Put on a set of Koni Yellows last night and having some issues with the rears. Whenever I go over any sort of bump there is a loud clunk coming from the back of the car (both sides). The large bolt at the bottom is torqued to spec, as are the two bolts holding the assembly in at the top. I didn't transfer over the bump stops from the stock struts, although the noise can be heard even over the tiniest of bumps so I don't think that is the issue. I made the top nut pretty damn tight, but was hesitant to really crank it down with an air gun as the Konis come with a nylon top washer (as opposed to the stock metal one) and I really didn't trust that it would hold up well with a lot of pressure on it and the lock nut sitting on top.

The shocks are adjusted to full soft front and rear and I am using them with H&R sports. The fronts are fine, its just the rears. I am positive that I have the correct order and placement of all the bushings and plates that sit on top the shock as I had a really good set of instructions and took extra care to see how they came apart when I took the stock ones off the car. So should I just really crank down that top nut on the rears prior to mounting them even though the nylon washer seems kinda sketchy? Or should I drill out the original metal top washer to fit the shaft of the Konis and use that to really crank down the tension? (assuming the tension is the issue?)

Any advice is appreciated, thanks.

 

Nobody? Gonna try to take another look at it when I get a chance this week but it would be nice to have an idea of what needs to be fixed!

 

I see no mention of checking your sway bar bushing and endlinks.

 

I had considered that but I never touched either of those things during the install and this noise only started after I put the new shocks on, so it had me thinking it must have been something with the way I had installed them. Does anybody know if there is a specific torque spec for the top nut? that would really help if it turns out I didn't tighten it the right amount.

 

That description of the noise sounds like the few cases I've seen when the wire ring wasn't properly installed in the groove on the strut shaft, allowing the adjuster tab to contact the body of the car when hitting bumps.

Are you certain that you have the small wire ring installed in the groove on the strut shaft? Then the aluminum spacer over the wire ring in the correct orientation (the bottom of the aluminum spacer is machined to go OVER the wire ring)? The only nylon washer I've seen in the kits goes over the strut shaft, sits on top of the strut body, not on the top of the shaft. I'm almost certain you want to use a steel washer on the top. The top nut doesn't need to be super tight, I'd be careful using power tools on it, you can damage the internals of the strut.

Jason

P.s. If I read correctly, you are not running any bumpstop on the rear? Although not causing the noise, running without a bumpstop can damage the shock from bottoming from what I understand.

 

Yep I made sure to put the little spacer over top the small ring on the shaft and double checked that the correct side (the one with the indentation) was what was in contact with the ring. I agree that there should be a metal washer on top, but the oem one did would need to be drilled out to fit the koni shaft, which is larger. Also included in the kit was a nylon washer with the same diameter as the oem metal one, just with a larger hole cut in the middle so I figured that was to be put on top instead. As for the bump stops, I considered putting them on, but they were quite large, and given the fact I am already lowered, I thought that they might interfere with the travel too much. Although that I'm positive its not the issue, would you advise I put them back on anyways? The fronts don't use bumpstops so I figured it was fine not to use them on the rear.

 

If it was me, I would drill out the OEM washer and also install the bumpstops. If you are worried that they are too tall, it's easy to cut them shorter with a utility knife to gain a little more travel. I agree, the bumpstops are not the issue with the sound, but I think you should probably have something there for a bumpstop.

What are you running in the front? I've always seen bumpstops used on the Koni Yellows.

Hope you get it fixed!
Jason

 

Definitely going to use the original metal washer. Good idea about cutting down the bumpstops. Didn't like how tall they were but it gives me extra peace of mind knowing they are there. I'm using yellows in the front too, but with no bumpstops. The front oem ones didn't have any to transfer over, and koni didn't supply any either. Funny how the fronts are supposed to be a lot more work but its the rears that are giving me all the trouble. Hopefully it turns out to be something simple!

Good thing I don't rely on this thing as my daily driver

 

Andy, I am having the same issues with my rear yellow Konis and HR springs on my 06 R53.
I believe I have read of some issues with the yellow Konis on NAM, but no final resolution.
I had a mechanic go over the system when NM Lower Control arms were installed and could not isolate the noise. I need this corrected as it my daily driver and sounds like **** over the smallest ripples in the road. I will keep you posted and please update your posting if you determine the final cause.
good luck.
Gary

 

I know you said you did not touch the sway bar end links but I would check all the nuts to make sure they are tight. I slightly loose end link nut can cause a lot of noise.
If not the end links, I would suspect the strut top nut is not threaded down properly (maybe bound up a little before threading completely down. You can grab the spring and try to move it to see if you can reproduce the knock. You might need to jack up the car, put on jack stand, and then jack up wheel slightly to remove some drop and then wiggle the spring to make sure the spring is seated tight in the perch.

