Old Konis -- what should I do with them?

http://www.koniracing.com/shopservices.html

 

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Tom B

 

personally i would save them, you or the next owner might want to return the car to original condition.

 

I sold mine on Ebay. They were a mess. I took a bunch of pictures and described exactly the condition. The bidding went up to $101 for the rears.

I'm consistently amazed at how much my 'throw away' parts sell for on Ebay.
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Just out of curiosity, did you try adjusting them to a firmer setting before you declared them "old and tired?" This is done by compressing the shock completely to where the piston rod bottoms out inside the shock tube, then turning the rod clockwise (I believe.) You can probably find direction on Konis website. I believe the 308 shock are from the Koni 80-series twin tube hydraulic family.

 

I've got a set of four with the springs sitting in my garage as well...not sure what to do with them.

 

Koni's are NOT throwaways! In fact, you'd be insane to throw a set of rear GT4 shocks away as they are NLA...

They are rebuildable and will be perfectly fine afterwards.
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"...not sure what to do with them"



You could send them to me. Mine are worn and I was thinking of trying to rebuild a set myself. I'll pay postage.

 

Mike,
I'm in town if you want to come by and look at mine... taken off at 25K

Rick

 

My God!! Rob Garven disease has spread across international boundaries!!!

Seriously, nice work!!

Not the set I currently have laying about, but the previous set were sent off to TrueSports, Jim Trueman's (think Bobby Rahal) shop. (forget the name of the website but will look it up if anyone needs it) and they not only rebuilt the internals, painted the externals and put on new labels but they also shaved/sleeved/threaded the outer body so I could have adjustable spring perches.

hmmm... may be www.truechoice.com

Rick

 

It runs rampant among GT4 owners, regardless of where they are...

 

I found these instructions on Koni's site. I assume our 308 shocks are 82 series (Front = 82 1982SP6, rear = 82 1983SP6

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

Adjustment Procedure 76, 80, 82, 86, 87, 88, 90, 8040, 8240 Series

Rebound Adjustment Procedures



Remove the shock absorber from the vehicle and hold it vertically with the lower eye or pin attached in a vise. Use clamp plates to prevent damage.

Fully collapse the shock absorber, at the same time turning the dust cap or piston rod slowly to the left (counterclockwise), until it is felt that the cams of the adjustment nut engage in the recesses of the foot valve assembly.

Some shock absorbers include a bump rubber concealed under the dust cover and it must be removed prior to adjusting.



The damper may have already been adjusted. Therefore check whether the shock absorber is in the adjustment position or not by keeping it collapsed and gently turning it further to the left counting at the same time the half turns until a stop is felt. Stop turning then and do not use force.



Keeping the shock absorber collapsed, make 1 half turn (180 degrees) to the right (clockwise). In case of prior adjustment add the number of half the turns previously found. The total range is about 5 half turns.

Pull the shock absorber out vertically without turning for at least 1 cm to disengage the adjusting mechanism. The dust cap or piston rod may now be turned freely.



ADJUSTING DIRECTION

Clockwise = Firmer
Counter Clockwise = Softer

 

This works. I did it to the new shocks I bought and the OEMs I took off. Interestingly, the OEM shocks weren't even set to the same setting from one side to the other...weird.

 

But it costs just as much to rebuild as replace for a GTS/B. I read a bunch online where people in other types of cars had really poor experiences with rebuilt Koni shocks.

--For me it was a no brainer to replace them instead.

 

Ahhh, the key is to do it yourself! I don't have the exact number (I never add up my bills), but I figure I may have been able to do mine for around $150/$200 a corner - that would include the paint, decals, hydraulic seals (they're oddly enough, in inch size, not metric, so the shaft seals/O-Rings are all common stuff), spring pad rubbers, bushings (part of the maseratisource.com ebay package) and hydraulic oil (AW32). It may have even been less than that amount.

If the shock is not performing properly after a rebuild like this, then something was done wrong, like the valving in the piston installed upside down, or whatever. There's not really alot that can go wrong. All I can say, is that the rebuild TRANSFORMED my car after it was done. Like night and day...

 

A set of Koni's will out last every single person who has already registered on this site. Normally they don't need rebuilding, just compress and adjust to a firmer setting. If they do actually need rebuilding then it can be done ... but that would take like 100,000 miles if not many more.

Most people do NOT realise that ALL Koni's are adjustable. You simply have to remove them first ...

My Alfa GTV that I am restoring will have a set put on it and I will drive the cr@p out of it for the rest of my life, and the same shocks will be there right to the end.

Some of you are simply bought up in this wasteful and lazy throw away society ... do you even bother servicing your engine?, remember you can just buy another one, probably cost the same after you add up all your servicing costs, etc. Sigh ... no wonder everything new made is cr@p and made in China ...
Pete

 

Thanks Pete, I'm taking a break from FChat for a while. I try to post only constructive comments on my actual 308 ownership experiences and include lots of pictures whenever possible, hoping to help some other owners or would be owners on the path.

But the trolls are winning. I'm tired.

 

That's a steal if they're working properly. The least expensive replacements I could find were $225 each and I was told by a reputable F-car mechanic that they typically go for around $350-400 ea.

 

Apologies viper_driver, I over stepped the mark.

I got on my soapbox about this because I read so many threads (not so much on FerrariChat but other sites) where people modify their cars suspension when all it needed was to have a few bushes replaced and the original components serviced/replaced. They then rave on about how their modifications improved the car so much, but they do not have an accurate benchmark of how it would have been as the factory intended, ie. you cannot compare a worn out old car to a modified car and conclude that your modifications made the difference.

So my real point was ... drum roll, that in 75% of cases the old Konis do NOT need to be rebuilt. All that needs to happen is for them to be removed, collapsed and adjusted firmer a few notches/clicks to counter act for the wear and reinstalled.

Total cost $0, just a few hours of time.

But yes shocks are a very important part of a car and make a world of difference.
Pete

 

My car has 66k miles (showing on the speedo) and the shocks seem to need a rebuild. I have the shocks adjusted to four half turns front and rear and the car still has a unstable bounce. It did improve with a firmer setting and at slow speeds it's fine but at 60mph and faster it will cause the car to turn left or right when I hit a small dip. It doesn't have a body roll but a twist or spin at a level ride. I have replaced all the rubber and the toe-in is about an 1/8 inch front and rear.
What else could it be? Were is the best place to buy replacement seals for the Koni shocks besides Koni? What is the part number for QA1 or Blisten Shocks and springs for a 86' 328?

 

I managed to talk to the right guy ( I hope) at Koni. He told me the main problem is most Ferrari's sit, garage queens, and the shock's form a black slug and clog-up an orifice. If the shock has some resistance than just clean and replace the oil. The oil is a oso-32 which is between a SAE 5w and 10w oil that is used in motorcycle shocks. I found 10w hydraulic oil at Tractor Supply. I asked about the seals and he said they are 16mm and 55mm but that was not looked up, just a guess. The cost to have Koni rebuild them is around $125 plus parts which means $200 per shock but it is race season so it will take about 10 weeks for a return... I told him to hire more people and he agreed. So I'm going to try a cleaning on one and see what happens.

 

I used to see that quite a lot at the shop. I have seen them totally frozen or with very little movement. Usually the car has been sitting for years.

 

I just put QA1's on so I am thinking about selling my still good but old Koni's.