all I can say is the strut insert is spinning when it’s on a lift - but that was also when it was on the lift, and I haven’t tried since it's been back on the ground. With my cav back on the ground it might spin and might even potentially *catch* if it does spin a rotation until it seats again. I'm just speculating here, but since the bolt is loose on the bottom and the spring is on there when the car went onto the lift - it (the spring) might have pulled the insert upward *out* of the housing a touch until it was caught by the bottom bolt again if the piston isn’t long enough for an completely open throw when the car is the air. Then when it (the car) goes back onto the ground from the lift the spring would compress again depressing the piston and pushing the insert itself back downward and into the stock housing. And it’s at this point where I can finger the washers and get them to clink....
I'm going to try to put a pipe clamp (you know the rubberized style ones that are sort of like what you use to install an oil filter) on the top edge of the insert and the wrench on the bottom bolt using RAMPS to keep the suspension compressed (and the bolt pushed out the bottom). With any luck I can at least tighten it up and then move from that point onward. First thing to get it tightened so that if I have to drive the car it's safer than it is now.
---
inthemeantime. . .
EASY!!!
CLRH2O (Clearwater)
Label Manager / Producer / DJ
FORCE RECORDINGS
www.forcerecordings.com
www.clrh2ostudios.com
www.hallucination.com
get GREAT lockwashers... not just the avg ones..
There's not enough movement in the suspension for the insert to come out of the sleve completely. But given enough movement and a pothole you could damage the insert badly (like snap in half or something). 99% of koni bolt problems come from not using a torque wrench when installing them.
