I have just bought 4 new adjustable Konis. Whats the starting point, wheres the ending point? Whats the ideal setting How do you know when you are there. There are no instructions of any use in the box. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
If there are no instructions they may not be adjustable. If they are, externally adjustable ones have a protruding nub from the top that a nob fits over for adjustment and are typically yellow. I do not have a Ferrari but have a car that allows external adjustables in the front but not in the rear and requires removal of the rear struts for adjustment. The fronts are yellow, the rears are red (yes, that's intentional by Koni as far as I know). For my rear struts, removal from the car is required. Once the strut/spring is taken apart, you must compress the strut completely to actuate the adjustment valve and then rotate the strut. IIRC, for mine, clockwise for stiffer and counterclockwise for softer. Most struts allow around two full turns before they stop turning. In my experience (had the rears off a few days ago and tweaked them) it's a matter of trial and error. When I put them on my car I had both fronts and rears on the "medium" setting (halfway between full stiff and full soft), but found that the car handled better when I moved the fronts to full stiff so that the rears were softer than the fronts. I have a 350 lb spring rate in the front of my car and a 300 lb spring rate in the rear, so that made sense to me. I took the rears off, adjusted them to full soft, kept the fronts on medium (I have been told that Koni does not recommend running the struts on full stiff), and the car handles much better now. *Keep in mind: remember, this is not on a Ferrari, and my car is front wheel drive. My knowledge is very limited, but I assume that basic chassis principles apply when setting your car up for the first time. Take a look at weight distribution, spring rate, and adjust accordingly. The trial and error is sort of fun for me. It gives me something to do.
80, 82, 86, 87, 88, 90, 8040, 8240, 8640 SERIES Remove the shock absorber from the vehicle and hold it vertically with the lower eye or pin attachment 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 adjusting nut engage in the recesses of the foot valve assembly. Some shock absorbers include a bump rubber concealed under the dust cover that must be removed prior to adjusting. The damper may have already been adjusted. Therefore check whether the shock absorber is in the unadjusted position or not by keeping it collapsed and gently turning 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. Make a note of the setting. Keeping the shock absorber collapsed, make 1 half turn (180o) to the right (clockwise). In case of prior adjustment add the number of half 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 I set mine mid position.
