I tried researching it on the Koni web site and I could only find this (copy and Pasted):
Q: KONI makes some shocks that are not gas shocks. Why?
A:There are basically three types of shock absorber designs: mono-tube high pressure gas, twin-tube low pressure gas and twin tube hydraulic (non-gas). Each of these designs has a certain ride and performance characteristics that can enhance the performance of a vehicle and KONI is the only company that makes three designs.
Basically I have the Koni yellows sport. What design does this fall under and are they gas shocks?
I understand that with gas shocks they will rebound after you hand pushed the rod in. Please correct me if I’m wrong. I’m testing my shocks to see if they’re bad. 7 years daily driven.
My understanding is that Koni yellows are hydraulic. Other than fluid leaks you’re not really going to be able to diagnose it being blown with it off of the car. If there are no leaks and you’re not feeling like the suspension is now bouncy, and thus not being properly damped, then they should be fine. You can always send them to Koni to be tested, but this isn’t exactly cheap.
Thanks for posting Colin. My DA is lowered. Its a 1 finger gap on all four. Konis are 7 years old with neuspeed springs that are more than 10 years old.
I’m getting body sway on high speeds. Feels pretty frightening as you feel like you’ll lose control of the car when I switch lanes on the freeway. I thought it was my bushings. I changed All of them to OEM. Still I get sway. I’m aiming now towards the shocks. But I don’t wanna spend more on something thats probably not the issue. Thats why I need to test the shocks. So doing the hand compression test won’t help any? Also I dont see signs of fluid drip or it being oily. Just a small film of dust.
What do you think the problem is on the sway issue? thanks
I would think your “sway” has nothing to do with shocks. If your shocks were so bad that the car was swaying side to side dangerously simply from changing lanes then it would be OBVIOUS that the shocks were blown 100% of the time when driving, not just when changing lanes. For instance, whenever you hit a bump the car would bounce up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down as you drive down the road after you hit the bump and eventually the bouncing would dissipate. I’m sure you’ve seen old 70’s-80’s era domestic sedans with blown shocks bouncing on the freeway when they hit bumps. If your shocks are in good condition then when you hit a bump the car should bounce up and down once, then settle down. Even with completely blown shocks I don’t think the car would exhibit the symptoms you’re having.
Which Neuspeed springs are you using? The Race or the Sport? It probably doesn’t matter, but worth asking anyway.
Regardless, I would assume that the problem is not shocks and that it’s something else in the suspension. When you say “sway” do you mean that the car is rocking back and forth? When I think of “sway” I think of “anti-sway” bars, which prevent the car from rocking side to side. But it sounds more like the sway you’re talking about is the car swerving side to side? Have you checked:
springs
wheel bearings
inner/outer rod ends
ball joints
radius rod bushings
trailing arm bushings
all suspension components to make sure they aren’t loose
Yes the car does not bounce like that. Its very firm when I hit a bump. As when I first drove off with brand new struts. No continual up and down motion. Its the freeway driving thats not the same anymore.
I’m using Neuspeed Race. They visually seem fine.
The best way I’ll describe the “sway” is, I’ll be driving 60 and over on the freeway. I’ll abruptly switch to one lane, the car would “rock like a boat” for about a second then stay firm with the steering wheel straight. I don’t have to switch lanes to rock like a boat. I’ll jerk the steering wheel from left to right and the car rocks again for a second. Something is not right here.
wheel bearings
inner/outer rod ends
ball joints
How do you check these?
With the tire up in the air, do you rock the tire to see if there is play? If thats so, I did that last week to see if there was play. None. It was good. Or do I have to be more thorough on checking?
RTA bushing are brand new
Radius rod bushings are new.
Yeah, checking those components isn’t easy, sometimes its hard to feel the extra slop. I just did my ball joints as a precaution and my rod ends because the boots were leaking.
[QUOTE=Colin;2300255]Yeah, checking those components isn’t easy, sometimes its hard to feel the extra slop. I just did my ball joints as a precaution and my rod ends because the boots were leaking.
I didn’t have any that I specifically noticed, I just decided to do a full suspension overhaul as a precaution since I’d never replaced the bearings or ball joints and I track the car so I wanted to know they were new.
So I’m swallowing my pride and taking the car to a reputable alignment shop. Yelp says it all. I played dumb and told them my handling issues. I didn’t tell them what I replaced just to test their expertise.
