ErnestSw

Andrew,
If you'd cut open an old shock and sprinkled a little of the oil on the shrine you wouldn't be having this problem.

AO

I think I still might have a piece of one laying on my workshop from the '82 that I DID have to cut open to get the sleeve off. After our beer night tonight, i will make an offering!

RDS928S

Ok, guy's,

your making me nervous.
Tomorrow is the big day and big expense($720.00) for koni installation, ride height adjustment, corner balance and hunter 4 wheel alignment.
I just went outside and checked under the rear of the car and noticed the stock shocks have a threaded body. The Koni shocks are already at the shop but I can't remember seeing a threaded shock body on the koni's when they arrived?.
What gives? will they be able to install them?.

Thanks Rich

blau928

They will be able to install the shocks, but the threaded sleeves need to be JB welded to the shock body. You either buy a set and JB Weld them quick, or reschedule your appointment, or leave the car on the lift while the JB Weld dries..

You can choose.. As I said, the kit I got did not come with the threaded sleeves welded to the Koni's, so I had to leave my car up on the lift for 1 extra day while the JB Weld cured....

Or, you could try to assemble them without, (as others have said) find out you can't adjust the thing after it is together, and spend another $XXX to disassemble the setup to JB Weld it, and install and align all over again..

Again, you can choose which option you wish to use....

If the Koni's are internally Adjustable, and you are using stock springs, they may be a bit too much for the stock spring... Anyway, that's another can of worms.. I am assuming you got the adjustment tools to adjust the rebound on front and rear.....

HTH, Good Luck

Garth S

The only shocks that have a threaded body are bilsteins ..... if that is what you have, the lower spring perches and adjuster nuts will not fit Konis ( or Boges): also, you will have no threaded inserts, although that is purely academic ..... have I made you really nervous?
Please check your car and quote year, colour of the shock body, and confirm that both front and rear are threaded ... or that you just saw the lower extension of threads on the rear sleeve. On the rear, rub the grime away just above the mount eye - the manufacturers name is always stamped there.If you see threads on the front shocks, I don't need to add more - cancel the appointment ..... unless you have a box full of adjuster parts that were not mentioned.

Garth S

Hi Richard,
Thanks for the clarification: I was not trying to be 'flip' in my query - I really do wipe every part of the adjusters in antiseize grease prior to assembly. Only on the one adjuster( of 8 konis installed) did the sleeve slip. A spray with WD-40 and some sitting time cured that, aided by keeping the cars weight on the adjuster by jacking under the lower control are ( equivalent to reaching around the wheel with the car on the ground). They all adjust easily.
I never thought of securing the adjuster sleeves to the shocks, perhaps overwhelmed by the thought of eventual disassembly. Also, the assembled coil over exerts an enormous force against its seating ring: the contact surface between the threaded sleeve and the welded ring on the shock body is at best, say 1/10 square inch. The ~300 lb-in spring is compressed ~say 5" for install.
This would leave an ~ 15K psi binding pressure between the two parts, even ignoring the mass of the car - generally adequate to keep them from slipping, or so I had hoped.

ErnestSw

On my car, which had Boges originally, the threaded sleeves fit over the Konis snugly. Why would you want to put anti-sieze between the sleeve and the shock? The whole idea is to get the bottom of the sleeve to "seize" on the koni.

RDS928S

Ernest/Garth/Richard,

Ok-checked the original Porsche window sticker (which I have) and there is no sport suspension option listed. Also the right rear shock is leaking oil badly.
So I assume they can't be Bilstiens.
Although it's dark out and the car has been lowered I could see most of the front shock. As far As I could tell the shock bodies are not threaded.
I am hopping my situation is similar to Ernest where the threaded sleeve fits snugly over the Koni. And that is that.

Thanks for all the input.
Garths: Still a little nervous.

ErnestSw

Boges are gray.

Bill Ball

I'm conjecturing here, but I think the JB Weld might be regarded as a timesaver. My Konis were installed moving the parts over from the original shocks. No JB Weld. The sleeves jam down against a stop, as I recall. Initially there can be some slippage of the sleeve with the adjuster nut until the shocks are installed and the car is driven a bit to seat the sleeves against the stop. Then they should not spin. At least mine don't.

Before they were installed on the car 1 out of 4 sleeves did spin when I tried to set the static spring lengths (off the car) the same as I found them with the original setup. It was my idea that with the same springs, the same static spring length should end up producing the same ride height. I couldn't quite get there with one shock, so I had to wait until I drove around a little and seated that sleeve.

Ron_H

My experience mirrors that of Ernest and Bill. My original hardware was installed over orange Koni internally adjustable shocks. I did it in my garage and I was able to adjust ride height without a problem; nothing spun. Guess I missed something or got something right without realizing it. Wish I had paid for externally adjustable Konis though.

Bill Ball

Ron, with the tool the Carl developed, you can adjust the internals on the car. I have the tool if you want to borrow it some time.

Ron_H

Bill:

If your tool allows adjustment without dropping the whole shock/spring assembly, I WOULD like to borrow it, if you don't mind. I wish I had set the fronts a bit stiffer. Rebound is set to allow too much travel and large drops start an oscillation that lasts for about two or three cycles and must be affecting the front wheel loading. I think it should be set stiffer. Let's set a time to meet that's convenient for you. Maybe the next go kart party, or a tiem when you'll be at Devek.

Ron

Bill Ball

Ron: Yup, that's what it does. Anytime.

RDS928S

Ok,

the 928S is at the shop. By the end of the day I should be able to post the results of the install and hopefully an evaluation of the performance upgrade.
Unfortunetly I wont be able to snap any pics. Something called "reporting to work" conflicted with that idea.
Bill- I wish I had ordered Carl's external adjusting tool. I have seen it on his web site. I guess I will buy it any way for future tweeking.
Eurotire will be adjusting the shocks via the Koni manual which involves compression and turning by hand before they are installed.
My springs are stock. Can any suggest the proper shock setting for this set up?
Other suspension upgrades already installed include 928 Motorsports motor mounts, solid steering rack bushings and front & rear poly graphite sway bar bushings.

Regards Rich