Koni Sports+ GC + Stock Strut Top Users, few questions :)

[Charsiu]

Hey all :D

I've been searching for a set of new suspension setup to replace my Megan Coilover.

I was wondering if you have Koni Sports+ GC + Stock Strut Top on your 240sx (S13 mainly), did you notice any clunk noise from the rear cause the the rear springs?
I've noticed some pictures from the similar setup, that the rear spring didn't seat all the way to the top of the spring perch, I am afraid it will cause annoying clunk noise once go over the bump or during rebound.
Will this because of the spring that GC provide is too short? or it doesn't actually make any noise when the car is seat well?

Also, will 8kg/6kg (like on most coilover) a better setup match with the Koni or a 7kg/5kg since Koni Yellow might not be able to take that much harshness?
Car will be mostly street use with some track days once in a while.

Thank you very much and hopefully you can share your experience with me!

[SlideKing92]

You shouldnt hear any noise, before I got coilovers i had lowering springs on my shocks and same thing, spring didnt touch the top, but once they were installed and the full weight of the car was put on them, they sat well touched the top and didnt have any noise issues.

What made you get rid of your coilovers? If it was because of a stiff ride quality, you may want to consider getting a set of like DMax coilovers, i hear that they are pretty nice on the street on the full soft setting and are great on the track at full stiff. I am going to be switching to them pretty soon. Just a suggestion

[Charsiu]

I mainly only few Megan damper setting wasn't good and would like to switch to Stance or try out the infamous Koni+GC setup, lol

I've heard so many times that people said the Koni+GC is a much better setup compare to most of the budget full coilover setup out on the market, and I am willing to pay a bit and see if it's really that good.

If not, Stance is always my back up choice lol

[Driftastic]

i am currently looking into a ground control setup for both my s13 and my supra as well. let me know how it turns out

[NINJASPY]

the rears are not externally adjustable for the koni yellows for the "stock" s13 replacement. so some people use eclipse rears that are externally adjustable from the shock shaft. they are almost the same length. since it has bigger shaft, the top hats must be drilled out a few mm.

I have a set of megans and was planning on gutting them/ putting new shocks of the koni' type in there. just need measurements to see what shocks will fit in there. That may be a good alternative if you did not want to buy gc/top hats/ camber plates.

koni's shocks are much much much better than megans, 8/6 rate they will be fine, they reach the upper limit around 500lb+ which is about 9k rate. If megans run 8/6 and even 12/10 on the tracks, koni's will handle 8/6 with no problem

Problems with the koni yellow setup is the rears are not externally adjustable(solved with eclipse rear, only for s13 though) and the fronts do not go low enough for many people. Can't tuck fronts maybe 1 finger gap?

[Charsiu]

sorry but I don't understand what exactly mean of not externally adjustable?
Does that mean I can't adjust the damper once it's installed?
or it doesn't allow you to adjust at all?

[SlideKing92]

Stance are very good from what i hear, a little stiff on full soft, but i here they have great customer service if you ever have any probems i am either going to replace my current coils with Stance or DMax

[Charsiu]

Yes, Stance is really well made and feel very solid built.

I always love Stance and I've owned stance before :D Happy customer.


back to the topic, will I be running into any problem if I use the eclipse koni? Are they valve differently?... Just wondering... if not, they might be the cure :D

[OptionZero]

i get that clunk too
its annoying
trying to find a solution

it's because they aren't double height adjustable the way other coilovers are

[Def]

i get that clunk too
its annoying
trying to find a solution

it's because they aren't double height adjustable the way other coilovers are

Tender springs can keep everything snugged up, but I never got any kind of clunking when I had spring droop on my 8611/8610 setup. The rebound is enough where it will easily hold the wheel up against the spring on a bump where you lose weight on the wheels.

If you get clunking when you turn the steering wheel, you just need some sort of bearing that will actually turn when you turn the steering wheel. The spherical bearing will not do this(it's not made to do this in the first place). Get some torrington bearings or Vorshlag upper mounts.

[OptionZero]

No noise when turning. I have torrington bearings in the rear and vorshlags in front, remember?

I can't figure out why the rebound isn't keeping the spring tight. I did fool around with my settings (At one point i had it at zero). When i cranked it back up to 2 turns (out of 2.5 turns), the noise was reduced but was still noticeable. I need to get the car up and look around to see if something is dramatically wrong.

Another explanation is that I have my rears set to the lowest ride height. Could that explain it? I know most people with that setup don't have it that low

also i have an s14 and others have s13s

[Def]

I can't keep everybody's suspension setups straight. I probably have had 50+ people PM me asking me about their suspension in the past couple of years...