Speaking to the tech one on one, with no test drive yet, he suggested the Rear trailing arm bushings, or struts are probably going bad. Well I just replaced the RTA OEM couple of weeks ago so its not that. And the Koni yellow sports have 51k on them. No signs of bouncing up and down. There pretty firm. I don’t know much about struts but he could be right about those. Remember, we haven’t test drove it yet. I have an appt with them at 10am. I’ll let you know what they think the issue is.
Definitely keep us posted, I’m interested to see what it is. I still just find it hard to believe the shocks could be the culprit if they aren’t obviously blown. Have you tried adjusting the shocks? I didn’t think about this before, but you could set them on full soft, test drive, then full stiff, and test again. If the problem gets better with the stiffer setting then it could be a sign the shocks are playing a role. Of course it could also just mean that the problem can be made not as bad by changing shock settings even though they are unrelated…
^ The front is at full soft. When I first installed the konis 7 years ago, it was on full stiff. It was bouncy on the freeway. I didn’t like that so I adjusted it to full soft. I’ll try adjusting it to full stiff on the weekend to see any difference.
Well, I just came back from the shop. I still can’t believe the results from the tech, or should I say several techs. People reviews say that “these guys know their stuff”. Especially in lowered cars. So they checked all front and rear bushings for deteriations. Struts are good. They checked for loose bolts and anything out of the ordinary. They all check out good. They test drove it on the freeway and knew what I was talking about. The previous Alignment is on the spot.
THEY SAID IT WAS MY KUMHO TIRES!!! Even though they already knew they were brand new 205 50 15 GSR (fat fives) wrapped on Kuhmo AST tires. They inflated all four to 44 psi which originally were 32 and if that doesn’t work, I’ll need to invest in better tires they say. No freaking way!! Dissappointed. I drove on the freeway and handling still not solid. Or do you think they’re right?
The ride won’t be more bouncy when they are at full stiff. It’ll be stiffer, but not bouncier. It should be bouncier when it’s on full soft. Think of “bounciness” as being how many times the spring compresses, springs back, compresses, springs back… basically the oscillation of the spring. The shock’s purpose is to dampen that oscillation. A stiffer setting means that the shock fights back more against this oscillation which should mean the spring doesn’t oscillate as much and the affect is you feel the bumps more.
This actually doesn’t surprise me, I assumed you would have pointed out the problem started when you got new tires and you never mentioned anything about tires. Some tires are known to follow grooves in the road and it can definitely be a sketchy feeling. Do you have a second set of wheels/tires you can throw on in order to test their theory? Do you notice a difference in the feeling of the car pulling side to side based on the road surface or the amount of crown?
[QUOTE=91akira;2300411]THEY SAID IT WAS MY KUMHO TIRES!!! Even though they already knew they were brand new 205 50 15 GSR (fat fives) wrapped on Kuhmo AST tires. They inflated all four to 44 psi which originally were 32 and if that doesn’t work, I’ll need to invest in better tires they say. No freaking way!! Dissappointed. I drove on the freeway and handling still not solid. Or do you think they’re right?
Please give me some input guys![/QUOTE]
I had those Kumho AST’s and had the EXACT same problem you are having. I even had them on fat fives too. The sidewalls on those tires are AWFUL. I remember during “spirited” driving on backroads i would have to almost preload for a lack of a better term the tire before i felt what the chassis was going to do. I replaced them with yokohama s-drives and the car felt 10x better. High speed stability was much improved, and the car tracked nice and straight. There is a reason those tires are around $100-$200 cheaper a set than the next brand.
^YES. I could kiss your feet! just kidding. Well these mechanics did know their stuff. Gosh I just spent about 400 on these Kumhos. I dont think Discount tire would want these back after 65 miles on them. And I don’t have an extra set laying around. Oh well, I’ll ride them through till there done.
Thanks turbo and Colin for helping me out. Also before I google how much the yokohama s drives are, what other tires would you recommend that WILL NOT give me the handling issue?
Www.tirerack.com
Read reviews, compare specs…etc. my recommendation would be BFG Rivals, Bridgstone RE-11A, or Hankook RS3, but those are likely more aggressive than you are looking for. I have heard decent things about the S Drives, I have a set but I’ve never really driven on them, they’re just on my spare wheels and I use em to roll the car around in the garage.
No. I sold the wheels with the tires. But any 205/50/15 tire will mount on a fat five wheel, so to answer your question yes they will mount up.
I have Dunlop Direzza DZ 101 star spec tires with team dynamics pro race 1 wheels on the car now and they are great. My tires are over 4 years old and apparently there is a new version on tire rack that has poor review for wet weather. I dont daily drive the car so I cant comment on treadwear or rain handling but the dry handling is great and I have nothing to complain about with them.