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Koni Yellow adjustable struts(Instruction manual)

kg2194

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I have purchased a set of koni yellow struts and shocks for my 2021 Gt prem with PP1. I also purchased a set of sportline springs. In the koni instructions which are super basic(IKEA ish)no words just basic black and white photos with X for no's. What i read in the instructions it looks like they are saying to reem out the holes in the strut mounting holes to an oval shape to give your self the ability to align the car. Is this correct? It seems like a good idea but i wanted to see if anyone has done it this way with success? I have attached the instructions here as well. thanks
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shogun32

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most people buy camber plates
 
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most people buy camber plates
So what i dont like about camber plates it the fact the bearing in the plate itself will start to make noise after about 20,000 miles. I had went thru 3 sets on my 2000 gt. Maxium motorsports. So i was hoping to be able to align it with out the plates. or i may go with the gt350 plates from ford if i have to.
 

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I have purchased a set of koni yellow struts and shocks for my 2021 Gt prem with PP1. I also purchased a set of sportline springs. In the koni instructions which are super basic(IKEA ish)no words just basic black and white photos with X for no's. What i read in the instructions it looks like they are saying to reem out the holes in the strut mounting holes to an oval shape to give your self the ability to align the car. Is this correct? It seems like a good idea but i wanted to see if anyone has done it this way with success? I have attached the instructions here as well. thanks
I am not sure what you expected - those struts match OEM, shop manual has instructions what to do if you want additional camber (slot the upper strut hole).

All depends on how much camber you want - slotting the strut is generally inferior to camber plates - way less adjustability, weakens the mounting location and some have reported bolt slipping in the slot.
 
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kg2194

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I am not sure what you expected - those struts match OEM, shop manual has instructions what to do if you want additional camber (slot the upper strut hole).

All depends on how much camber you want - slotting the strut is generally inferior to camber plates - way less adjustability, weakens the mounting location and some have reported bolt slipping in the slot.
thats what i was curious about, thanks for the info
 

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thats what i was curious about, thanks for the info
You can get roughly -2 degrees of camber with 1mm of strut hole enlarged - but if you do nothing, you should still be able to align the car within the spec. All depends on what you want.
 

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If you want to just get the Eibach camber bolts, they're about $30 and do the job without grinding on your new struts. You'll be able to get about an extra -0.7 degrees out if them. Some see them as weak, because they are smaller than the stock bolt, but they're still a pretty beefy bolt. I figure if it breaks, it's because I've ended up in the fence and broke it myself.
 

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Smaller than stock nearly always means that the installation torque will be lower than Ford's spec for strut to knuckle fasteners.

Less installation torque = less clamping load = a somewhat greater likelihood of having the adjustment slip. Not a good thing.

Inadvertently overtorquing the smaller bolt badly enough - which would be easier to do - can stress it into its "plastic range" and lead to its eventual failure. Really not a good thing.


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It either supports the load or it doesn't. It's one of two bolts taking the load, it's a high quality fastener and it's held in double shear. I have no problem running this bolt and I have yet to hear of a single one failing in normal use (outside of a collision). Yes, it is possible to install it incorrectly, but that's true with every part on the car.

Take a look at every fastener on the car. It is not apparent that any were chosen with an eye toward saving weight or with much concern at all to the actual loads they support. If you don't like the concept of an offset bolt, then by all means, don't run it, but that's different than a criticism of the part following a load/stress analysis. It passes that test easily.
 
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It either supports the load or it doesn't. It's one of two bolts taking the load, it's a high quality fastener and it's held in double shear. I have no problem running this bolt and I have yet to hear of a single one failing in normal use (outside of a collision). Yes, it is possible to install it incorrectly, but that's true with every part on the car.

Take a look at every fastener on the car. It is not apparent that any were chosen with an eye toward saving weight or with much concern at all to the actual loads they support. If you don't like the concept of an offset bolt, then by all means, don't run it, but that's different than a criticism of the part following a load/stress analysis. It passes that test easily.
 

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So thank you guys for all the help and sharing your knowledge with me. So i have a couple options here. I do like camber caster plates because they have lots of adjustment and when working they work well. for the 2021 mustang the camper plates also have me cutting off the top of the strut tower and i really dont like to do that on a brand new car. So i dont think i will go that route. The bolts seem like a good way to get her into spec but i was also curious about the existing bolt which are in place. they are splined which means they are in there very good and when you torque them to spec they call for 186ft lbs to torque them to. I know the smaller bolt cant get that tight. I think i would rather drill out my 200 strut and get what i can out of it. I will order the bolts anyway to check them out. i also know for makes some adjustable camber plates for the gt 350 that might work also krjv-18183
 

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So thank you guys for all the help and sharing your knowledge with me. So i have a couple options here. I do like camber caster plates because they have lots of adjustment and when working they work well. for the 2021 mustang the camper plates also have me cutting off the top of the strut tower and i really dont like to do that on a brand new car.
You've got a couple things going on. The first is why do you want to adjust camber? If you're lowering your car a little bit, that camber difference will likely not matter. Get an alignment to make sure your toe isn't completely out of whack, but a couple tenths of camber one way or the other isn't going to be a life-changer if it's spends it's life on the street. You might be inside factory specs (or only marginally outside) without changing anything.

If you are concerned about any sort of strength issue in the suspension, then plates are your best bet for a camber adjustment. Cutting of the strut tower hole is done to gain additional camber movement, but you can get about ~0.7-0.8* of adjustment without cutting the strut hole, so don't think the plates are useless without grabbing the holesaw.

If you're running the Street class in autocross, elongating the strut hole by 1mm is your only legal means of increasing camber. You'll want as much as you can get, so oval the thing out by 1mm to be legal, then go back and take another 1/2mm like everyone else just to make sure. You'll get about another 1/2 degree of negative camber and it will definitely improve the front grip of the car. If you're concerned about the strength of the strut, you can weld a washer on the strut clevis to reinforce the oblonged hole.
 

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It either supports the load or it doesn't. It's one of two bolts taking the load, it's a high quality fastener and it's held in double shear. I have no problem running this bolt and I have yet to hear of a single one failing in normal use (outside of a collision). Yes, it is possible to install it incorrectly, but that's true with every part on the car.
Whether these bolts are in double shear or not is irrelevant as far as clamp load is concerned. And clamp load - more accurately the friction produced by that clamp load - is what holds the joint in position. Double shear loading in the bolt is really a backup for when the friction positioning has failed (not something you want). Never mind that a 14mm thread in a 16mm hole won't be loaded in shear to begin with. Even if it's bottomed out on one side by active choice, that still leaves a 2mm gap in the other direction.


Given that the OE fasteners call for 186 ft*lbs installation torque, would you really trust the average shop tech who normally deals with 186 ft*lbs to not overtorque bolts that only call for somewhere between 90 and 125 ft*lbs? Or even put the impact tool aside and grab a real torque wrench? Do all DIY'ers specifically look for torque specs in the instructions that come with various products?


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That was one of the reasons I got shop manual.
Same here.

But it's still incumbent on you or any other installer looking to use anybody else's camber bolts to search for and find what installation torque that bolt mfr is calling for. Blindly throwing 186 ft*lbs at a 125 ft*lb fastener is a recipe for bad things happening.


Norm
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