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Do Koni Shocks tend to Squeak when new?

Condor1970

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After installing a set of Koni active shocks and struts, I noticed when I hit bigger bumps, a squeak/chirp coming from both sides of the rear. There's no tire rubbing, and I had the bushings clocked by the alignment tech, and torqued.

Due to tight tolerances, do Konis tend to squeak when new? I'm wondering if it's just because of some really tight seals. Perhaps putting some Silgrease on the shafts is OK? Or is that a big No-No?
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Vicr

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No they shouldn't squeak and don't put anything on the shafts that will attract dirt.
 
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Condor1970

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No they shouldn't squeak and don't put anything on the shafts that will attract dirt.
I agree lubing the shaft would be a bad idea. Even if you could keep it clean, I would think the wrong lube to begin with, could damage the seals.

Normal driving and small bumps or cracks in the road do not make any noise. It's when I hit a big dip in the road, or a speed bump they squeak.

I read on the Bimmer forums that sometimes the lower bushing may squeak when a large cycle occurs and it rotates a lot more, but there doesn't seem to be any way to lube them other than maybe shooting it with some spray lube, and hope it penetrates.
 

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I agree lubing the shaft would be a bad idea. Even if you could keep it clean, I would think the wrong lube to begin with, could damage the seals.

Normal driving and small bumps or cracks in the road do not make any noise. It's when I hit a big dip in the road, or a speed bump they squeak.

I read on the Bimmer forums that sometimes the lower bushing may squeak when a large cycle occurs and it rotates a lot more, but there doesn't seem to be any way to lube them other than maybe shooting it with some spray lube, and hope it penetrates.
Never heard a squeak out of mine.
 

shogun32

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there are rubber isolators under the spring and if those are dry/cracked/old the twisting motion of the spring causes them to squeek. A dab of wheel grease should be fine.
 

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JCFoster

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I have had them for awhile and still have them on front, but my rear shocks lasted about 10k miles. I didn’t have any squeaking or chirps, but did have a bumping sound at slow speeds over big bumps. I swapped out rear shocks to confirm it was just the shock. I ended up going back to oem shocks on the rear.
 
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Condor1970

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It would seem odd that both rear shocks are bad, right out of the box. I have a feeling maybe some of the bushings came loose. I'll torque everything again next time it's on the rack.

I did put a thin coat of sil-grease on both upper and lower isolators.
 

JCFoster

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They were the first batch when they came out. A couple other guys had the same issue. Hopefully they figured it out. My front struts are still doing good.
 

TheMegalodon

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These dampers are trash overall. The front struts are decent so I left them in but my rear shocks shit the bed within 5k miles and were making plenty of rattle noise. I believe the valve or piece inside that modulates the fluid flow probably came loose. It’s a poorly built twin tube shock and not appropriate for this car, especially when lowered. I went with Bilstein monotube gas shocks in the rear and they’re significantly better without issue. Should have gone Bilsteins to start. Fuck Koni

Edit: I never bothered going through the hassle and cost of a warranty claim within the year.
 
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Condor1970

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UPDATE: Well, after a couple months of daily driving, it almost seems like everything has smoothed out a bit, settled to everything pretty level, and no more squeaking. the squeaking was pretty noticeable when hitting heavy bumps on the way to work, but now when I hit the same bumps, no more noise. I can't help but think maybe these shocks just need some time to work/break in.
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