Strange...following Koni's direction, I compress the rear struts and there's only .25 turn available. I assemble the strut with springs and turn the dial...I get two full turns. I thought the rear struts were only adjustable when compressed Not only that, the front struts go a full 2.75 turns...not the 2 turns reported by everyone else A new change Koni didn't tell us about or am I doing something wrong?

 

I did not compress the rears, and had the two turns you found. I think, (and hope) that is the correct way to adjust them. As I recall, the old orange Konis (without the *****) needed to be compressed to adjust. My fronts had the same range you have. No clicks, only infinite adjustment. I still wonder why people keep referring to "clicks".

 

Usually the adjustment range do go past their literature on most adjustable
struts including the TEIN coilovers but I wouldn't be turning it all the
way soft just to see how many revs you can get or how soft it rides.
My Tokico D-specs (other car) are infinite adjustment. it has 8+ full
revs. Ive never turned it soft past 5.


The TEIN coilovers actually do have a click sensation when you turn.

All I know is that Koni's come with terrible instructions from what i hear.

 

Another thing that threw me is that the ***** shows "firm" arrow direction to be counter-clockwise. All this time, I thought it was clock-wise...as to tighten.

 

Could anyone maybe give a quick synopsis of how to adjust them? I bought mine used and thus they didnt come with instructions There are all sorts of different answers on the internet depending what car it is, so i would love to know how to adjust the MINI specific ones.

 

You and me both LOL. The instructions aren't much help as they are visual, no words. Do you have to compress your rears to adjust?

 

I havent even unpacked mine yet....the seller forgot to send out the adjustment ****...and i need to drive back to college where i dont have a garage to work on my car I plan on driving home to install them sometime soon and was just wondering....

have you looked at randy webbs site? It seems like you just twist the ****? The koni site has a pretty lame FAQ about adjusting...but it might help a little bit?

 

The last time I talked to Randy, I thought he said righty, tighty.

 

here are the helpful parts of his installation guide thingy

dont know what that means...maybe just follow the ****?

it SORTA sounds like you just leave it uncompressed and just twist the ****...it does say top?

 

I just turned following the arrow on the ****. I did not compress the shock to adjust it. With H&R springs, I have mine set at 1/3 turn from full hard in the rear, 1 turn from full hard in the front. It is working very well on the track, and I like the firm ride on the street.

 

Not sure if this applies to our model strut (What is our model#?), but it may help. My Koni's come tomorrow so I'll be interested to see what happens with regard to adjustment.

http://www.koni-na.com/adjustment.cfm

 

Ok, I didn't know exactly what you were all talking about but I just got the "instructions".

It appears that you have one set of instructions for several different types of shocks.

 

After talking to Koni tech, they inform me that the rears DO NOT require compression prior to adjustment. I don't know where I got that information (vendors?) One situation no one talks about is that the front adjustment tabs require the tops of the grease caps to be bored out for clearance. I installed small rubber domes to clear them.


For those of you who have had the Konis installed, do you find it strange that all of the rear shaft's load is supported by that thin (1mm thick) clip which sits inside the small (20mm diameter) aluminum collar ? I asked Koni and they told me that "sounds right"

 

That scared me too....i thought i was missing something

 

Glad to hear you have the same experience. I thought I missed something too How's yours holdn up? I'm going to take mine off in a couple days and check if the collar is still holding after running the shittiest stretch of I-75 few days ago. It felt like a machine gun On smooth roads, it's so sweeeeeeet

 

Holy crap, does anyone have a picture of how that collar, sleeve, and entire assembly are supposed to fit together?

 

I'll take a pic when I get it apart in a few days...but then I have to dump another pic in my gallery. Oh well, gotta keep up with the times...I guess there's nothing I can do...you guys looking into my past posts may not see the image associated

 

I still havent put mine on yet...i dont have a garage to work on my car here at college I plan to drive home to install them since its getting nicer outside. I'm switching from my harder H&R springs to the supposedly softer and split spring rate M7s as well....we shall see how my ride quality is affected(the roads here in OHIO suck right now!!!)

 

First: Place the white plastic washer at the top of the shock tube, where the shaft enters the larger assembly. Place the bump stop on the shaft and the aluminum ring with the notched side DOWN so it slips over that 1mm ring.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...sort=1&cat=500

Second: Replace the factory sleeve (make sure to line up the notch with the top/end point of the spring so it's level) Next, drill out the top of the factory cap so that the new Koni shaft can slide through but don't drill it too big so there is slop. Place the new sleeve (Steel sleeve about 1.5" long with a bevel on one end) with the bevel UP. This shaft keeps the rubber cap snug.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...sort=1&cat=500

Third: Replace the remainder of the factory parts (rubber sleeve and top of shock) One more drilling operation is required; the goldish washer type item that came from the top of the factory assembly. Koni supplies the new lock washer and nut. (Torque to 26 ftlbs?)

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...sort=1&cat=500

Look right?

 

Jim-if I was doing the assembly, that looks like the way I would do it.


MISFITOY-
This 1mm ring... considering that struts with spring perches use C-rings
that are only ~2 to 3mm in diameter holding up the entire corner of the car,
1mm that should be plenty to hold just the top mount together to the
piston shaft.... no? I wouldn't be too worried. Im sure you know this,
but u don't need to crank down the piston nut that high...just use
nylon backed nut or treadlock so it doesn't back out.

 

There are tens of thousands of people riding around on Koni shocks - many of them with spring rates much higher than what you're running. The clip isn't going to fail.

That said, a Koni rep who frequents the racing/HPDE/autocross forum at the honda site did warn that the anything you place on top of the clip must capture it. For example, the spring seats that koni provides encircle the clip to ensure that it doesn't come out of the groove. Decent quality coilover sleeves (such as Ground Control) do the same thing. The warning was about a couple very cheap coilover kits that don't encircle the clip. The description was something along the lines of a disaster waiting to happen.

The compress to adjust shocks do not have an adjustment **** at the end of the shaft. The fact that the adjuster was there should have been the giveaway. Seems like the label on the **** would have cleared up the confusion you had there as well. It's unfortunate to hear a vendor giving you wrong instructions to further complicate things.

The koni coilover kit that a vendor here was compress to adjust in the rear - probably where you got confused. I'll never understand why Koni insists on making this style. Noone wants them.

 

Thanks Mjolnir for the how to pics. That was my process also so I feel better now:smile: BTW, any comment on the front adjustment tab sticking through the cap? Thanks for all the input guys

 

I couldn't quite follow this thread, but...I've used Konis for about 12 years. The white adjustment **** will tell you which way is stiff and which way is soft. Be carefull with this ****; the portion that actually fits over the damper tab is an insert - not molded with the **** - and can fall out. The Yellow adjustables will work fairly well with spring rates up to 350lb/in.

 

I just got the fronts on and rather than hijack this thread I'll start a new one for my impressions.