Koni Shock Advice

My advice , go for the rebuild of the Koni's , the best shocks there are.

over the years the rubbers from the inside gives the problem.

Simon

An alternative is high pressure gas Koni's from Pantera Performance in CO. They have adjustable spring perches and are available with either steel or aluminum bodies. Dennis will supply them with stock spring rates, if that's what you want. Shocks definitely play a larger role in ride quality than springs do. I was running 550lb/725lb springs with my Koni's and the ride was very comfortable, in fact, I would have liked it a bit firmer.   

My advice , go for the rebuild of the Koni's , the best shocks there are. over the years the rubbers from the inside gives the problem.

I would only rebuild those Koni's if they have adjustable spring perches for the coils, or are modified during the rebuild to be adjustable coil-overs.  Otherwise, buy new shocks!  Removing the spring spacers will not drop the car enough to make it look right as long as you have those fixed perch shocks.

@jwelch68 posted:

Good morning,

I'm starting to work on my suspension.  The car had been sitting in an AZ storage building for 35 years.  I noticed after installing the new engine the suspension didn't sag at all. I had a couple people pushing down on the suspension and there is no give at all.  Is this normal assuming I have the stop springs?

Also, there is a 6" gap between the top of tire and fender so I will be removing the spacer to lower it, but doubt that will get the lower look I want.

I pulled the RR spring/shock assembly, and the shock is definitely bad.

I found a place that will rebuild the Koni's but are $250 per shock and if there are hard parts damage then the price goes up from there, plus shipping both ways.  https://www.performanceshock.com/koni-service-page/

It seems the Alden coil over setup has some really heavy spring rates, so I assume the ride isn't very good with these.

The RideTechs from SACC seem to have a better selection of spring rates but are a slightly more expensive.

So, it appears I'm spending $1200 to $1600 depending on which way I go.

Anyone have an opinion on which direction to take?

Thanks,
John

#2551

I have the Ride Techs from SACC, with spring rates, fronts 300lb, Rear 500lb. I'm not a Ricky Racer kinda guy so this works Well for Me. lol My Car rides Great and it does Handle good. I know many guys have Stiffer Spring Rate, especially if they're Auto Crossing or Racing?

Thanks for all the input.

My Koni's have the fixed bottom perch so there wouldn't be any adjustment beyond removing the spacer.  Maybe the previous owner installed stiffer springs.  The last time the car was driving was 1985 so maybe he was going for the hotrod, high in the back look.  I few buddies have asked me if mine is a 4x4 due to its height.

Dennis  just got back to me with a quote on the Fox / Ride Tech adjustable coil over shock set up with Hyperco springs.  $1895 plus shipping.

I will probably go with Ride Tech since I'm all of $1500 into Koni rebuild.

Thanks again.

John

#2551

Aftermarket springs are cheap and available; as was said the fronts should be considerably softer than rears. There are two sizes- non-adjustable Konis take larger OD springs than the later adjustable gas shocks which I think are 2-1/2" OD. Someone on this forum may have stock springs in their garage.

SACC Restoration has the Ride Tech Shocks for $399.00 each, same as Dennis, but cheaper.  Give Scott Bell a call.  Larry

@garth66 posted:

I would only rebuild those Koni's if they have adjustable spring perches for the coils, or are modified during the rebuild to be adjustable coil-overs.  Otherwise, buy new shocks!  Removing the spring spacers will not drop the car enough to make it look right as long as you have those fixed perch shocks.

Hi Garth, I dont agree with you, I always use the standard Koni's and they have a perfect stand.

Simon

I had non ride height adjustable Koni's as well.  The car sits too high even with the spacers removed (at least it did for my taste).   I would not spend that kind of money on rebuilding a 50 year old shock when you can get newer stuff with ride heigh adjustment.  There is nothing wrong with the Alden set up either and their price is right.  

I have a friend that has a set of used just rebuilt (not installed after rebuilt) Alden shocks for sell if you want to go that route.  I don't know what he is asking, but PM me if you are interested and I will get you in touch with him.

Something to be said for both vintage '82 Konis and newer design gas-shocks from this century. I've run both and the gas Konis are lighter; aluminum bodies save another 12 oz per shock. They use cheaper ($50/pair) easy to find springs in 5 lb stiffness variations and work harder without getting hot because of the 250 lb internal gas pressure and better oil. The gas pressure adds 40 lb of "spring" stiffness, too.  And of course the adjustable spring perches make rake adjust-ment & corner weighting easy. Road noise is unchanged using more precise-handling metal rod-ends instead of the failure-prone rubber bushings. I like them.

But if you don't run your car very hard, all that is unnecessary. Gas Konis  are not made for obsolete mid-engine Panteras but for an unidentified front engine car with the same shock-stroke. So you need to install the stiffer 'fronts' on the rear and vice-versa to get the valving correct, swapping the rubber dampers end to end as well. And each end of each shock needs a pair of custom spacers (16 total) to keep them centered on smaller OD bolts, that are a sloppy fit in stock Pantera frame tabs unless you shim them. I also find their external damping adjustment trickier to use than the old ones. YMMV-