just bought new "used" suspension for $80 koni/sportlines - Suspension and Brake Forum
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Just got a great deal on some stuff here, they need some work though. Needs rear shock bushings and new front struts. The previous owner bought the car with springs/struts in it, blew one of the koni's in front, thought it was stock so replaced it with new stock strut. So there is only 3 koni's as you can see in pic. They are koni reds but I'm sure I could of got the blown one warrantied. I'm thinking I might get agxs for front since they are about $290 shipped to Canada. I will take them apart though and see if I can find something wrong with them first though. Maybe koni can warranty one and give me a koni yellow then I buy the other....
I have also read that reds have to be taking apart to adjust, that kinda sucks but they were cheap I guess. What would you guys run the back at for stiffness? I don't autocross or anything, I'm thinking somewhere in the middle. Also does anyone know where to get shock bushings or just look into universal energy/prothane? Any other opinions or advice would be great. I want these to be perfect before I swap them in....
2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car
In my experience AGXs suck compared to konis, spend the money buy the yellows and have no regrets.
Yes, the strut inserts need to come out of the housing to adjust. If you mix and match different valving front and rear, you're going to end up with a crappy ride. Either run all reds, all yellows, or all AGXs. I will agree the AGXs are junk. If I were you, I would sell the reds, buy a full set of yellows and put it all in.
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What do you think a fair price is for the reds? Just the rears as I only have one front although it might interest someone that has one blown strut. I am on a small budget but figured they were a steal for $80 but they won't go on til struts/bushings fixed. I think koni's a little out of my price range.... We'll see though, I'm open to options...
2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car
Took the rears apart today, the struts seem weak, you can push them in fairly easy and they take about 10 secs to extend back out. Not sure if this is normal but I've always seen struts extend back out fast. Also to adjust them, you push them in and turn? With these struts you can keep turning them, is something wrong? I've read you shoud only get 3 turns? Would koni warranty them if they arnt actually blown? I will hopefully get fronts apart tomorrow and have a look.
2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car
Well I figured rears out, had to remove the bump stops, played around with adjusting them, they were on full soft, probably why they were easy to push in and I guess slow rebound is normal. makes sense, just most cheap oem struts/shocks have always bounced back out like instantly. They a barely move on full hard..... Also got the fronts apart, the old koni red is still good, the newer stock strut is....well... garbage.....
Still have not decided which way to go with the struts, I understand it would be best to match all 4 struts but may still mismatch front and rears. If we adjust them, ei front soft, rear hard, why would it matter if they are different brands? as long as fronts same and rears same. If rears ever blew I would look into matching rears but if they are still good, why bother?
So onto front struts I would love to have koni yellows or D specs but have a hard to justify spending over $500 shipped for 2 struts, if it was newer or had more into it, then it may be worth it to spend that much on struts but to me its not worth it. Saying that, Im not going to waste money on stock struts or anything but just looking at more affordable options. If you guys say AGXs are garbage then I wont buy them, if they are pretty good but not as good then maybe I might try them out.... What are peoples thoughts on HP blues? I read some people say they are just OEM replacements and some say they same as D specs, just not adjustable? If they are like Dspecs and can handle a drop, what do people think of them? if you had to choose between HP Blues or AGXs? which way would you go?
2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car
i have 2 front reds laying around if your interested. i changed them to yellows.
Very interested, PM sent....
2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car
Rick wrote:Still have not decided which way to go with the struts, I understand it would be best to match all 4 struts but may still mismatch front and rears. If we adjust them, ei front soft, rear hard, why would it matter if they are different brands? as long as fronts same and rears same. If rears ever blew I would look into matching rears but if they are still good, why bother?
Because you aren't ever going to get them the same. Dampers only slow down spring oscillation, so unless they're all the same, you have no way of telling what rate they're at unless you have some sort of shock and spring dyno to test them.
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Left and right should be the same but how would front and rear be the same? Spring rates are different, I assume dampers would be different too, unless a car has 50/50 weight distribution, I am not sure why you would need dampers to be the same? Dspec front on full hard is different then a Dspec rear on full hard? Or atleast I'd assume. Waiting to hear back from magik about his reds so they may be the same in all four corners anyways.
2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car
The valving is different front to rear, but the bias should be the same. Example (with random numbers)- Koni yellows set for whatever with Eibach Pro-kit is going to be different than Koni reds with Pro-kit. Unless you're able to get all the shock dyno curves and do all sorts of math to get the same oscillation rate front and rear. You really have no idea what any of the valving is at compared to spring rate, and I doubt you're going to get any info from any manufacturer. It's much easier to use all matched items than to try and tune without the ability or tools to tune it. Especially for what you want to do with the car.
