[Shotimes] Konis

[George Fourchy]

On Fri, 16 May 2003 09:58:05 -0700, sho2go wrote:

>I suspect the Konis will
>last longer than the Tokicos particularly if not set on firm all the time.
>I'm getting ready to install some GenIII SFBs, the motor mounts are still
>fine (original).  How do you rate the SFCs on a bang for buck mod?  This car
>(95 ATX showroom cond.) is my highway cruiser and I don't want a rough
>rider.  It has SLO springs, but I will replace the fronts with a set of GenI
>springs when I change the struts.

I had Konis on the Lowrider for a year before I switched to Tokikos.  I had one
insert, right front, lock up, full tight, and would not move either way....it was a
mechanical failure inside the strut.   For what I paid for them, that was
unsatisfactory.  Other folks here have had them leak, far too soon after purchase.  
The Tokikos that were on it are still on it, 100k+ miles later.  I did get a set for
a '94 Escort wagon, and the two front ones lost their oil seals....since they both
did it at the same time, it was a manufacturing defect.  They were swapped for cost
of shipping.  

I had the Konis set on firm in the front (it was much lower then than now, and I
needed to protect the bumper cover), and medium in the back.  The car bounced on
freeway joints like a hydraulic suspended Monte Carlo....VERY uncomfortable.  There
is no adjustment for Konis on a SHO that would satisfy me.

It now has Delrin subframe bushings.  Another car here has aluminum bushings.  In
both cases, the handling was improved, with no appreciable loss in ride comfort. 
They make the car feel shorter, and more nimble, most of which is felt through the
steering wheel.  That's a change I would make to any car that had them, SHO or
otherwise.

You don't necessarily need to change from SLO springs to factory SHO springs.  I am
running junkyard SLO springs (off a relatively healthy '91 LX) on the front of the
Lowrider, and it handles JUST the way I want it to when I'm on the track.  I've
lowered the struts in the knuckles, as far as I could, and that combination seems to
be just right, with 225/55 Potenzas.  Remember that the strut will be doing the
damping, not the spring, and as long as you don't want to lower it way down with
aftermarket springs, rates from one factory spring to another are close enough for
any one of them to be good, as long as they support the car at the right height,
which is why I changed mine in the first place.

George