LS1121

iTrader: (17)

Spend another $1000 and get another set. by the way my Monroe struts came apart fine after about 70,000 miles. lmao.

UMD_Jesse

iTrader: (6)

Fair point Batman. From what Ive gathered so far the durability of all many aftermarkets shocks seems lacking. I do know however, that I did not have this issue with decarbons. YES decarbons SUCK for performance, YES Konis RULE for performance, Im just simply amazed at how quickly they rusted.

UMD_Jesse

iTrader: (6)

Not sure if youre joking or serious....but seriously, I actually DID buy another set, though theyre cheaper now. This was of course before I took the old ones off and saw how bad they were. Hopefully the new ones fare better.....but I wont hold me breath.

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

FWIW my Decarbons on my 98 Were much worse than that. Rusted all the way up the side of the one shock, the mounting ears weren't orange anymore, and they were downright nasty on top (but again, the upper part being shot is a flaw of the suspension design not the shock).

The factory Bilsteins on my Trailblazer were pretty crusty also when I replaced them.

HioSSilver

iTrader: (8)

Your not that far from me. My factory slp bilsteins still look really good after 13yrs and 111k.

02TransAm/Batmobile

iTrader: (32)

What I didn't like is how they painted the shock with the bushing in it already.

flintwrench69

iTrader: (11)

I would say quite often by the condition of those shocks. The OP claims only the shock is rusted but look at the pics again, the spring cup has lots of rust on it also. I promise this car wasnt just driven in the rain, it has been driven on salty snowy roads. Maybe not that often but it doesnt take much once the salt starts working on things. A pic of the undercarriage would be more proof of this.

Then they will just corrode.
This is common with most shock manufacturers. If they installed the bushing after they painted them dont you think that might scratch the new paint up pressing the bushings in?

z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

For ***** and giggles I'll take a picture of my konis at some point and post them up. They could likely be rusty, but I could care less. They are going to perform well for me for life.

redtail2426

iTrader: (10)

you would think 1000 dollar shocks might at least do something to hold up better to the elements.this is where a little powdercoating goes a long way.I would be pissed

z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

I confirmed my left front shock kinda looks like @ss around where it mounts to the lower control arm. A little rusty around the perch but not too bad.

I've driven my car in the worst of conditions though, so my situation doesn't really prove much. In fact I thought it would look a lot worse considering I've driven in my parents driveway a million times which is like all puddles and dirt.

LS1121

iTrader: (17)

if you double nut and everything is tight.....cosmoline will keep away the rust, just FYI. Think about it.

2QuikTA

When I installed my front koni's, I packed the whole top nut area with grease. Overkill? Probably, but it helps me sleep at night. I'm gonna have to take one off since the shock is leaking so we'll see how it holds up...though my car is lucky if it sees rain.

nascarnate326

iTrader: (1)

Guess its just random chance. My stock junk looked nicer then that and my car is much older and has much more miles.

If you like the way they ride/feel....got to pay to play the game.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Last time I checked, metal and water (and salt) don't mix particularly well). Oh, could they make the tops from stainless steel? Sure, which would cost more. Also you could have used a bunch of Anti-seize compound too. I've had shocks that were 9 years old that I sold to a friend (Koni's) that were better those look.

I'm glad you happy my springs held up better in terms of paint. But in all seriousness the only "rust" that's an issue is at the top which frankly would not been have a been issue with anti-seize. Water gets up there and sits. It's not Koni's fault that GM made the shocks they way they did and closed the tops of the towers (which is why the Koni's don't use a **** which would have been really nice).

I understand you might be annoyed, but understand that when it snows your way they use this brine that has a ton of salt in it to keep the lemmings from dying. By best friend lives just north of DC and it amazes me how much his stuff gets torn up when it hardly snows. He just had to replace every hard brake line in his Suburban because they were all ready to fail (GM parts, the originals in an 2004) due to rust. FWIW.

UMD_Jesse

iTrader: (6)

Hi Sam,

1) I first learned the beauty of Anti-Sieze about 20 years ago, and I use it religiously on everything....my koni shock tops included. My entire garage and hallway over to the sink is covered with little silvery finger prints.
You'll just have to take my word on the fact that they were installed well coated.

2) Forgive the hyperbole, but maybe if they made the shocks out of the same stuff as your springs, they might have lasted longer?
But seriously...do you have a new set of koni shocks in your shop right now? Open the box up and look at how the powdercoating around the spring perch is hastily applied so that if you move the spring perch you will flake off the powdercoat. Look at how the coating is OVER the rubber bushing as well so that the second the bushing flexes in the car it will flake there as well. It doesnt have to be made from exotic materials....some simple attention to detail and pride in work would go a long way here.

3) I dont expect my konis to survive indefinitley all of the crap VA roads, and harsh winter grime we get out here....but those shocks were the FASTEST corroding part on my car! I mean why didnt the spring cups on the shock rust? Why didnt the control arm rust? Why dont your springs rust? None of it is stainless.

I hear what youre saying...just label me as "that crazy guy who thinks his $1000 worth of shocks should last at least 1/3 as long as every other component in the car"

But I still appreciate your comment.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

For all the frustration, I still think it's a stretch to call Koni's *junk*. Maybe I'm nuts. And frankly yours look a lot more beat than sets I've seen go through more than one PA winter. I can't say why. What do the rears look like?

As for the Anti-seize, I use it up top, then glop more on when I'm done. I've never had an F-body nut stick up there after, be it on a Bilstein, Koni or even AGX's.

I don't think you are crazy, I don't. I guess I'm just thinking about how the shocks work more than what they look like.

RebelExtrm02

iTrader: (3)

My decarbons were much much worse than your koni's and the car is a texas car that otherwise is completely corrosion/rust free. I had to use a cutting wheel to cut the nut off the top of the decarbons to get my upper mount off. A $5 bottle of anti-seize and nothing that goes on my car has a chance to rust like that.

I'd be more likely to believe that your koni's just happened to have water sit up there more than the previous shocks. Once water gets up there it literally sits until it evaporates, and depending on how and where you drive your car, that could be a while.

redracer1

iTrader: (2)

I totaly see your point. So what do you want me/us to learn from this? Not to buy Koni's? If you live in a region where winters are harsh you should better maintain your investment? Better installation techniques to avoid future problems? While this thread does expose some concerns and people have made positve and negative comments I feel once a suspension is installed we may or may not maintain them properly/regularly for the condition(s) we place them. Can we blame a manufacturer for build quality or poor powder coating techniques, maybe but most of the time it's a shared responsibility and Koni wouldn't have the reputation it has if it's build quality was poor. This is an unfortunate circumstance and hope this doesn't keep people from purchasing them but sheds light that when maintaining/washing your car that some attention should be made to the suspension components.

z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

Do you garage your car and clean off your shocks regularly? Did it see any salt at any point? If one or the other, I'd expect anything under your car will get corroded, rusty, or nasty.

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

IMO, you just can't ignore your cars undercarriage, especially when exposed to a corrosive environment. A little Preventive Maintenance when possible will go along way.