Koni Active Shocks

[shogun32]

Hey Matt any response from @SteedaTech? They seem to be back on the forums after Sebring.

Yes they've responded and we've actually corresponded extensively in the past. They are class act thru and thru even if we disagree on the "goodness" of a particular shock's damping. Right now I'm trying to find another suspension dyno closer to me (my normal guy is 90min away, SE of Baltimore) who is open. MD has their stupid rules, and also suspension guys are rather busy with the racing season finally getting kicked off.

I'm going to dyno both these Actives and some Bilsteins as well as my 2nd set of adjustable Actions before have the suspension reconfigured for the next and hopefully final round - though if I can offload the above, maybe I'll just jump over to Brian's Viking setup.

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[TheMegalodon]

Here’s a night time driving video with my phone in the cup holder facing the back seats. Turn the volume up or wear headphones and listen for the light to moderate knocking/rubber sound. That’s what I’m hearing from the rear suspension. Mostly over broken pavement like patched potholes or multiple bumps/cracks. Was not there when stock, was not there for first 1500km after install.

I’ll try to get a better video with the rear seats down for clarity. Mid way through the video you can hear more. Any preliminary thoughts?

Forgive the loud turn signals (Rythm is LED switchback turn signals without resistors - no exterior hyper blink).

 

[GT 550]

@shogun32 thanks Matt, would be interesting to know the different views points in general if you're ok sharing. Shock dynos are great, look forward to hearing about it.

@TheMegalodon it's a bit hard to hear Ryan but IIRC you said it seems to be coming from both sides. I think the only way forward is isolate it to one side, then swap the shocks over and see if the sound follows.

 

[TheMegalodon]

Here’s another quick clip I grabbed in a pinch today after taking a load of bottles to the depot. Sounds like my car is trying to talk to me in Morse code. Endlinks shot?

 

[Norm Peterson]

Here’s another quick clip I grabbed in a pinch today after taking a load of bottles to the depot. Sounds like my car is trying to talk to me in Morse code. Endlinks shot?

Could be. If the bar is under any preload for any reason, you may not be able to feel any looseness.


Norm

 

[TheMegalodon]

Could be. If the bar is under any preload for any reason, you may not be able to feel any looseness.


Norm

Hmmm okay. I had the bushings indexed when the car was aligned. I need to get under it again and see if the end links are loose. When jacking up one corner of the car to get a jack stand underneath, I’ve heard a loud pop sound a couple times in the past few months. Like the pressure on metal being released. No noises when I’m in the process of lifting it, but when I walked over to the other side I heard the pop. Figured maybe the pivots joints on the end links are shot or something.

I was so focused on it being something to do with the shock mount that I didn’t think to check a few other things for the noise, especially after having a ford tech look at it.

 

[TheMegalodon]

Update: it was the shocks. Just installed some Bilstein B6s today and there’s no more noise, no harshness, rides smoother. Should have bought them from the beginning. I’m relieved as hell and very happy.

Koni Actives are trash, especially on a lowered car. I’ll leave the fronts in cause they’re fine but down the road I’ll replace them if needed.

Don’t fall for the marketing BS. Koni’s quality is garbage. Should have stayed away knowing their sport dampers can be crashy.

 

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

Update: it was the shocks. Just installed some Bilstein B6s today and there’s no more noise, no harshness, rides smoother. Should have bought them from the beginning. I’m relieved as hell and very happy.

Koni Actives are trash, especially on a lowered car. I’ll leave the fronts in cause they’re fine but down the road I’ll replace them if needed.

Don’t fall for the marketing BS. Koni’s quality is garbage. Should have stayed away knowing their sport dampers can be crashy.

Dude, thank you for your extended experience with these shocks. I unfortunately fell for these claims on another vehicle (MB E550 coupe) and I bottom out so fucking often it's bullshit. Just can't rebound for shit at high speeds. I'm glad I'm not the only one, but now I'm fucking stuck with this setup for a minute. Also tossed my stock shit, so RIP. Should've just gotten coilovers. :/

 

[TheMegalodon]

Dude, thank you for your extended experience with these shocks. I unfortunately fell for these claims on another vehicle (MB E550 coupe) and I bottom out so fucking often it's bullshit. Just can't rebound for shit at high speeds. I'm glad I'm not the only one, but now I'm fucking stuck with this setup for a minute. Also tossed my stock shit, so RIP. Should've just gotten coilovers. :/

That sucks to hear man. Yeah if I had known about the Bilsteins off the bat I would have started there.
All the best with your next setup. I’ll hesitate to toss stock parts now if I have room to keep them for situations like this.

 

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

That sucks to hear man. Yeah if I had known about the Bilsteins off the bat I would have started there.
All the best with your next setup. I’ll hesitate to toss stock parts now if I have room to keep them for situations like this.

Yeah, I just got a killer deal on the SAs, so it seemed like it'd be worth it and I already had a set of springs. Really should've just put the springs on the stock shocks and rode that until it died. Hell, even if we got Koni Yellows, it seems like we would've avoided this issue lol.

 

[TheMegalodon]

Yeah, I just got a killer deal on the SAs, so it seemed like it'd be worth it and I already had a set of springs. Really should've just put the springs on the stock shocks and rode that until it died. Hell, even if we got Koni Yellows, it seems like we would've avoided this issue lol.

From what I’ve read, the Koni Yellows also aren’t great on this car and the ride is crashy. The twin tube rear shocks just can’t keep up. On this platform strong rebound is needed and the monotube Bilsteins and Ford Performance shocks do very well according to many different owners.

 

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

From what I’ve read, the Koni Yellows also aren’t great on this car and the ride is crashy. The twin tube rear shocks just can’t keep up. On this platform strong rebound is needed and the monotube Bilsteins and Ford Performance shocks do very well according to many different owners.

Damn. I'm actually reaching out to KoniNA for some damper dyno data. The graphs they have on their website for SA indicates it should be performing better than it. I'll update if I get something.

 

[shogun32]

I'd be very surprised if you can pry it out of their hands. The only Koni/derivative I'm happy with is Steeda's adjustable pro-Action. I have new Bilstein and "new" Steeda and some other Koni-clones (traditional and coilover) I haven't gotten around to dyno-testing yet.

 

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

I'd be very surprised if you can pry it out of their hands. The only Koni/derivative I'm happy with is Steeda's adjustable pro-Action. I have new Bilstein and "new" Steeda and some other Koni-clones (traditional and coilover) I haven't gotten around to dyno-testing yet.

I thought something of the same, but I came across this thread for the F30 BMW platform.
https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1662711

Looks like he asked and was able to get data for these and compare it to the Billies.

I'm also still running stock bumpstops, I see the Eibach progressives are recommended. That may be my first course of action.

 

[TheMegalodon]

Damn. I'm actually reaching out to KoniNA for some damper dyno data. The graphs they have on their website for SA indicates it should be performing better than it. I'll update if I get something.

The reason the special actives are a terrible choice if you’re lowering is because they need travel to work well. There’s so little shock travel on these cars at stock height so after lowering you need better, shorter bump stops and a shock that can manage short travel distance.
After lowering the car on BMR SP763s and trimming the bump stops accordingly, I found there was only a finger width of travel with the car on the ground. That’s way too little.
The J&M shock mounts I bought gave me 1/2” shock travel back using the lower mounting holes and the Eibach bump stops @shogun32 sold me are 1/4” shorter with much better compression. The Ford bump stops are hard and crap.

I wouldn’t recommend anyone consider Konis unless they’re at stock height. Even then you have better options for the same money or less.

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