Stiffness setting for Konis

2783 Views 18 Replies 7 Participants Last post by legend4life, Mar 11, 2002

G

Discussion Starter · Mar 9, 2002

Ok you guys, I have a couple questions about my new Konis that I have but aren't yet on my car.

1) How do I adjust these things and make sure that I get both sides at the same setting?

2) What setting do they come set at?

3) If I want a sporty ride with my new eibach springs what setting should I put them on?

4) Will the stiffest setting give an annoying ride with my Eibach springs? (if anybody has ridden in a new RSX, will it make for a stiffer ride than that)

5) How many settings are there exactly stiffness wise?

6) What setting do you guys recommend? (I already know that I'm gonna have them on the lowest perch all the way around)

Thanks for the help as always!

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

Nick Gorski

· #2 · Mar 9, 2002

I'm in your same situation. I have eibachs and Konis sitting in my garage right now, I'm having the dealer put them on for me, this friday.

I have +40mm rims, so I'm leaving the perch on stock, and only dropping it an inch, and I can't figure out to adjust the shock absorbers either. So im just leaving that alone too. hehe

Youre not alone man!

G

Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 9, 2002

Well, I'm not planning on leaving them alone... I definitely want to be able to adjust them. BTW taking them to the dealer is a very bad idea, they charge a ton of money to do the littlest things. You should take it to a smaller mechanic that knows what he is doing. Unless money is just completely not an issue, but then again if that were the case you would probably be able to go out and buy another set of rims that had higher offset

.

Nick Gorski

· #4 · Mar 9, 2002

Hahaha! Yeah, I should have bought a higher offset. hehe

When I bought the rims, I was like "I'm not gonna lower my car...." yeah right!

My dad is the Parts Manager at the Local Acura Dealership, so I'm getting it done almost free!

We still need to find out how to adjust our shocks! I looked at the sheets that came with our shocks, and it looked like we have to take the compress the shock, push the button in, dismantle the shock casing, and then turn it, put the shock casing back on, then pull it out. Man, I wish they made it easier

Help Us Someone!

LegendGS

· #5 · Mar 9, 2002

You don't have to dismantle the shock casing. Just compress the shock to its fullest, turn it until it locks into the tab, and turn to adjust for stiffness.

Look here under the adjustment method for 8240 series.

takemorepills

· #6 · Mar 9, 2002

Holy hell! all that work just to adjust your shocks? Jeez, makes me wanna keep my stock shocks! They work fine with my H&R Sport springs. I don't plan on whipping my long-wheelbase Honda around corners at NASCAR speeds anytime soon anyways! That is what my Accord is for! It does share the Prelude platform! Maybe that car will get a set of Koni's!!

LegendGS

· #7 · Mar 9, 2002

H&Rs on stock shocks isn't a highly recommended mix. This is not just looking at the performance aspect, but the stocks aren't made to handle that kind of a load, and will likely wear out rather quickly.

takemorepills

· #8 · Mar 9, 2002

I have had them for a year, my car is 7 years old now and it rides fine, much better than my Accord with H&R Race springs and stock shocks, cut stops. Now, I definitely would agree with anyone who said the race springs do not go with stock shocks. The sports only drop my Legend 1.4-1.7", and increase stiffness by a reasonable amount.

G

Discussion Starter · #9 · Mar 9, 2002

2

Just incase anybody is to lazy to go to Konis site:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adjustment Procedure 76, 80, 82, 86, 87, 88, 90, 8040, 8240 Series

Rebound Adjustment Procedures

Remove the shock absorber from the vehicle and hold it vertically with the lower eye or pin attached in a vise. Use clamp plates to prevent damage.

Fully collapse the shock absorber, at the same time turning the dust cap or piston rod slowly to the left (counterclockwise), until it is felt that the cams of the adjustment nut engage in the recesses of the foot valve assembly.

Some shock absorbers include a bump rubber concealed under the dust cover and it must be removed prior to adjusting.

The damper may have already been adjusted. Therefore check whether the shock absorber is in the adjustment position or not by keeping it collapsed and gently turning it further to the left counting at the same time the half turns until a stop is felt. Stop turning then and do not use force.

Keeping the shock absorber collapsed, make 1 half turn (180 degrees) to the right (clockwise). In case of prior adjustment add the number of half the turns previously found. The total range is about 5 half turns.

Pull the shock absorber out vertically without turning for at least 1 cm to disengage the adjusting mechanism. The dust cap or piston rod may now be turned freely.

ADJUSTING DIRECTION

Clockwise = Firmer
Counter Clockwise = Softer

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

See less See more

G

Discussion Starter · #10 · Mar 9, 2002

I still want to know though, what the different settings feel like, since I don't have any experience with this. I just need opinions cause once my Konis are on my car I don't think that I'll ever be taking them off again to adjust, due to the amount of work that is involved. The whole reason for me upgrading my suspension was simply to get better handling yet to still have a functional car (not to mention that lowering your car makes it look better

). Seriously I'm willing to sacrifice a cushy ride for performance just so long as I won't be like damn this is just way to stiff.

