JohnKoaWood

OH, I will roll over 200K before the end of next week... or tomorrow depending on how tomorrow goes...

m73m95

Yeah, I'm kind of in the same boat as John...miles wise. In this great economy, I've had to tour the country in search of work. I've put nearly 20k miles on my car in the last 8 months.

Anyway, I don't have any kind of affection for Koni. I just want the best "extreme street" setup I can have. I've heard the Bilsteins are to firm for the street, so I was choosing koni based on that. What I'm saying is, I don't give a damn about a brand name, I just want to have a great handling car that won't make my kidneys bleed.

I was surprised to find Koni's already under my car, so I'm still leaning towards a rebuild, but just for moneys sake. If the consensus is that new Koni's suck, then I will get something else.

Does anyone know where or how I get my koni's rebuilt? Is it something I can do myself?

And, what DO you (anyone) think about Bilstein HD's on the street?

roman944

Mark - buy Billstein, chey are cheaper, try them out, if you don't like - sell to me for half price

JohnKoaWood

I have new Konis, and like them, but I cannot speak for longevity nor can I speak to Bilsteins... My N/A is running bone stock new factory Sachs/Boge (sp?) and rides just fine, I went Koni on the 951 as replacement for the factory Konis... I have almost 2K on them, and have no other issues other than needing to fine tune the firmness front to rear to prevent wheel lift on sharp turns with speed...

How is the job search going?

m73m95

Jobs in my area are nonexistent. I've been trying to hit little 30/45 day jobs in and around about a 1,000 mile radius of here (Las Vegas) to keep income coming in.

I'm still trying to find information on rebuilding the koni's I already have. I don't know if that would be cheaper/better than buying new billsteins...

roman944

why not call Koni?

m73m95

Well, there are a lot of shops that are "authorized" to rebuild them, but its avg. of $120 per shock to rebuild them, and new shocks from paragon are $128. I'm thinking rebuilding them is a scam lol.

I was looking to do it myself since the Koni's on our cars are not pressurized, but I can't find a kit.

JohnKoaWood

Only rebuild kits I know of are the Hacksaw kits... replaces the guts with a replaceable insert... ends up looking like..



my cables pretty much fell apart, so I used zip ties in place... will probably delete the cable all together in the near future...

m73m95

John, why did your shock shell (?) change?

I mean, when you replaced the insert, why did the grommet and brake sensor holder change?

JohnKoaWood

The strut body is the origional Koni body that was on the car...

My original cable and the plastic "clip" disintegrated... PO didn't have the means to properly care for the car... LOTS of "fixes"... I used the Zip ties to get through inspection.. I plan on doing a full brake sensor delete, so no reason to replace the plastic bits... as of right now I am running without brake sensors, no need as I regularly check my brakes, and with open faced wheels it is easy to just look...

as far as the grommet, I got the cross drilled rotor "kit" from 944 online, the new brake hoses (stainless steel braided) didn't have a grommet to fit where the factory rubber hose fit... the grommet is there again, to pass inspection (NEVER going back to that inspection station, they giged me for the grommets)

kdjones2000

I had my M030 Koni's rebuilt by Koni. About the only time it really makes sense to go this route is if you want the factory original stuff, and/or if you have M030 and want to keep them capable of being modified to be dampening/rebound double adjustables. Koni will do that for you for a small fortune as well if you want.

As stated above, the rebuilts cost essentially as much as new shocks/inserts. It doesn't make much sense to go rebuilt, especially since if you buy new retail ones you get a lifetime warranty, but if you go rebuilt they only guarantee them for 90 days.

Cheers, Keith

m73m95

I just installed the SS brake lines, but I reused my old grommet. I cut it off the old hose with just 1 small slit. Then when I put them back on the new hoses I made sure the cut was to the inside. They don't fit as tight as the rubber hoses, but its still tight enough so I know they won't fall out.

When I do finally decide on what suspension kit I want under my car, I'm doing all of it. Bushings, springs, shocks, ball joints, tie rod ends will all be replaced. The Elephant kit has everything I would need, but only comes with Bilstein shocks. So, I'm torn between the Bilstein's with Elephant, or the Paragon Koni's

Has anyone else had trouble with Koni's?

JohnKoaWood

I did the ER bushings, with my Konis... also rebuilt the steering rack to include new tie rod ends and rack mounts.. Rebuilt the ball joints too... OMG it is a totally different car now... You wont be disappointed with whatever shock/strut combo you use the rest of it will make you cry...

Sorry, but relevant in my little pea brain...

m73m95

Also....I was Just on the Bilstein website, and they also have a lifetime warranty to the OP.

So my only question now is with quality. Both workmanship, and ride.

EDIT........

I did a simple "Koni vs Bilstein" google search, and on every site that comes up (BMW forums, Honda forums, street racer forums... etc etc etc) the Bilsteins seem to win hands down. a few people here and there like the Koni's, but its 10 to 1 in favor of Bilstein's....

I guess I'll get the elephant kit with Bilstein's