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marshall_mosty
11-23-2016, 10:01 PM
All,

Not sure how often you get your struts and shocks serviced, but all four of mine were hosed. One of the front struts had the rebound adjustor torn off on the inside, the other strut piston was bent and both rear shocks had bent pistons and were out of nitrogen... yea!

I'm using Anze Suspension for the rebuild/repair and his first question was, "Were you even able to drive the car"... then he proceeded to tell me what was screwed up. He asked how long it had been since hey were serviced. I told him 4 years... he told me "You're fired!" LOL

Time to get them in the annual refresh sequence to just change the oil, check the seals, and dyno them against their baseline plots.

mach1
11-23-2016, 10:07 PM
Didn't Michael go 3yrs on his, have them rebuilt, and they didn't even need it?

marshall_mosty
11-23-2016, 10:44 PM
Not sure if they said they needed it or not. I'm running older 10mm piston Bilsteins in the rear and apparently those aren't the most durable design that MM sold back in the day. Bilstein doesn't make that piston size anymore and if those get rebuilt, they will have to have larger pistons fitted. Looking at a single adjustable Penske in the rear right now.

Supercharged111
11-23-2016, 10:52 PM
Bought my car in 2013, haven't done it yet. I've thought about it, but I don't know what to look for in a shock. Could be that 1 piece of setup I'm missing the mark on, but the car is easy to drive so I don't really sweat it.

marshall_mosty
11-23-2016, 11:11 PM
My car slowly progressed to understeer and the rear "bounced" over the bumps especially on corner exit. When I pulled the fronts out, there was about a 1/2" of "dead" space at the start of the piston travel that all I can guess was an air pocket. The e rears on the other hand took about 5 minutes to extend once they are compressed.

Supercharged111
11-23-2016, 11:30 PM
I might yank mine and give 'em a push/pull test to see where we're at. Sometimes when I'm going through a corner in 3rd and bang 4th I feel like the car rocks too much. There are a couple of spots here in CO where my car finds itself there but doesn't get upset. There are also certain curbs I can run over foot to the floor and the car sticks 90% of the time. In my mind, the shocks are there, at least the low speed valving, for the transitions from braking to turn in and then the application of the throttle to exit. I've slammed the bumpstops at PPIR around 105 and the car never seems to care. Again, I must reiterate, that I consider myself very shock ignorant.

michaelmosty
11-28-2016, 10:33 AM
I got mine last rebuilt after 3 years of use. I didn't ask specifically if there were any issues and nothing was told to me.
I can say I didn't feel any difference after they were rebuilt but at least I know they are in good shape.

Fbody383
11-28-2016, 12:11 PM
Didn't Michael go 3yrs on his, have them rebuilt, and they didn't even need it?
So, 6 or 7 years too much? What's a recommended Koni shop?

If they aren't easy to push/pull what's the first step - a dyno run on them?

dtanker65
11-28-2016, 01:09 PM
My HVT AST's are 3 years old, John told me the only maintenance needed was to disassemble and clean the front steering sleeve and look at the Garlock Teflon bearings periodically (MCPherson struts). The cartridge is maintenance free.

The one thing Brian Hanchey told me about caring for the shocks is they should be set somewhere mid-range in the adjustments. Anytime they are set to max, the shocks are compensating for something wrong with the setup (springs. bars).

Fbody383
11-28-2016, 02:24 PM
The one thing Brian Hanchey told me about caring for the shocks is they should be set somewhere mid-range in the adjustments. Anytime they are set to max, the shocks are compensating for something wrong with the setup (springs. bars). Which is "wrong," the shocks or the balance of the setup?

I think I agree with you that after springs/bars/tires are fixed, having the shocks valved so they are more middle is a good thing.

dtanker65
11-28-2016, 04:59 PM
Sorry, my understanding of what Brian was telling me was that the shocks are to fine tune the setup not a substitute for what the springs and bars should be doing. If the car needed the max adjustment on the shocks to handle properly, the spring rate/bar setting needed to be changed.

I think setting the shocks to the max setting creates more internal heat and wear. I am getting a feel for setup, but I have to evaluate changes by testing them on a track that I can run exactly the same way every lap.

Supercharged111
11-29-2016, 10:31 AM
It seems to me if you have a single adjustable shock maxed or minned out, it's not going to match the curve for compression very well. Are there any CMC legal double/triple adjustable out there?

mach1
11-29-2016, 11:02 AM
It seems to me if you have a single adjustable shock maxed or minned out, it's not going to match the curve for compression very well. Are there any CMC legal double/triple adjustable out there?

My Koni's are DA, they were $1500 if I remember correctly.

Fbody383
11-29-2016, 01:10 PM
my understanding of what Brian was telling me was that the shocks are to fine tune the setup not a substitute for what the springs and bars should be doing. If the car needed the max adjustment on the shocks to handle properly, the spring rate/bar setting needed to be changed. Ok, I think I can agree with that. Not sure I can actually feel the difference yet.

marshall_mosty
11-29-2016, 01:26 PM
I'm headed down to the shop today to take more measurements to make sure my droop travel is adequate on the front struts... I'm amazed at how much an "out of the box" solution doesn't work on a race car... (but in retrospect, I'm not surprised either... Just didn't know what questions to ask).

mach1
11-29-2016, 02:15 PM
I'm headed down to the shop today to take more measurements to make sure my droop travel is adequate on the front struts... I'm amazed at how much an "out of the box" solution doesn't work on a race car... (but in retrospect, I'm not surprised either... Just didn't know what questions to ask).

What are your guidelines for your droop measurements?

GlennCMC70
11-29-2016, 04:33 PM
Max settings can be avoided by re-valving the shock.
And consider that sway bars used may be all that is allowed.

marshall_mosty
11-29-2016, 05:22 PM
What are your guidelines for your droop measurements?
It's more of working out the droop travel of the strut and then equating that to the wheel droop and then talking with the shop about the pro/con of the amount that I currently have.. I currently have 1.5" of droop travel at the strut. That equates to approx 1.75" of droop at the wheel. That doesn't give much for the body to roll around. 500lb-in springs are stiff, but not that stiff...

Fbody383
12-07-2016, 10:42 AM
What's a recommended Koni shop? Anybody used somebody they would use again...

mach1
12-07-2016, 12:15 PM
Buy new koni's? I think their rebuild costs are close to what a new damper runs.

marshall_mosty
12-07-2016, 01:59 PM
Anybody used somebody they would use again...
I'm sure Angelo could rebuild them.. my Koni's in the rear were $100ea to rebuild. I'm only keeping them as spares though.

drecords
12-08-2016, 12:56 AM
Anybody used somebody they would use again...

Currently having an outfit called Maxcyspeed and Company do my Konis, he also told me that he can service AST's.

mach1
12-08-2016, 09:50 AM
Currently having an outfit called Maxcyspeed and Company do my Konis, he also told me that he can service AST's.

How much to rebuild the koni's?

Fair
12-21-2016, 05:01 PM
Currently having an outfit called Maxcyspeed and Company do my Konis, he also told me that he can service AST's.
Stuart at Maxcyspeed is great - he does all of our valving and shock rebuild work. Their shop is hard to find so if you need local drop off/pick up he usually has people just bring stuff to use at Vorshlag in Plano (he comes by here every few days). He worked for me years ago at Vorshlag, then at AST-USA as their Grand Am track support/rebuild specialist, and has has his own shop for a few years since. He can service MCS, Moton, AST, Penske, Koni, Ohlins, Bilstein, anything.