ChrisK, I know that you have got to have oppinions on this

CakeDaddy

· #11 · Mar 10, 2002

Hey, Takemorepills

LegendGS is right man. A buddy of mine put the H&R on his sedan and low and behold a couple of years later his shocks started to make noise. Evevtually, the right front shock had broken through the camber mount piece under the hood. I think that is what its called. Made a clunking sound until he replaced it. Also, the right side dipped a little. Now, the Eibachs you may be able to get away with stock shock. Hey, LegendGS correct me on that last statement about Eibachs. H&R's are too low for stock shocks.

G

Discussion Starter · #12 · Mar 10, 2002

SpeedDemon said:
I still want to know though, what the different settings feel like, since I don't have any experience with this. I just need opinions cause once my Konis are on my car I don't think that I'll ever be taking them off again to adjust, due to the amount of work that is involved. The whole reason for me upgrading my suspension was simply to get better handling yet to still have a functional car (not to mention that lowering your car makes it look better ). Seriously I'm willing to sacrifice a cushy ride for performance just so long as I won't be like damn this is just way to stiff.

ChrisK, I know that you have got to have oppinions on this

Still would be nice to get some oppinions on this

Thanks

ChrisK

· #13 · Mar 10, 2002

I have mine on full soft right now. Personally, I would leave them on full soft if you use lowering springs, as the springs will be stiffer than stock anyway. When I had my Eibach with Konis adjusted to almost full firm, it was still a nice ride and I liked the feel. However, when we put that set on my friends Coupe, we made it full soft, and the ride is a little bit more confortable, but still stiffer than stock. My advice is to go either full firm, or full soft. If you rather have closer to stock ride, go full soft. If you don't care too much about ride stiffness, go full firm. The difference between the two is really only noticable when you compare side by side directly. When I had mine on firm I had always thought it was confortable, but only when we changed it for my friend did I notice the differece. What I'm saying is the full firm is not harsh at all. This is based on Eiback springs, so I'm not sure how they will act on other springs. I wouldn't bother messing with any setting in between as I don't believe there is much difference to be able to fine tune it that well. Plus, it is not like the Yellow Konis where you adjust it with the white dial cap with #s on it to you know exactly where you are set. Like you read above, for ours we need to fully compress the shock piston, then twist the shock body. There are slight indentions, but it is not that easy to tell where you are in relation to either end. You can count the intention feel, but sometimes it is not that easy to make them out. So I say stick to either extremes so you know that the left and right are set equal. Truthfully, adjusting the shock takes only a few minutes before you install them, and for the Koni Specials that we use it is made to be set and forgotten. Once you put them on, you need to remove them to adjust, so you might as well make is as simple as possible, especially since the settings in the middle are not that different in overall feel IMHO.

See less See more

G

Discussion Starter · #14 · Mar 10, 2002

Thanks bro!!!! You are my hero ChrisK

rockshox72

· #15 · Mar 10, 2002

Well, try this you guys for adjusting if you happen to have some L shaped Allen hex wrenches lying around the house from maybe building those IKEA cabinets, bookshelves or bed frames in the past. I really think the vise grip procedure doesn't give you a very good accuracy in adjustment, and may also wind up slicing up a finger or two if your not careful and possibly screw up the threading. Since Koni was gracious enough to make this hex hole at the top, you would think they provide us w/ some knob like the Yellows at least since we're shelling out $400 plus? My dad happened to have a set,and I found the 3/16 of inch wrench and stuck the short end into the hole. I had the nut screwed on also so that I can get additional grip, wrapped up the wrench further w/ a small towel so my hands don't get bruised and had a friend hold the shock still while I compressed the shaft downward. With it compressed and set to full soft, the long end of the hex wrench can then help you gauge the 1/2 turns and full turns b/c now you can read it like a minute hand on a clock. What do you guys think?

See less See more

G

Discussion Starter · #16 · Mar 10, 2002

Hmmm, yeah but now I know though that I'm just going to set them on full hard, cause like ChrisK said, it's bearable, and I really just want to get the best possible performance out of my legend so long as I'm not going to get angry that something doesn't feel right for regular driving.

legend4life

· #17 · Mar 10, 2002

im trying to decide between eibachs or h&r's..........im wondering if i use the lowest settin on the koni's and with the eibachs how low will my car look.............does anybody have a pic of this setup?

G

Discussion Starter · #18 · Mar 11, 2002

2

Here are some pictures of ChrisK's car with Eibachs + Konis on the lowest perch all the way around. Click here for the original post, but I'm not sure that you'll be able to get the pictures to work so I just loaded them to my own server.

See less See more

legend4life

· #19 · Mar 11, 2002

thanks man

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.