 

Something is definitely not right. I'm just puzzled because I know I torqued everything down properly and I didn't touch anything else while I was down there (endlinks, control arms etc). I'll be going to the shop again tomorrow, take a everything apart, and have a really good look at that area. Fingers crossed that its something really simple.

Heres a video I took of the sound that it is making.

 

If you verified everything is assembled correctly, I would just suspect a loose nut. Over the 10 years of owning a Mini Cooper S I have had three different causes for a suspension clunk after removing/installing the struts.

1. The front strut top nut bound up on a slightly damaged shock thread and torqued up before actually being seated all the way down on the perch. Strut knocked on bumps.

2. I was sure the rear top strut nuts where torqued down adequately but I had a knock. I found that I could grab the spring and rattle it in the perch. I tightened the top nuts a little more and all was good.

3. One of the rear sway bar end link nuts was a little loose causing a clunk. Tightened the nut and all was good.

 

To me that sounds like a loose top nut.

Use a strap wrench to keep the shaft stationary while you torque the top nut to whatever the torque spec is.

Also, you should be running bumpstops front and rear. I would recommend cutting a little from the firmer end of both the stock bumpstops.

- andy

 

Agreed about the bumpstops, I already cut the rear ones down and plan to reinstall them tomorrow. When I took the oem fronts off they didn't have any bumpstops on them so I had nothing to transfer over, is that normal? The pain with these konis is that they have a larger shaft diameter than oem so I needed to drill a bunch of stuff out including that large bell shaped metal piece that rests on top the rear springs. The little washer that sits inside the bumpstop that I'm guessing is for when it contacts the little metal ring further up the shaft is also too small as well.

 

I'm trying to picture this piece in my mind; from my memory the metal piece that sits inside the bumpstop is the piece that retains the wire ring too. It's a specific piece for the Koni's, you don't use the part from the OEM struts. Do you have the ability to post a couple pics of the pieces when you take it apart to install the bumpstops? I'm wondering if there is something different about your setup.

As far as the front bumpstops, yes, from the factory they should've been there. Sounds like someone forgot to re-install them at some point in the car's history. Easy to do, nothing beats finishing the job and looking over at at the bumpstops sitting on the bench....I'm experienced at that!

Jason

 

Here is the oem bumpstop and washer that fits into it. I had originally assumed that the the bumpstop would go on wider side up and the little washer would make contact with that small ring on the shaft of the konis. It just made a lot of sense to me from looking at it. However, the more and more I look at it, I begin to think that the wider end of the bumpstop is supposed to face downwards as it is the cleanest part. That has me thinking it is installed from the factory pressed up against the shock body. If thats the case, the little washer looks like something I could probably get away with not using.

Honestly I never thought these struts would give me such a headache! Koni gives the absolute worst instructions and the best install guide I could find (pelican) was for Bilstein Sports, which I assumed would be a very similar/identical procedure to the Konis.

Thanks for all the help everyone. I just hope its worth it when I get them set up properly!

 

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...eplacement.htm

I already have the koni supplied washer sitting as pictured in figure 9 of these instructions. Is that the part that replaces the oem washer? So I should just throw on the bumpstop on as pictured in that guide (larger side up) and I'm good to go???!

 

i had this same problem before. I got a set of used Koni's and the person didn't supply all the parts. every time i went over the smallest of bumps i got a clunk sound from the back. i figured out that it's happens when the wheels hit the bump and the springs compress causing the shock to rise and hitting the inside of the car. i found out that you need two washers to hold the metal collar inside the bump stop. When you tighten down the top nut it squeezes the metal collar in between the bottom washer and the top washer thus causing no movement up and down.

 

look at this pic i did this in like 30 sec to show you

 

So this this take care of your noise?

 

yes bc when you tighten the top bolt it pulls the shock upward, but bc of the two washer sandwiching the metal collar it hold the whole shock in place.

make sense?

 

Well good news everyone! I took everything apart, added the bumpstops and replaced the nylon washer with the oem one I drilled out. Made sure everything was tightened and now there are no noises!

It was a good opportunity to adjust them while they were off too. Added a 3/4 turn to the rears and 1/3 turn to the fronts. The ride is just perfection. Exactly what I was after.

Thanks to everyone who chimed in to help me out!

 

Glad you resolved the problem and can now enjoy the new shocks.

 

Anyone know where I could buy a replacement wire retaining ring?

Either mine was not installed by the "fabulous" shop that did my koni's or it flew somewhere when the spring decompressed.

Either way, I hope this can fix my clunking noise.

Edit: Koni sent me the missing parts for free. Spring clips and landing washers. Should be all set now.

 

I called Koni directly for mine.