i bought these koni yellow shocks from a forum member (already assembled) and installed them a while back. lately i've been trying to diagnose a popping sound that has been around since i installed the shocks and i noticed something interesting. the nut pictured is rubbing up against the hole that the shaft (with the adjustment screw) goes through... did i do something incorrectly with this install?
does anyone have any pictures of konis installed on their FD?

 

here is the pic

 

maybe the nut isn't tightened all the way because the springs were not fully compressed while assmebling the shock. could be a possibility..

 

Please tell me you took your strut bar off for the picture. If you didnt the fact that nothing is holding that strut in place except spring and ground pressure is very scary.

 

It looks like there was a strut bar there in the recent future. BUT, to be on the safe side, it is not a bad question to ask.

I am going to agree with the improperly tightened response though. And the fact that there is nothing holding it all together (at the exact moment the picture was taken)

 

do you all really think i would just leave the three nuts off of the studs that hold the entire shock in the car? i took the damn nuts off for the picture.

 

"93 gunmetal base 265whp@10psi
12.51@111mph"

Did you really run 12.5 with just 265WHP?

 

well im 95% positive theres supposed to be a ruber washer underneath the center nut which is my guess as to why its making noise.

12.5 with 265rwh is not unbelievable, walien

 

I'm about to have these installed on my car, I forgot what the part is called exactly, the stock bump stop? It should be on there between the body and the strut, with the Koni Yellows you have to drill it out for it to fit right. Also its a good idea to purchase new ones from Mazda since the decade and a half old ones are usually worn out, I am.

 

Looks like you skipped part of the install. Didn't you notice that what you had on there before had another set of hardware over the shock piston where it comes through the shock tower?

 

beat me to it!

 

hey here is a close up pic of what it should look like.

 

I don't have anything like the last pic installed on my Konis. Can't tell from the angle of your pic, but it appears that the adjustment screw isn't as far up through the hole as it should be. I didn't install mine, but you can come see it in person if you want.

-Scott

 

yes that rubber washer thing needs to be there.. i just had my suspension done and that needs to be there

 

i'm wondering why it needs to be there... the way the guy above has his, the rubber washer thing is sitting like a half inch above the shock tower and doesnt even touch anything, so whats the point?

i have mine like skotx's


anyone else have any pics? this is interesting.

 

The point is to keep it from making noise like yours is doing without it. Makes sense to me. On a side note the rubber washer on the red rx7 is upside down which is creating a bit of an illusion. Its actually resting quite snugly.

 

how does it keep it from making noise?

does anyone actually know why this rubber thing is supposed to be on there? i dont see how it does anyhing at all... it seems to be functional on the stock shocks because they dont stick up through the hole as far, so the rubber actually comes down and sits on the shocks tower.
just look at skotx's pic, if the rubber washer is between those two nuts sitting 1/2" from the shocks tower, whats the point?

 

I never used those rubber pieces with my Konis. I had one shock knocking like that too. You can tweak it a little with that side of the car jacked up and you can also use washers to raise the height of that nut.

 

interesting.

so how did you fix the knocking?

 

Just as I said....if you jack up the car, you can play with it to get it better aligned...if it is still knocking, you can use a couple of washers to raise the nut to clear the the tower opening.

 

ok thanks guy. i'm guessing you use smaller diameter (smaller than the nut) washers. otherwise the washers would just hit the chassis instead of the nut..

 

correct

 

But I'm assuming the car didn't ride as well without the bump stops or whatever that rubber is?

 

I've never had any odd noises from my Konis. First be certain it's the shocks. The front swaybar endlinks can make popping noises in fast tranisitions if they are beginning to wear out. If hearing things that are more like creaks or squeals I'd clean the tops of the rubber mounting hats thoroughly and check the rubbers on the spring perches as well.

The rubber washer people are discussing is mostly a safety item. The shock mounting hats are large rubber pieces with studs in them that bolt from the underside of the shock tower. If the hat were to massively fail somehow there would be nothing to prevent the spring from pulling the shock out of the bottom of the tower and the suspension collapsing.....except for that big rubber covered steel washer that is bolted onto the end of the shock shaft above the tower.

 

i figured out the problem. where the shock shaft was stuck through the rubber mount, the person who assembled them made the whole too big and the shaft moves back and forth slightly. so i'm guessing the clunk is the shaft hitting the edges.
its only like this one this one (front drivers side) shock. the others are fine.


edit: actually the rear drivers side makes a squish sound every time it compresses. *sigh*