Tender springs would be the easiest way to get rid of that noise, and also not worry about lifting the rear tire up on the track. Might not be able to go as low, as you'll probably add about 1" length to your spring due to the block height of the tender spring.

[OptionZero]

i'm reading about the difference between helper and tender springs. . . don't i want a helper spring, since all i want to do is keep the main spring tight against the perch?

[Def]

Might as well give yourself some rate while you're actually drooping the spring, especially in the rear. Doesn't need to be much, I'm running 50 lb/in tenders in the back and they made a big difference on bumpy corners, so apparently I was getting some inner wheel lift.

[OptionZero]

where are you finding 50lb/inch tenders? can't seem to find it on the eibach site

[Def]

H&R 2.5" tenders.

Not sure if this link will work:

http://store.allsprings.com/shared/StoreFront/product_detail.asp?RowID=1846&CS=allsprings&All=

The 2" and 4" springs are both 50 lb/in tenders. They were about $30 cheaper per pair when I bought 'em. If you want a rate closer to stock look into a ~150 lb/in Eibach tender spring.

[OptionZero]

finally got the car up and messed with everything

clunk is indeed the droop and the spring not being pressed firmly against the topmount and perch

helper/tender springs are the solution

i need to talk to richard and see if he can redesign V. 4 or V. 3.5 mounts in the future to be able to go lower and avoid the droop problem


on an unrelated note, i figured out my stupid groaning/creaking noise has nothing to do with my suspension . . . its coming from forward of the rear suspension arms

just a damn old frame i guess

[Def]

IMO, V3 housings go low enough for serious driving without drooping 7" springs.

[OptionZero]

yes, but if you designed the housing to go lower, one would have the ability to adjust the height with the coilover sleeves.

greater range of adjustment

i'm not asking to be tire tucking low, just to be able to put the fender on top of the tire without so much clanking

[Def]

yes, but if you designed the housing to go lower, one would have the ability to adjust the height with the coilover sleeves.

greater range of adjustment

i'm not asking to be tire tucking low, just to be able to put the fender on top of the tire without so much clanking

If your spring is at the top spring hat at your desired ride height, it requires great preload to raise the car up at the expense of actual suspension movement. In other words, preload = bad, reasonable ride height = good.

[OptionZero]

the top of the spring doesn't appear to be touching the top hat . . . there's a small gap, which is even more exagerrated during driving, causing the clunk

[Def]

the top of the spring doesn't appear to be touching the top hat . . . there's a small gap, which is even more exagerrated during driving, causing the clunk

I know. I'm just saying that designing housings at your desired ride height would leave EVERYBODY stuck at that ride height.

I can't see you having all that much travel before getting into the wheel well at your ride height. I know my car would surely be getting contact that low.

[OptionZero]

s14's pretty much have infinite clearance in back from what i hear

that dude gsracerr managed to fit some huge tires in back (315?) and he's fairly low (Albeit with a good pull)

a lower housing would still allow someone raise up with the sleeves or use a taller 8611, isn't there another version that's longer

[Def]

You cannot really raise the car up once the spring is at no droop!!! You'd just be preloading the spring and only gaining a small amount of extra ride height and a crappy ride.

I have plenty of clearance in the rear, not so much in the front(same as every S chassis).

Yes there are taller/longer 8611's, but they are too long for our application to have enough travel(even with the car up high).

[OptionZero]

Maybe we're not talking about the same thing.

From what I understand, the S14 housing has a section that can be shortened and move the entire damper down, so travel wouldn't be affected.

I'm not talking about lowering the ring where the perch sits.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/OptionAero/KoniGroundControl/IMG_3799-1.jpg

look at the area right next to the 1, couldn't that be shortened?

[Def]

We are talking about the same thing.

Yes, you can shorten 1 and get more travel for the same ride height. If you shorten it to the point to where YOU(with a pretty low ride height) have zero preload/no droop, then there is no way for anybody to run a ride height over that.

There are longer travel 8611/8610's, but I think the jump in housing length and travel is pretty large. Not sure if they'd work out for an S14. Besides, you'd have TONS of spring droop then with a longer stroke shock.



I never got one peep out of my GC + Koni setup while drooping the springs as well.

[OptionZero]

how did you avoid having the spring rattle around and clank?

if worst came to worst i could have a shop hack and reweld mine, i suppose, but i doubt i'll go that far just to be low

[Def]

I never went off any sweet jumps I guess. I don't know how you're constantly unweighting the wheels except going up driveways/entrances at extreme angles(which would always lift the inside rear wheels with any coilovers without tender springs).

[OptionZero]

bay area roads are ridiculous

they really are cracked

it does seem ridiculous that they're unloading even on relatively level freeways that don't seem that bad