I did do a search, and it seems like I am not the only one that had problems with the koni shock install. I did it yesterday, took me 5 hours! I finished just in time to drive to the store and get a gift for a Christmas party the wife and I had to attend last night. On the drive, it sounded like everything that I loosened on the car was still loose.

On the front, I tried to do it without disconnecing the upper or lower arms. Now that they are in, there is some "play" on the top pf the front shocks. I can literally move the shock back and forth at the adjustment point!? I read that if I loosen everything and retighten it on the ground that will help. But the top of the shock seems to sit too low.

On the rear, the sound is much worse than the front. It sounds like the everything is loose and banging around. I checked, and everthing is tight!?!?
By the way how in the F do you guys change the rear settings on the fly at an event? They were more of a pain in the @$$ than the front.

I saw that some people modified some of their stock pieces to fit over the larger shaft of the konis, maybe that is the problem. I did the install like the instruction said to do(from koni), a mixture of the stock parts and new parts.

Any ideas where I went wrong? I don't care about saving my alignment anymore, I will just get a new one after. This isnt the first time I have installed shocks, just the first time that I F'ed it up really bad. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

there are a set of sleeves that fit over the top of the front shock shafts that come in the kit and you have to drill out, did you install those? Typically one or both may seem like they don't fit but if you take a deep socket it should slide right on with several taps from a hammer

if you don't get the springs seated just right they make noise, Mazda doesn't use rubber silencers between the spring and the lower spring perch, not sure why on a street car.

On the custom double adjustables you will hear more noise than the single adjustables, my GF's std SA Koni's don't make any noise at all so you must have something not quite right

 

I am not sure I know what sleeves you are talking about. If you are talking about the piece that goes directly on top of the bump stop(I don't think that it is a sleeve though), I didn't drill it out or put it back on. I did it this afternoon, on the left front and left rear, I will have to do the rest tomorrow, I have a job that I have to finish tonight before a meeting tomorrow. The car will have to wait till tomorrow afternoon. I hope this solves the problem.


Come to think of it, I didn't have to modify anything that came with the shocks.

 

I haven't adjusted mine since they were put in. You have to take them all the way out to adjust them. (Assuming yellows.) Not a great answer, but I for one Love the way they help the car handle so its worth it imo.

 

5 hours is not bad. I hope you can fix it in less time than that. btw to adjust the rear, no quick way. I can do it in about 2 hours, 1 per side, you have the take the shocks all the way out to adjust them.

 

yes the metal piece that goes over the bumpstop needs to be drilled out to a 10 or 12 i think and put on. also, you need to cut your bumpstops down if you are lowering your car. the bumpstop bracket should sit on the step on the piston. you should have a rubber bumper over and under the the frame of the car. without the bottom one, there will be knocking noises as your suspension compresses.

denward

BTW, how the hell did you do the front without unbolting the upper a arm? i can do front and rear in about 2.5 hours now. but rear alignment changes

 

that is why u take it to a professional who does it for 200 w/ alignment and like in a hour or two. good luck. after my first spring install and my shop tellin me my bolts were kind of loose, i never do my suspension work alone.

 

I'm not lowering the car, just shocks. To get the front out, I just undid everything on the shock, unbolted both ends of the swaybay(to push it out of the way) then pushed on the caliper, worked the crap out of it, and pulled it out.
I tried to draw a picture of the way I have it now. The new way, this looks better to me. Excuse the drawing, I just did it really quick and pdf'd it.

 

When I get home this evening, I will try to take some pics. Maybe do a diy or something. The work itself isn't hard, just time consuming... especially when you do it incorrectly the first time.

 

based off your drawing, you did it right. actually, your drawing is pretty good lol. the only thing i did differently is i put the bumpstop back into the bracket that holds it. it doesnt make a differense though.

does anyone know what that clear plastic membrane that sits between the coilover and the frame does?

denward

 

it stops metal vibration noises between the two parts

common mistake is to overtighten the shaft nut thinking you will take some of the slop out of the mount bushings, this will lead to noise and also cause side loading between the shaft and piston on the shock body, leading to increased wear on the sliding parts

 

I dont mess with the suspension of car since in high school i forgot to put the shocks back in at all and my SHOP teacher drove out hopping like it was a low rider...Gosh i was an idiot back then...wait i might have done it as a joke...idk anymore *crawl up in a hole and die*

 

Just finished... No noise, pretty significant change from stock. The drawing was how I was going to put it together this afternoon, turns out it was the right way. Just made a simple mistake the other day, now I couldn't be happier.
Thanks again for everyones help!

 

inquiring minds want to know ...


.

 

I just neglected to drill out the piece that fits over the bump stop. In fact didn't put it back on at all. So looking back on it, there was really nothing seperating the bump stop from the rest of the assembly. It was all free to move on the shaft of the shock. Without that piece in place, you could tighten the nut down about 1 1/2 in. As opposed to the 3/4 to 1 in that it is supposed to be. Stupid mistake, I should have taken a little more time on the assembly of the shock.

On a lighter note, I did accidentally find out that on the fronts, if you take the endlinks off completly and push the swaybar forward, the fronts slide out quite easily. That is without disconnecting either arm. I figured this out after taking a front out 3 times though.

 

i made the same mistake the first time too. did you put the clear film back over the coilover? i left one out

denward

 

Yup. No noise at all.