When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
After five years of scheming, plotting, and planning I've finally purchased a full suspension rebuild for my FB. I could list the whole parts list but the long of the short of it is I purchased Koni Yellows 8641-1072Sports from Koni Market (maybe a bit sketchy I guess, seemed legit at the time) and they're not fitting my strut housings. I just wanted to make doubly sure that these are supposed to fit with little to no modification. Does anyone know what the body lengths should be for these inserts? I double checked, they are the OE strut housings. The number on the stickers for the Konis say they are the correct parts but I'll post some photos below and they're pretty clearly too large. They're over an inch too long. I know some people have had to grind these a bit but this is ridiculous right? These have to be the wrong parts right? The only thing is both are the same size. Which makes me think something else is wrong or something is seriously up with that company. Thanks ahead of time for any input.
What year is your car? What came out of your strut tubes? Is is possible the p/o left a nut or a spacer in there that hasnt fallen out? How much if anything do you think can be ground off the base of your Konis?
What year is your car? What came out of your strut tubes? Is is possible the p/o left a nut or a spacer in there that hasnt fallen out? How much if anything do you think can be ground off the base of your Konis?
As previous reply said, it's an 81. The struts and shocks appeard to be OEM. I checked for spacers but even if there were and I did grind a little off the bottom, the shock is longer than the strut tube. There isn't enough shock to grind to make it fit. However, I recently found this thread. Apparently I'm not alone and got the same shocks as this guy https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generati...ation-1134888/ so as of now I'll be calling Koni and the distributor on Monday and seeing what to do about getting the proper parts ASAP so I have a running car again. Thanks!
I had to cut the bottom nub off with a hacksaw and file down the bottom welds a little to get them to fit.
This thread has made me dig a little deeper, where did the info come from about the later 1987-1989 MR2 struts not fitting?
According to KYB's catalog they're about 1" shorter.
The later ones are listed as Koni 8641-1142S.
I had to cut the bottom nub off with a hacksaw and file down the bottom welds a little to get them to fit.
This thread has made me dig a little deeper, where did the info come from about the later 1987-1989 MR2 struts not fitting?
According to KYB's catalog they're about 1" shorter.
The later ones are listed as Koni 8641-1142S.
Yeah, I'm ok with cutting a little but these are over an inch too long. They're likely not the part on the sticker considering they're about the same length as the ones in the post I linked to and he was able to confirm a mistake.
I've read that around the forum. I'm guess the series 1 is supposed to have a ~14" body and the series 2 should have a ~13" body but the ones I got were >15".
Can you attach where your seeing the sizes at? I can't seem to find a catalog with that info for the sport series.
Last edited by Al Capwned; Aug 18, 2019 at 03:22 PM.
KYB is the only manufacturer that gave information for both 1985-1986 and 1987-1989 MR2s. https://www.kyb.com/catalog/
In their catalog "stroke length" is most likely strut body length since that number plus compressed length doesn't equal the extended length.
Koni doesn't give anything, Monroe and Gabriel don't show all years or only the fronts.
KYB is the only manufacturer that gave information for both 1985-1986 and 1987-1989 MR2s. https://www.kyb.com/catalog/
In their catalog "stroke length" is most likely strut body length since that number plus compressed length doesn't equal the extended length.
Koni doesn't give anything, Monroe and Gabriel don't show all years or only the fronts.
Yeah, the rears for the series 1 Mr2 and the fronts for the FB on KYB are pretty similar. I'll have to call Koni tomorrow to confirm but I'm pretty sure I was just shipped the wrong part as these ones wouldn't fit an MR2 either.
Ran into this problem. KONI labeled my struts wrong. The body length was about 1" longer then what it needed to be. I had to swap them out ended up returning and buying through tire rack. This just happened to me a few months ago
Ran into this problem. KONI labeled my struts wrong. The body length was about 1" longer then what it needed to be. I had to swap them out ended up returning and buying through tire rack. This just happened to me a few months ago
I saw your post and linked it earlier. I had the exact same issue. Called in and just confirmed. As a heads up for anyone that finds this post later, the body length should measure 14.1 inches where as mine measure 15.1. Gonna send them back to Koni, luckily they have them in stock, shouldn't be too long of a wait. Afraid I'll still be riding the motorcycle in the rain at least once this week though.
From what I have read and did. You have to shave the bottom of the strut a little bit. Then it will fit the strut housing. I must have gotten the 14.1, I just shaved the nipple on the bottom and it fit.
Did you get aftermarket camber plates? You need these in order to run them. The shaft is smaller than OEM, unless you have a spacer to fill in that space.
From what I have read and did. You have to shave the bottom of the strut a little bit. Then it will fit the strut housing. I must have gotten the 14.1, I just shaved the nipple on the bottom and it fit.
Did you get aftermarket camber plates? You need these in order to run them. The shaft is smaller than OEM, unless you have a spacer to fill in that space.
Yeah, I'm not worried about grinding some off but it was pretty clearly more than the nub. The shock body was longer than the strut. As for the spacer I have access to several lathes so I'll just make/have them made. Thanks for the heads up.
I'm sitting here working on a MK1a MR2 and I can confirm 14" would be the correct length and 15" would be too long. The shaft housing measured externally from the bottom is about 14.5" so internally would be slightly less than that. Not pulling it apart to get the exact measurement but it's clear from this photo that a 15" strut is too long.
Bump for this thread. People be aware that there is a batch of these KONI's still floating around with a strut body that is an inch too long. Presumably mislabeled at the factory.
I received mine from rcagarage.com and they are affected. Call your vendor first and have them measure the strut body.
