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Sun Mar 18, 2012 7:27 pm

911pickup wrote: Presently, I have my front konis on a half turn (180 degrees) and my rear Konis on one full turn (360 degrees). The van feels good, and I don't plan on touching the setting again until I install my lowering springs and sway bars.
I don't mind taking my rear Konis off for an adjustment, but the fronts are a pain to take off just for an adjustment.
Ron

You don't need to remove the rears - just pop out the lower bolt and push up. I just dialed in another 1/2 turn of stiffness at the back of my van in less than 10 minutes. ;)

Sun Mar 18, 2012 7:32 pm

Jake de Villiers wrote: I just dialed in another 1/2 turn of stiffness at the back of my van in less than 10 minutes. ;)

so what is your current setup for the rears? I just adjusted mine to 360 and the fronts to 180 from stiffest position, they are going in this week before SuspensionVan in Richmond, CA

Sun Mar 18, 2012 11:13 pm

madspaniard wrote: Jake de Villiers wrote: I just dialed in another 1/2 turn of stiffness at the back of my van in less than 10 minutes. ;)

so what is your current setup for the rears? I just adjusted mine to 360 and the fronts to 180 from stiffest position, they are going in this week before SuspensionVan in Richmond, CA

The rears are the same as yours - 540 degrees/1 1/2 turns from full soft. Since that's where Koni wants us to start off, that's where I count from. IIRC (and I might not - its been a while...) the fronts are at 1 full turn/360 degrees from full soft - they might be only 1/2 a turn though.

Fri May 18, 2012 9:28 am

I have my Koni shocks set to:

1/2 turn out in fromt
1 full turn out in back

I have stock (Carat?) spings in my 1990 pop top Multivan.

Current tires are 195/14 Hankooks.

Rebound is find, but I feel lots of bumps in the road.

Is this what one would expect with this setup?

Fri May 18, 2012 11:49 am

r39o wrote: I have my Koni shocks set to:

1/2 turn out in fromt
1 full turn out in back

I have stock (Carat?) spings in my 1990 pop top Multivan.

Current tires are 195/14 Hankooks.

Rebound is find, but I feel lots of bumps in the road.

Is this what one would expect with this setup?

I have different springs but I have been experiencing the same with my Konis, I feel every bump on the road, I was suggested I need to reset them to be stiffer (0.5 turn in the front) to eliminate some of the spring rebound, I just need to find time to do it...

Fri May 18, 2012 1:11 pm

r39o wrote: Rebound is find, but I feel lots of bumps in the road.

Is this what one would expect with this setup?

Are we talking compression or rebound here.
Yes Koni's are stiff and you will feel more of the road for sure in the name of better handling. There is no getting around this.
I have started to play around more with my tire preasure a little more lately. Lower end of tire presure and no power steering. :lol: This is something to try.
Performance shocks and family ride is kinda like "jumbo shrimp". :P
Maybe soften up your rebound might help.

Fri May 18, 2012 5:26 pm

r39o wrote: I feel lots of bumps in the road.
madspaniard wrote: I feel every bump on the road, I was suggested I need to reset them to be stiffer
70coupyel wrote: Maybe soften up your rebound might help.
OK, stiffer or soften, which is it?

Fri May 18, 2012 5:36 pm

jumbo shrimp :lol:

Fri May 18, 2012 9:08 pm

I'm running my stock Westy @ 2 turns. Maybe brake your summer season into 1/3's. Soft rebound then firm and then somewhere in between.
Feeling the road is a good thing to me.
How else do you like or dislike your Koni's?
How is the front end brake dive on firm or hard braking?
What about weight control handling around curves or freeway on/off ramps?
What about your local dip you have to drive through in your hood?
We drive a stiff "truck" chassis. Way different than passenger cars of the same era.

Fri May 18, 2012 9:16 pm

I like jumbo shrimp.

My initial reaction was "I need them softer" but then it was explained to me, softer means the shock will allow more rebound from the spring, more travel, you want the shock to be stiffer so that all that movement from the spring as it reacts to the bumps on the road is more limited. I'm not good with words but I hope it was clear enough.

Fri May 18, 2012 9:45 pm

Tomorrow I will put to memory my thoughts during a mixed drive of street and freeway while I think about it, making mental notes.

Right now the main complaint about the old worn out factory shocks was the bouncing through dips and the diving during breaking.

On the road it was fine.

