eteller

Recently installed Koni 4/3's and BMR springs on my 2000 T/A Already had after market sway bars, LCA, relocation brackets, panhard bar and SFC's. Used all new Moog parts and got a custom alignment done with -.7 camber. Car handles ok but now minor imperfections cause me to slow down or the car will slam the bump stops on the front. Case in point, I take a glass smooth parkway to work and in the mornings I can haul ***, used to hit a bridge at 60mph with a mild bump felt and the rear would side step out, now I gotta hit it at 20 or CRASH and I chip a tooth! Fronts are adjusted 7 1/2 turns from full soft, backs are one turn from full soft. It seems like I keep cranking them up and it feels firmer for a few days then fades ( I realize I'm adjusting the rebound). I started at 4 1/2 turns from full soft and it felt like my Decarbons with less dampening, cranked up is a little better but not what I'd call stiff. Car still feels too light at high speed.

BMR Tech2

iTrader: (5)

This sounds like possibly an internal issue with the shocks. We have never heard of any issues like this. Here is the number for Koni's technical support. Give them a call and run this by them and see if they have any ideas; (859) 586-4100.

eteller

Ok, I jacked up the car tonight and ran them full sweep to full sweep. I assume that's from one side of the window to the other. When new and off the car on 5/5/14 it was easy to get 4 1/2 sweeps from full soft on both. I mounted them on 5/17/14 and a day later the drivers side was very difficult to adjust, bent my allen wrench. Today they are easier to adjust using the thickest Snap On allen key that fit the hole but I get 7 sweep of total adjustment on the drivers side. On the passenger side I now get a total of 4 sweeps of adjustment. How in the hell am I going to balance them? These have about 200 miles on them BTW.

eteller

Called Koni, not a lot of help. They think something is wrong with the adjusters but will need to look at them. They are not sure if replacements are in stock so it could be a while.

eteller

Took the day off yesterday and had another Koni vendor take a look at the car. After laughing their *** off, I was told that while they sell Koni they try to steer their customers away from them as they have a pile of warranty issues with them. Their trying to get Koni to send me a pair of front shocks in advance to swap out. If that goes through these will be going on ebay! Then I gotta pony up another $600 for new springs and custom valved Bilsteins! Lesson learned $$$

Flaring Afro

Why do you need new springs? There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with yours, and the adjustable Konis are good quality and don't usually have problems like this. The SRT.Ts are cheaper and manufactured differently and sometimes have problems but they always send a replacement right away and the price is right for those. They seem to have good customer service, which would be proven if they actually send you knew ones before you send your current ones in.

BMR Tech2

iTrader: (5)

We literally have hundreds of cars running this setup, some for nearly 10 years now, and this is the first time we have ever heard of this issue. Koni is a top name in aftermarket shocks, and the F4 fronts are the top of the line. If you were having this issue with say KYB's or something similar I would not be too surprised honestly. But a Koni having this issue really baffles me. Like I told you on the phone, if you have too much of an issue getting replacements, give me a call back and we will get you taken care of.

Rare96LT1Formula

iTrader: (32)

Hit up Eric at MWC and ask about a Viking setup. He'll get you geared up and back on the road again. Vikings warranty is 2 years.

eteller

Apparently BMR was not getting my emails. Working with them now, hopefully we will come up with an agreeable solution.

jrwilliams95z28

i have koni yellows, single rebound adjustable and Iam encountering a similar problem although not as bad as yours sounds. but they slam the bump stops all the time. I am switching to strano springs, I currently have eibach pro kit lt1 version and they have always kinda sucked. Personally i dont think koni shocks are great at controlling non linear springs. but we'll see. I might shave the bump stops back a little if the problem persists or Ill get replacements under warrenty.

eteller

A friend of mine who is Grand Am series driver actually took my car out on their "unofficial" test road near their shop and got it to bottom out the front twice at the bottom of a hill, no potholes, ripples etc. just a dip. That's why their was mention of different springs with a higher rate.

02TransAm/Batmobile

iTrader: (32)

Any updates?

Wheelman916

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't increasing rebound damping, impact the springs ability to, you know, rebound... and push the wheel back down and away from the bump stops? I've always heard excessive rebound damping leads to "jacking down" the suspension.

Flaring Afro

I seriously doubt he somehow got bad springs too, and a ton of people use BMRs and they are supposed to be some of the best springs you can buy for handling characteristics - they aren't eibachs. I'm installing mine this weekend (I hope).

eteller

No word out of BMR on any sort of assistance on this.

BMR Tech2

iTrader: (5)

Ed, I sent you the form from Koni on the warranty claim. I spoke with the Koni rep and explained the situation to them. They told me that is what they needed and that issuing the warranty claim shouldn't be a problem. As per Koni, they said they would rather deal with you directly on the warranty claim as some of the information needed will be better provided by you. If for some reason you cannot fill out the warranty claim form then I will exchange them with a set I have in stock here and I will deal with Koni on the warranty issue.

JakeFusion

iTrader: (7)

That's pretty awesome!

I'm hoping my Konis hold up. They were jacked pretty hard in shipping.

eteller

Eric, I got that email and responded to you, asking for your suggestions on how we can accomplish a swap on a basically brand new product with minimal downtime on my part, never got a response. I have no problem dealing with Koni, and I did call them. I do have a problem with waiting up to six weeks for replacements or sinking another $500+ (that I may or may not get back) + shipping both ways, for a pair of advanced replacement shocks they may or may not have in stock.

JimMueller

iTrader: (9)

FWIW, I bought my Koni DA's from Lingenfelter in 1996, and between two cars I put over 200K miles on them. I shipped my rears back to Koni earlier this year for warranty service and no problems were found, and they included a shock dyno of both dampers. I'll be sending off the fronts soon. I do find it unusual that a damper can go this long without developing any problems.

Here's their warranty policy:
http://www.koni-na.com/warrantyform.pdf

BMR Tech2

iTrader: (5)

When I spoke with Koni, I had them check stock on the part number, and they told me they were in stock ready to ship. Per their policy they will ship you a set for roughly $375 that will be refunded once they receive the warrantied shocks and deem them a warranty claim. When I relayed what you told me to the Koni rep, he told me it definitely sounded like a warranty issue and should be no problem to get taken care of. To avoid any downtime, this will be the easiest and quickest solution. I can send you another pair, BUT because of our policies I would have to charge you full retail price, that would be refunded once we send the shocks back to Koni and are verified as warranty issues. The only way to avoid up-front cost is to be able to send the shocks to Koni for verification before hand, but this will result in either down time, or having to put the factory shocks back on the car in the meantime.