Just put together the driver's side rear with a lot of new stuff (pillowball bushings, toe links, trailing arms). I am installing Koni adjustables with Eibach lowering springs. The Koni directions say to tighten the top middle nut to 37lbs but it keeps turning and not getting any tighter. I know this is adjusting the dampening and not making the nut any tighter at this point. How am I supposed to get the nut on there really tight? Do I have to take the assembly out, put it all in a vice and tighten it?

Those Koni directions absolutely blow...

Thanks for any help.

 

If i am not wrong there is a hex nut on top of the shock rod. You can use a wrench to hold the shock rod and tighten the nut with another wrench. Zaping it with an impact is always a opinion.

 

The rod is just threaded with no nuts on it. The exploded view has you putting on the rubber 'doughnut' that you have to drill out to allow the rod to pass through. Then you put on a metal collar and then the first nut to hold it all in place. When I go to tighten that nut to 37lbs - it'll get tight and then start to spin the actual shock rod.
I've really never seen shittier directions in my life and nobody has ever done a legitimate write up on this install (that I can find).

I'm still looking for help if anyone else can offer up their advice.

Thanks

 

I have a set of Konis that I have not yet installed but here's what i think I'll have to do. With the spring compressor on and the spring compressed as small as possible you should be able to get to the collar welded onto the top of the shaft. It's mostly under the top rubber piece but still visible. Perhaps you can get the end of a vise to grasp that welded collar and then tighten the nut. If there's not enough room to get the vise on it, wrap some old bicycle inner tube or other rubber or wood around the end of the shaft as close to the collar as possible and then clamp it in the vise. That part of the shaft will never go in the shock so even if you scratch it a bit it shouldn't be a problem. I've done something like this a couple other times and it worked fine.

 

why dont you just post a pic of the top of your koni, DGblk93?

 

Thanks for the responses guys.

Nova 7 - that sounds like the route I think I have to take. It's a bitch because it's so combersome. It also means I have to take the whole assembly out of the car again.

jacobcartmill - below are a couple of cell phone pictures of the other shock I haven't installed yet:

Here's without the nut and collar:



Here's with the nut and collar:



You have to picture that the rubber doughnut is between the collar and the welded on shaft stop. Then that sits on top of the rubber boot and then the spring would be around everything. It makes for tough access when assembled.

 

See the topmost portion of the rod, right below the adjuster? Isn't that a hex? It is on my Konis...

 

Not on mine, it's just a round shaft. On his too it looks to me.

 

I had the Same problem when I installed a set of lowering springs.The nut wouldn't go all the way back down,Easily.I had to grab onto the Shock's Inner plunger with it wrapped and put a set of Vise grips on it..I ended up Marking the Shaft a bit,but I rubbed it with Scotchbrite and smoothed it out so that the shock would do it's job correctly.You can also try this.Get a DIE(?..Tap and Die.) and just chase the threads on the Upper part of the Shock so that the nut will go on easier to the threaded portion of the shock...I hope that may help you.

 

You should be able to grab the square part of the top of the shaft as you tighten the nut. You might have to use a spring compressor to compress the spring so easily tighten the nut, then release the spring compressor. If not just put the nuts on as much as you can and bring it to a shop and have them zap the nuts on, they should not charge you more than $5 or $10, or even a 6pack of beer.

 

Can't grab it if I have a torque wrench on it unfortunately.

Also - I have an impact gun, so it's not a problem with the tightening. The problem is getting the shaft to stop spinning.

I might have to go with the idea misterstyx69 threw out there. I have vice grips that'll grab the shaft. I'm wondering if I can hike the rubber boot up that high?

 

Time out - I just looked and mine is a hex...

How do i grab that and still get a torque wrench on the whole thing?

Eggie;7687678 - thanks for pointing it out. I must have been doing the project too long and didn't see the obvious grasp point. I'm an idiot.

Now I've spun the crap out of this shaft. How do you guys know when all 4 corners of the car are adjusted right and one side isn't out of whack with the soft / hard adjustments?

 

mine is a hex up there new the top too... it's a hex directly beneath the flathead adjustment part at the tip.

 

That is a problem. You can put the torque wrench on the shaft and use a combination wrench on the nut.

 

I know there is a listed torque spec, but that does not mean that you can physically use a torque wrench on it. I have never tried to torque a shock nut in my life. If you use an impact gun the shaft should not be spinning unless the nut is stripped. Or you are not using the right setting on the gun and not turning the nut fast enough to actually tightening the nut.

This is what you should try:
Install the spring and mount
Install nut
use one wrench to hold the hex and one to turn the nut until it bottoms out
Install shock/spring/mount unit
Lower car onto the floor so the suspension is loaded
Then use the impact gun an zap the nut tight

37ft/lbs is not a whole lot of torque, so dont over do it with the impact gun. I usually use two nuts, the top nut locks the bottom nut so it will never back out.

Sometimes the new shock/strut nut is a different size thread as the old shock/strut. So make sure that the threads are the same and that you dont use the wrong nut and strip the shock.

 

dont use an impact to put it on. just hold the hex and use wrench to tighten the nut, its only 37 ft-lbs. you can do that by hand. an offset wrench comes in handy for doing the nuts on top

 

Man, now I feel stupid. It is a hex nut up top but only on two sides. Guess I didn't pay enough attention and only saw the round part.

 

The suggestion by misterstyx69 will help. Clean up the threads with a metric die size 12 x 1.25 (metric fine thread) and also check the threads on the nut and use a thread tap the same size (12 x 1.25). You will probably have to order the thread die, since most in-stock sizes are 1.50 pitch, which will not work. I paid about $6 for one that has a hex-shape that you can grip with a wrench if you do not have a die holder. You should be able to turn the nut down finger tight until it starts to get tight, otherwise you may have damaged the threads. Now that you know there are two flat sides on the top of the rod, you can hold it in place with one open-end wrench while you tighten the nut with another. Hardly anyone uses an actual torque wrench to fasten shocks. 37 ft lbs can be estimated and will work just fine- just do not tighten like you are an olympic weight lifter.

 

i dont understand the problem here.

I have koni yellows and will be removing them to install lowering springs on them....can someone draw on the picture above what exactly the issue is? why can you not just use an impact gun to zip the nut back on just like any other shock?


are you saying that when you try to tighten the nut it gets semi tight then the whole rod starts turning??

 

Exactly. Then when the rod spins that starts adjusting the ride (softer or harder).

azn akira had a good suggestion and I am about to try that out in 5 minutes. I'll report back.

Thanks a lot for the suggestions guys.

 

Well the offset wrench on the bottom and then a smaller socket wrench on the top worked. Thanks for the help guys. Hopefully this thread helps out other people in the future.

Dave

 

Does anyone know what order is the hardware re-assembled starting with the welded perch on top of the Koni shock rod? I believe it is:

metal washer > drilled/modded OEM mounting rubber (as defined in shop manual) > metal collar > chassis (shock column) > drilled/modded OEM stopper rubber (as defined in shop manual) > locking washer > nut?

Did I get this right?