Koni str.t struts too tight?

[FiveLeeter918]

Install konis and steeda sport springs with gt500 mounts last weekend. Car has had some bugs to take care of, but overall not too bad but rougher than stock.

Today I went in for an alignment and the tech told me my springs in the front weren't compressing properly and that it was like pushing on a cement block to compress them.

Thinking of how to remedy this? Compared to my friends pro kit and his can compress about an inch just by pressing on the fender. My rears compress fine, but fronts are hard as rock.

Is it possible to tighten the top nut down too much? I know I have a lot more sticking out of these than I did on the oem strut. Just looking at options before I tear it back down tomorrow.

 

[FiveLeeter918]

Sorry was on a dying phone and had to be brief... here's a more detailed description...

I am trying to nail down an issue with my front suspension, and am at my whits end with searching. I installed the following last weekend:

Koni Str.T shocks/struts
STEEDA Ultra Lite Springs
GT500 strut mounts (rev D)
Stallion Suspension PHB
Eibach Camber Bolts
UPR double adjustable lower control arms (heim body, poly axle)

Rear install went smoothly and sounds great minus some minor NVH. Able to deal with it for the performance gains.

My problem is with the fronts. Since I was replacing everything, I pre-assembled the struts by swapping the dust shields and bumpstops over from my factory struts. I didn't swap the lower ISOs since I've never used them in the past. I tightened the top nut with an impact, then tightened it again once it was on the car. There are 5 threads exposed above the nut on each side.

My problem is that these springs are only supposed to be 1.25" drop, but I am seeing closer to a 2" drop. In addition to this, my front suspension is hard as a rock, unlike my friend's Eibach Pro Kit, which compresses atleast an inch with minimal effort. The car rides rough as hell, and country roads are unbearable.

I cut the bumpstops in half just to see if that fixed the issue (I have to additional sets) and it didn't have an effect.

Just used a flashlight to take some pictures of the car at ride height, and while the coil isn't fully compressed, the bottom three coils are all touching each other just sitting still.

 

[Fun4me]

Sounds normal to me. Maybe the struts need to break-in a little. The springs you have are progressive , so the coils sitting on top of each other is normal. I have about 5 threads showing on my konis too. And its been measured in a thread on s197 that the konis themself are a 1/2" shorter, giving you more of a drop than the springs advertise.

Drive on them for a week, and see if that helps.

On a seperate note, I always thought that the lca's are supposed to be installed poly side the body?

 

[FiveLeeter918]

Everything was installed on 05/14. Been on for 10 days.

 

[Fun4me]

Everything was installed on 05/14. Been on for 10 days.

Have you tried contacting Koni? I cant push down my car either, I have yellows set to halfway firm and the car rides fine.

BtW, you're nor supposed to use an impact on them. So if you do call them......

Maybe you broke them by using thr impact Did the shaft spin?

 

[FiveLeeter918]

Only time it spins is if I use a standard ratchet on it. Never spun with the impact.

 

[HammeredSoul]

Weird, I installed Steeda Sports about 2 weeks ago, and the drop was more than expected as well. My car looks pretty slammed. It's not that I don't like the way it looks, it's just a lot lower than expected. My ride seems to be okay though... I did have to cut the rear bump stops down a bit though.

 

[FiveLeeter918]

did you do shocks/struts as well? I found that the Str.Ts sit lower than stock so it gives an extra 1/2" drop. Didn't know that going into it or I would've bought a 1" drop spring.

Had a buddy ride in the car at lunch and he definitely thinks that it's in the rear. Gonna go home shortly and loosen up all the bolts then drive the car around the block and then tighten them hand tight only on the poly. See what that does.

 

[BMR Tech]

Install konis and steeda sport springs with gt500 mounts last weekend. Car has had some bugs to take care of, but overall not too bad but rougher than stock.

Today I went in for an alignment and the tech told me my springs in the front weren't compressing properly and that it was like pushing on a cement block to compress them.

Thinking of how to remedy this? Compared to my friends pro kit and his can compress about an inch just by pressing on the fender. My rears compress fine, but fronts are hard as rock.

Is it possible to tighten the top nut down too much? I know I have a lot more sticking out of these than I did on the oem strut. Just looking at options before I tear it back down tomorrow.

Sorry was on a dying phone and had to be brief... here's a more detailed description...

I am trying to nail down an issue with my front suspension, and am at my whits end with searching. I installed the following last weekend:

Koni Str.T shocks/struts
STEEDA Ultra Lite Springs
GT500 strut mounts (rev D)
Stallion Suspension PHB
Eibach Camber Bolts
UPR double adjustable lower control arms (heim body, poly axle)

Rear install went smoothly and sounds great minus some minor NVH. Able to deal with it for the performance gains.

My problem is with the fronts. Since I was replacing everything, I pre-assembled the struts by swapping the dust shields and bumpstops over from my factory struts. I didn't swap the lower ISOs since I've never used them in the past. I tightened the top nut with an impact, then tightened it again once it was on the car. There are 5 threads exposed above the nut on each side.

My problem is that these springs are only supposed to be 1.25" drop, but I am seeing closer to a 2" drop. In addition to this, my front suspension is hard as a rock, unlike my friend's Eibach Pro Kit, which compresses atleast an inch with minimal effort. The car rides rough as hell, and country roads are unbearable.

I cut the bumpstops in half just to see if that fixed the issue (I have to additional sets) and it didn't have an effect.

Just used a flashlight to take some pictures of the car at ride height, and while the coil isn't fully compressed, the bottom three coils are all touching each other just sitting still.

Welcome to the world of a 200lb front Spring and fixed compression front struts.

You may have an issue, but I am not so sure that you are experiencing anything out of the ordinary with your set-up.

As for the Spring stacking, contact Steeda and verify that is correct.

As stated in this thread, I verified (and it is traveling quickly) that the Koni Strut is shorter than the factory struts.

On a seperate note, I always thought that the lca's are supposed to be installed poly side the body?

I wouldn't say "supposed to".....but we would never offer an LCA that places the heim on the body and the bearing on the axle. We firmly believe it is best to have them the other way, as you have always believed. I actually got called out on another forum, because I was "bashing" that design, and I was told by the company mentioned in this thread, that their arms indeed mounted them with the poly on the chassis, and heim on axle. That product on their site still shows the other way around, and apparently the OP's arms confirm it as well. lol Who knows....