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So I bought 2 front koni reds, just waiting for them to get shipped out, well I wait, is there any recommendations on what to set them at? Like I said before, probably no auto crossing or anything and roads are a little rough here so not sure if I should keep them on the softer side? I have rears set at 3/4 turn from full hard, was thinking of setting front 1-1.5 turns from full hard?
I believe there's about 2.25 turns from full hard to full soft....
2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car
I would keep them at full soft. "Soft" and "hard" is more like "slow" and "fast". The softer they are set, the longer (slower) they take to slow down the spring, resulting in a softer ride. A general rule of thumb is to tighten up the end of the car sticking more. Js understeer, so running the fronts at full soft and the rears at full hard (or close) would be the way to go. Shock adjustments are the very last thing to change on any suspension since they generally don't make a big difference. Since you don't plan on any type of competition, once you set them, you'll probably never touch them again.
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Okay sounds good, you think full soft on front is the best way to go? I was going to make it half a turn away but maybe Ill try full soft. I was thinking rear 3/4 turn from full hard just because on full hard, you can barely move the strut by hand its so hard.... you think its okay there or make it a little harder? I have rears back together already but they are not very hard to take apart.... thanks for the advice.
2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car
Well got them in, sportlines, koni reds, new rear shock bushings, all for less than $200.... Handles great, even accelerating and braking better now, rear end doesn't lift or squat, car stays pretty flat. Almost zero body roll. Not to bad of a ride either, wife thought it was rough on bumps though....
2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car
Well today I went on a 4 hour round trip to visit my mom with the wife and daughter, some of the bumps on the highway were pretty harsh. I do love how the car looks and handles but maybe there's a way to make it ride better? I have read on some forums people saying ride is pretty good with sportlines and yellows or d specs. And I am thinking about upgrading in the future, just trying to save for a house right now so spending +$700 on new struts is out of the question. Just was wondering others set ups and wondering if tire pressure matters? If this is just something I have to learn to live with then I will, the new look and handling outweighs the rough ride.
I have front struts set on full soft and rears set at 3/4 turn from full hard, I have falken fk 452s 205/55/16 front 40psi and rear 42psi. I had them higher because it helped with handling before the sportlines, wondering if dropping them will help, We also have alot of potholes so didnt want to run them too low. also I assume yellows are stiffer then reds, would running the reds a little stiffer make them ride worse or better? I assume worse but just wondering.....
2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car
Curious...
What did you do for the rear shock bushings?
took the old ones to city spring(local suspension store) and matched up the old ones, $4 each.
2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car
I'll get the part # off my bill later tonight and yes that's the place.
2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car
On Bill it just says HB1000 HB bushing but on bushing it says MH4480 They are 3.34 each + tax
2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car
Just an update, Id stay away from those city spring bushings.... Mine are completely worn out which I didn't have high hopes for but figured they would have lasted longer. I found some in a Prothane that I think would work great (19-908) but the local performance shop (Mopac) didn't carry them and would cost $40 with shipping to get them, Koni said replacement rubber bushings are $2.75 each plus about $30 to ship to Canada. So was looking though Energy parts catalogue, and found some in a different style that may work. The part number is 9.8109G. I think I might have a hard to getting them to press in but once they are in, they will probably outlast the struts and the car. The parts guy says that since the polyurethane is so hard, some people have been able to turn it down on a lathe so that is another option for me. Anyways though, I got the 2 bushings for $5.76 with taxes. Cheap... Just thought I'd share that in case anyone else has problems with bushings.
2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car
Well new ones are in, The bushings were a little big, and needed to be turned down. I didn't feel like doing it at work where I have better tools, a lathe and press, etc... so I decided to do it at home, worse case scenario I have a spare set of the city spring bushings that could go back in. Anyways I just used the die grinder and slowly turned it down abit, on the one side I left a little bit of material to help hold it in. The center of the bushing is 1 1/4" and the shock hole is 1 1/4" so thats why taking a little off the sides is important. After that I took a BFH and hit that bushing as hard as I could, then once centered, I hammered the the metal sleeve back in and done. Each side took a good 15mins of hammering, they are in there tight. I was going to take pictures, but my phone died as soon as the flash went off for first picture, was only like 5% battery. But when I did jack the car up, you could move the wheel up and down about 3/4". those old bushings were done.
Here is a picture of the new energy bushings
And this is the prothane ones I wanted
Sorry, no pictures of install, but clunking is gone. I guess we will see if the energy bushings last til summer.
2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car
Hey are some pictures of my old bushings if anyone is interested in seeing.
From left to right, My original (old) koni red bushings, rubber bushings from local spring shop after 6 months, brand new ones as I bought 4 to have a spare set.
2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car
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