What a good starting setting? I rebuilt my front end and set the shocks half way and they seem to rebound at the same rate as the Monroe's I took off.
I'm not finished yet with the rebuild and I figure if someone knows a good setting to start with, it would be easier now then later to set them.

 

Sorry if the following isn't exactly what you want to hear, but unless you're just incredibly lucky there isn't any way to nail perfect shock settings the first time around. Just too many variables in play here such as vehicle weights, CG, springs, bars, geometry, tires, types of roads/circuits, driving style... Thus, the beginning baseline for adjustable shocks designed for your application should probably be ~1/2 way between full hard and full soft, simplistic as that may sound. Then drive the car enough to get a good read on whether or not you need more or less dampening (front, rear, or both) for the type of driving in question.

For general purpose street driving, suggest running shocks as soft as you can without loosing control of the unsprung masses. For AX/RR, where comfort isn't an issue, so as long as this control is maintained you should be able to improve transistions into and/or out of corners with careful adjustment (most likely towards firmer dampening at one or both ends of the car), depending on the circuit and conditions. Setup for spirited road driving should tend to be a compromise between those for general and track use.

Even if you're satisfied with the initial setup out of the box, by all means play with them. You've paid for adjustability, so don't pass up the opportunity to dial them in, and perhaps learn something to boot.

 

Thank you skunkworks ! I see what your saying Is there a way to guage the shocks to make sure they're equal. I set them both and then compressed them both to watch how fast they rebound. They both rebounded at the same rate but it was a PITA! LOL

 

These are gas charged?

 

If you know someone with a shock dyno, that would give very accurate force/speed info, but such equipment likely isn't all that common outside of hardcore shops. Having seen them in use on a good number of occasions, I really wouldn't want to guess how to go about gauging them without one. If you suspect a dead/weak shock I'd definitely get in touch with Koni, given their warranty. FWIW, their site may not offer a lot of details, but I've found they're very helpful if you contact them for any assistance (especially the on the racing side).


noonie, looking at the OP again, I assume they're Classics, rebound adjustable, gas.

 

I messed with those single adjustable Koni`s for years (literally) and never saw much of a difference, replaced them with a set of re-valved (non adjustable) Bilsteins and have been a happy camper ever since.

 

I must admit having not played around with my Special D's before taking my steet shark out of service for a laundry list of additional mods and overhauls, so can't speak to that myself. But, sounds like I'm likely going to be a bit disappointed, having already been exposed to the versatiltiy of multi-adjustables trackside.

 

I personally like the Special D over the Bilstein, pretty firm and stable on the lightest setting. I prefer hydraulic shocks vs gas, especially if changing ride heights.

 

I choose single adjust QA1 just because they are easy to play with : just a **** and quite easy to access.
happy with them

 

They're the red classics. I'm running new moog stock height springs and stock swaybar with poly bushings all around. I'm hoping the springs will sit the car down to the stock height? They look very different. Much shorter and thicker coils.

 

I'm a satisfied Koni customer. I've had the red classics on two C3's and have enjoyed the ride I wanted as well as the performance. Never a problem.

 

Those thicker, shorter springs have a higher spring rate (most likely 550#) and could well lower your front ride height by ~1". They'll ride a little firmer (so?), and will reduce the amount your car rolls and dives (both good), but if you tend to press things you may notice increased understeer (not good if your car was balanced at the limits before).

Oh, and keep an eye on your front CA shaft bolts if your poly bushings didn't have serrated sleeves.

 

These are not your typical bump/rebound adjustable racing shocks. The total range is about 5 half turns.

 

To my knowledge the adjustment does not effect both bump and rebound. Check the instruction manual.

Front http://www.koni-na.com/comp.cfm

Rear http://www.koni-na.com/compb.cfm

 

They're not srreated . What happens.

 

Should I loctite the crap out of them???

 

They may stay put for many miles before doing so, but I'd definitely keep an eye on them, occasionally checking that they're not loosening. How frequently that needs to be done depends on a lot of factors. For any type of tracking I'd make sure they were on your nut & bolt checklist before every session. Loctite should help, but wouldn't depend on it solely.

 

Thanks for the heads up! I would have checked them once and then never again

 

I'm going to revive this old thread to see if anyone has an answer for my current concern. I have Koni Special D's on the rear with a 7-layer steel spring now. I want to upgrade to a composite spring soon, so will the old Koni's have enough rebound damping to control the composite spring? They have about 2.5 turns of total damping adjustment, currently set about 1 turn in, and the ride is fairly harsh.

 

If the old shocks show no sign of leaking and they are gas shocks they should be fine.