I recently bought a used set of Ground Controls & Koni Reds, and they came fully assembled with mounts. I was told that this setup was hardly used, and they looked pretty much brand new when I received them. It does look like a few pieces are missing though, and a few things are not installed correctly.
I'm including some pics here to show how I received them, and hopefully someone can tell me what pieces I still need to buy, and the exact order that the pieces need to be installed in. I've been doing a lot of researching on this, and I have the instructions saved from bigjerm and from an RK Sport coilover install, but I'm still not sure about some things.
This first pic shows one of the fronts. Both fronts & both rears are missing the bump stops so I need to get those. Should I buy them from GC directly or should I just buy new GM bumpstops & cut them in half? Also, the GC threaded sleeve moves freely up & down & slightly side to side on the strut. I've read that there's supposed to be some rubber o-rings installed inside the sleeve to prevent this from happening....can I order these from GC as well or can I just get some at Lowe's or something? The previous owner had the upper portion here installed wrong because they didn't separate the lower washer, and you're not supposed to use the stock strut mount bearings.
This pic shows the top hat on one of the fronts. I know that the top hat sits on top of the spring, and then I have three thin washers that sit on the top hat(the middle one has a type of bearing?). I've read that another thicker washer sits on top of these. Mine did not come with it....does anyone know the size & if I can buy that at Lowe's as well? Then I have the upper stock washer flipped upside down, then the strut mount, then the lower washer flipped upside down(after you separate it), then a small metal washer, and lastly the nut.
This pic shows one of the rears. I need the bump stop, but I've read that a washer & maybe something else goes on top of the bump stop? I didn't receive anything with the rears. The only washer that came with the rears is the one underneath the top nut.
This pic shows two different front mounts that I have. I know to use 95-99 mounts, but I've never actually seen a picture of the 00+ mount to compare them with. I bought some new 95-99 mounts in the Classifieds, and one of them is shown on the right in this picture. Is it really a 95-99 because it has a permanent gold metal washer in the center of it that prevents the flipped upside down lower washer from lowering down into the strut mount. The front mount on the left is the one that came with the setup & the flipped lower washer fits in it perfectly because it doesn't have that permanent washer. Did I get jipped when I supposedly bought the 95-99 mount on the right?
In summary, here's the main questions that I hope someone can answer: I know this is a lot, but it would be a huge help to me, and hopefully it will help others out as well.
1. Can I purchase the o-rings somewhere that go inside the GC sleeves so they won't move around on the struts? Both the front & rear sleeves have some movement.
2. Should I buy bumpstops from GC & not cut them? Or should I buy new GM bumpstops & cut them?
3. Can someone list the pieces in order(from bottom to top) from the thick washer below the GC sleeve to the top of the strut mount for the fronts so I know what pieces I still need? And a list of the pieces from the GC sleeve to the top of the mount for the rears, too? I know I need 4 bumpstops, and I think I need a washer for each front & one for each rear?
4. Do I need to buy new front mounts since the one in the right side of that picture has that permanent metal washer on it? Is that even a 95-99 mount?
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In summary, here's the main questions that I hope someone can answer: I know this is a lot, but it would be a huge help to me, and hopefully it will help others out as well.
1. Can I purchase the o-rings somewhere that go inside the GC sleeves so they won't move around on the struts? Both the front & rear sleeves have some movement.
2. Should I buy bumpstops from GC & not cut them? Or should I buy new GM bumpstops & cut them?
3. Can someone list the pieces in order(from bottom to top) from the thick washer below the GC sleeve to the top of the strut mount for the fronts so I know what pieces I still need? And a list of the pieces from the GC sleeve to the top of the mount for the rears, too? I know I need 4 bumpstops, and I think I need a washer for each front & one for each rear?
4. Do I need to buy new front mounts since the one in the right side of that picture has that permanent metal inside it? Is that even a 95-99 mount?
1. Go to Home Depot and check the plumbing section. Find some that are the right thickness and just stretch them over the strut to do the job. There's nothing special about these and they're very thin.
2. I got bump stops from GC and am very happy with them. They were cheaper than getting GM ones and they gave me ones they recommended for this setup. I had to shave out the middle of them a bit to fit over the Koni strut rod... but it wasn't a big deal.
3.
a. Thick D washer with flat part facing wheel.
b. Sleeve with adjustable perch on it.
c. spring.
d. bump stop (inside spring)
e. top hat.
f. bearing race (looks like a washer but it's not.)
g. thrust bearing (looks like a washer with rollers in it.)
h. bearing race.
(Here, on the 00-05 mounts, I will put in a couple large washer to fill in the opening on the mount to provide a flat surface for the bearing to sit on.)
i. washer.
j. mount.
k. lock washer.
l. top nut.
That's for 2k+ mounts. With the 95-99 mounts, you need to do things a little differently. For starters, that piece in your first pic above the top hat can't be there because it will just bind with the top hat and not allow your bearings to do anything.
For the rear... well that's pretty straight-forward isn't it?
Wait... I forgot a piece... the Konis come with a thin plastic piece that goes under the bump stop. Don't forget that. It's sort of a little last-ditch bump stop to protect you from bottoming out or something.
