How to install rear Koni inserts, tips

[jfgarro]

Hi people, I open this thread to share my experiences installing rear Koni inserts to the AE100/101. There are many threads in this respect, but none for our cars! For example, one of the best I read:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=1219607

First of all, I live in Costa Rica, and because of the roads here, with potholes every corner, my rear suspension was almost collapsed, too soft and bouncy. About one month ago, I hit one of this asteroid's gifts with my car, and one of the rear shock decided to die in the process. Thanks to Piloter, one of this forum contributors, I have one almost new set of rear Koni inserts, and the last week I decided to install it in my Corolla.

First step, was take the rear suspension out of my car:



My car have a set of rear blue Australian-made-by-Toyota gas shocks, I never saw this setup in other car. By the way, I have a 1994 base model, with almost 170k miles on it. Because this shock's body has less diameter than the KYB OEM, I bought a pair of collapsed shock in the junkyard for about $20. In the next picture, you can see my old setup (right), with the OEM AE100/101 normal setup (left), cut and ready to accept the Koni insert:



But is in this step when the first problem emerged: the OEM strut is too thick, and insert the Koni cartridge in it is a nightmare. You can see this in the next picture:



But with patience, force and a lot of McGyver thinking, you can do it...and then, the second problem shows: the last third of the OEM strut has a contraction, near the base where the suspension arms attachs. Hope you can see it in the next 2 pictures, in the second I draw a pair of yellow arrows where this happens:





When this happens, you can call all the japanese engineers and send them to the h....one day lost!!! But, checking my dad's car (an AE92), in special the rear struts, they are almost the same of the AE100/101, but without the contraction.



Other trip to the junkyard and $20 after, this is what I found:



At last! In the next picture, you can see the diference in thickness, the AE92 to the left, the AE100/101 to the right:



The problem is the base plate (where the spring rest) is smaller in the AE92. Solution: transplant the base plate of the AE100 to the AE92 assembly. This way, the first $20 weren't a waste after all! In the next pictures, you can see the lower part of the AE92 strut (no contraction here), and the assembly completed, a mix of AE92 with AE100 parts. As you can see, I installed on it a set of H&R springs, and when the Konis are set in full soft, they are about twice as stiff than my old OEM setup!











I'm still waiting for the Whiteline rear sway bar I bought on eBay, and because my car don't has front sway bar, I bought an used one, $30 in the same junkyard. All the bushings are in good condition (I tested each one, and can't believe it!) Next step: buy the front Konis, when I have the money for this...I'll keep posting, hope to improve the ride in my car! DTM style anyone??? Just kidding!

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Great write up! The pictures are excellent. Nice end result I'll put this link in the DIY sticky thread so that others can find it easily in the future

[jfgarro]

This weekend I finished all the installation of the suspension, including a rear Whiteline swaybar and the front OEM one (my car is a base model, it didn't had any). With the Konis set half turn from full soft, new OEM bushings all around, and of course the H&R springs, I went for a test drive in my favorite mountain road, and the results were amazing! The car is other now, feels like a sport compact GTi more than the grandma-approved feeling of old days! Very balanced and solid, with a hint of understeer at the limit of tire adhesion. The only thing lack is more information in the steering wheel of the front tires and what they are doing. I set the tire pressures 32/30 psi front / rear, this because the roads here in Costa Rica are not the best ones in the world, and the H&R / Koni combo is stiffer than the OEM setup. But for self knowledge, with the Konis at 3/4 full stiff and the tires pressures set at 36/34, the sensation is DTM or similar race car like, turns almost flat through corners but the downside is a bumpy ride when the road is any but perfect. Here is a few pictures I take today near my office, I really love the new stance with the dropped springs!!! For information my car has Work JDM 15" wheels, with Cooper Cobra 205/60 tires...

[Piloter]

Holy crap, dude, you made it work. Great thinking with the AE92 struts, and congrats on your awesome ride quality!

[monkeypower102]

I have a few questions, how did you know where to cut the strut housing at? I'm scared I might cut them too high or too low. Also, did you weld the cuts back? And how do you adjust them? I just got mine and I'm confused just looking at them lol

[Bitter]

get better tires than cooper cobra man.

[speedy25]

I didnt see a pic of how the struts were reattached to the tubes. While your pics show they are, since the springs are on!

I congratulate you on your tenacity and ingenuity of finding the right parts to make it work.

-SP

[jfgarro]

Originally Posted by monkeypower102

I have a few questions, how did you know where to cut the strut housing at? I'm scared I might cut them too high or too low. Also, did you weld the cuts back? And how do you adjust them? I just got mine and I'm confused just looking at them lol

I measured the Konis top to bottom, then cut the strut housings about one inch short. There is two ways the Konis keep attached to the strut, the first is by friction, because it has small indentations for this: you need to work hard for the Konis to enter full length in the OEM strut. The second way is by the lower bolt you need to screw, and by this 2 ways, the Konis will never pull apart from the OEM strut housing. To prevent water finding his way to the interior, I cut a piece from a bike pneumatic and put around the housing cutting.

For adjust the front dampers, you need to use the tool Koni put in the kit: you put this tool in the strut upper pin and rotate according what you want for the ride: clockwise for stiff, or the other way for a soft ride. For the rears, you need to take out the full strut from the car, remove the springs, full compress the strut and rotate the damper's pin like the fronts. Then assemble the whole thing and put back in the car. I need to do this at least 4 times until I was happy with the ride, an afternoon of work. Hope this help you!!!

[monkeypower102]

Originally Posted by jfgarro

I measured the Konis top to bottom, then cut the strut housings about one inch short. There is two ways the Konis keep attached to the strut, the first is by friction, because it has small indentations for this: you need to work hard for the Konis to enter full length in the OEM strut. The second way is by the lower bolt you need to screw, and by this 2 ways, the Konis will never pull apart from the OEM strut housing. To prevent water finding his way to the interior, I cut a piece from a bike pneumatic and put around the housing cutting.

For adjust the front dampers, you need to use the tool Koni put in the kit: you put this tool in the strut upper pin and rotate according what you want for the ride: clockwise for stiff, or the other way for a soft ride. For the rears, you need to take out the full strut from the car, remove the springs, full compress the strut and rotate the damper's pin like the fronts. Then assemble the whole thing and put back in the car. I need to do this at least 4 times until I was happy with the ride, an afternoon of work. Hope this help you!!!

Thanks man! But I gotta ask you though, what's the pin look like? I don't seem to see it on the rears that I have (I'll try to post pics when I can if it helps). Also, how can you tell when the struts are full soft or stiff? I messed with them and now I don't know if the rebound is even, and I'm scared to install them like that :/