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I've been running suspensions through my mind lately and I'm not sure if I'm clear on what exactly is done when people put koni cartridges into OEM strut housings. I understand there's a couple different types of koni cartridges that are used, yellow and red, however I'm not clear as to what is done to increase travel. People always say, "Shortened Koni's". In my mind that means that the strut cartridge is shortened, meaning it's basically taken apart, shortened and reassembled. To me that seems like a lot of work (not to mention it would certainly void the warranty on the struts) when a person could simply cut the welds that hold the housing to the bracket that bolts up to the wheel hub, slide the bracket up a couple of inches, and weld it back on. Now the bottom of the strut will sit lower, increasing the suspension travel. Since the perch would sit lower, if spring length were going to be an issue, then either use longer length ERS or Hypercoil springs, move the perch up, or simply scrap the perch and weld a collar onto the housing further up for a coilover collar to seat on. Weld a pair of plates to the outer pipe to bolt up to the wheel hub.
If a person had the resources, they could get two pieces of pipe, one that's threaded on the inside and one that's threaded on the outside, so the one threads into the other like a sleeve. The outer pipe would be shorter than the inner pipe to allow the inner pipe to thread in and out of the outer pipe with various lengths of the inner pipe exposed. The cartridge slips into the innermost pipe and you put a threaded cap on the ends, wiht the one on top having a hole in it for the strut rod to travel through, and use a jamb nut on each end of the inner pipe to fix it's position. Use a pair of jamb nuts, one that has a perch welded to it, up top to put your springs or coilovers on.
I've been running suspensions through my mind lately and I'm not sure if I'm clear on what exactly is done when people put koni cartridges into OEM strut housings. I understand there's a couple different types of koni cartridges that are used, yellow and red, however I'm not clear as to what is done to increase travel. People always say, "Shortened Koni's". In my mind that means that the strut cartridge is shortened, meaning it's basically taken apart, shortened and reassembled.
Nope. Way easier (in principle of course).
Check the Koni directions (in their PDFs on their site) for modifying a strut to be used with an insert. The insert is mounted inside the strut housing and is secured by a bolt on the bottom of the strut/insert. It so happens that the thread on the insert is (correctly) over-engineered and way too long. People cut maybe an inch from it and are left with another 0.5-0.75 of an inch to be used with the securing bolt.
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To me that seems like a lot of work (not to mention it would certainly void the warranty on the struts) when a person could simply cut the welds that hold the housing to the bracket that bolts up to the wheel hub, slide the bracket up a couple of inches, and weld it back on. Now the bottom of the strut will sit lower, increasing the suspension travel. Since the perch would sit lower, if spring length were going to be an issue, then either use longer length ERS or Hypercoil springs, move the perch up, or simply scrap the perch and weld a collar onto the housing further up for a coilover collar to seat on. Weld a pair of plates to the outer pipe to bolt up to the wheel hub.
Only problem with this approach which is of course solid, is that in extreme compression the bottom of the strut may/will hit something. Just inspect your suspension visually, it should be apparent where the potential problem is.
Quote:
If a person had the resources, they could get two pieces of pipe, one that's threaded on the inside and one that's threaded on the outside, so the one threads into the other like a sleeve. The outer pipe would be shorter than the inner pipe to allow the inner pipe to thread in and out of the outer pipe with various lengths of the inner pipe exposed. The cartridge slips into the innermost pipe and you put a threaded cap on the ends, wiht the one on top having a hole in it for the strut rod to travel through, and use a jamb nut on each end of the inner pipe to fix it's position. Use a pair of jamb nuts, one that has a perch welded to it, up top to put your springs or coilovers on.
Well Rob, you just described what all body-length adjustable coilovers do (JIC, D2, KSport, etc).
But of thse body length adjustable coilovers, which ones are worth a sh*t? How do they stack up against the Koni's? Also, the fronts would have to already be shorter to gain any travel since the axles are below them.