Now with the the Konis I feel all the bumps in the road.

I have Konis in two other cars, too and the ride is fine, but those are much lighter and smaller sports cars.

Right now I can not say more than that

Fri May 18, 2012 10:22 pm

well, I do have new stiffer springs up front so that also accounts for some of the new feeling I'm getting from my shock/sping combo....it is a fine balance between spring, shocks, tires, etc....jumbo shrimp salad

Fri May 18, 2012 10:36 pm

I like jumbo shrimp too. When r39 gets it all figured out do we get jumbo shrimp?? :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol: :D :roll:

Sat May 19, 2012 3:12 pm

Explain this "Jumbo Shrimp" concept.

We only get imported shrimp here and not a local product so hence a lot of shrimp references just do not translate out here.

I did drive a good hour plus today.

Not sure how to quantify my experience yet.

Sat May 19, 2012 10:00 pm

The Koni have adjustable rebound. Rebound damping is meant to control the extension of the spring; if there is too little rebound damping the spring will extend too fast, causing poor control and harshness. The suspension will "kick back." However too much rebound damping will cause the suspension to "pack up" where after the wheel hits one bump, the suspension does not extend fast enough to take the next bump. Packing up is likely to happen on something with periodic bumps, like a bad freeway.

So really having too much or too little rebound damping will make the suspension harsh.

For the madspaniard I'd say try your front shocks at 1 turn out from stiffest. I do have my front shocks at 0.5 turns out, but mine are "broken in" and probably not as stiff as new ones.

Fri May 25, 2012 10:04 am

I have been driving around and noting various conditions.

My main observation is that through dips that used to cause all sorts of bouncing around, the van with 1./2 turn out in the front is NOT critically damped.

I get some rebounding or slight bouncing in the front.

My thoughts have been to match the rear damping at a full turn.

I have the springs with the single green (rear) and yellow (front) strips, so they are a matched set according to the parts manual, hence matching the rebound "seems" like a good idea.

I guess I will be dialing in another half turn in the front to make it a full turn out to see what happens.

Fri May 25, 2012 11:39 am

Being critically damped doesn't mean you won't feel the rebound, it means that the suspension won't oscillate. In other words after rebounding it won't exceed the normal ride height, and then come back down. Whether being critically damped is desired is another discussion...

Going from 1/2 turn OUT to 1 turn OUT will give LESS rebound damping. If you turn it the other way IN, the closer you get to bottomed (full damping), the damping will ramp up very fast. So if you want more, try doing another 1/8 to 1/4 turn IN.

Fri May 25, 2012 12:47 pm

OK, some year this might sink in......

presslab wrote: Being critically damped doesn't mean you won't feel the rebound, it means that the suspension won't oscillate. In other words after rebounding it won't exceed the normal ride height, and then come back down. Whether being critically damped is desired is another discussion...

Going from 1/2 turn OUT to 1 turn OUT will give LESS rebound damping. If you turn it the other way IN, the closer you get to bottomed (full damping), the damping will ramp up very fast. So if you want more, try doing another 1/8 to 1/4 turn IN.

Just as stated:

presslab wrote: I adjust mine a little different than the Koni instructions.

1. Compress shock fully.
2. Insert hex key in shock shaft (for the front), and turn clockwise while pushing down.
3. You'll feel the shaft drop down slightly, now you are engaged with the adjuster.
4. I turn the hex key clockwise until I feel it stop. Be gentle, don't force it into the stop, and slightly push down while turning.
5. Now turn counter-clockwise the amount desired for adjustment. This is where I deviate. The more turns counter-clockwise, the faster (softer, less) the rebound damping.

There is a big difference between 1 turn out and 0.5 turn.

Fri May 25, 2012 12:51 pm

presslab wrote: Being critically damped doesn't mean you won't feel the rebound, it means that the suspension won't oscillate. In other words after rebounding it won't exceed the normal ride height, and then come back down. Whether being critically damped is desired is another discussion...
Yes my van is NOT critically damped in the front.

It overshoots and the normal ride height some in some, what I consider, more severe dips.

Good or bad, I dunno, that is just what I observe.

Fri May 25, 2012 12:55 pm

r39o wrote: My main observation is that through dips that used to cause all sorts of bouncing around, the van with 1./2 turn out in the front is NOT critically damped.

Maybe I misread your "1./2" as 1/2. Did you mean 1-1/2?