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I am installing my Koni Yellows into my UMI Strut towers. I put the strut into the strut tower and there are barely any threads coming through... This cant be normal. There is also a metal bushing/washer/spacer that comes with the struts. Any one know where this goes?
It does seem like there is a section of the strut that is not threaded that is supposed to be pressed into the strut tower?
Also, how do I keep the strut from spinning when tightening down the nut?
I took a bunch of pictures so you can kind of get an idea of what is going on... any help is appreciated!
Are the dust covers removed from the strut (The black shroud)? I had to remove the dust covers for my solid bearing strut mounts. You have to do this for any brand strut btw.
Also I used a vise grip *wrapped with a towel* to keep the shaft from spinning. If you don't wrap the shaft with a towel before you clamp the vise grips down, you risk nicking the shaft. Damage to the shaft can lead to seal failure & leakage.
The bearing in the caster camber plate uses a sleeve that reduces the hole size to 0.675" +/- .005. Everything looks good and the sleeve looks correct.
I really didn't have any opinion when I first saw it as I don't use these parts but after reading the replies and looking at the pictures, I'd also suggest removing the black plastic dust cover. It will probably allow the top cap to sit all the way down where it's supposed to be.
I also removed the factory dust cover and used rubber accordion style dust covers like on the baja truck shocks. they were like $12 for a pair at advance auto. Figured it would be a good measure to protect the seals from dirt.
I've got a similar problem but it just got a little worse, I bought koni yellows (not coil overs, just replacing stock) and the umi plates, I'm not using the stock plastic dust shields either. The spherical bearing in the umi plate is way deeper than the bearing in stock plates, I put the washer on (which only takes up more useable thread) and I was able to get the nut started, just, using a c spanner to hold the hex on the strut, once i had some more strut to bite onto I used the ring end to keep going. Problem is once i got it cranked down at the bottom the ring spanner started to slip and it's begun rounding the hex on the strut... I really don't think it's on there tight enough and I'm too scared to keep going because if i round the hex off completely then I'm really screwed. I tried gripping the shaft with a rubber mat and vice grips but it just keeps spinning.. not really sure what to do now... the disappointing thing is the hex part on the strut is machined slightly rounded on the edges... so right where it counts there's no material to grab onto. I know people must install these things all the time and probably incident free but It's not working out so well for me. This is the first time I've done this so I'm learning as I go, I did my homework and I thought i was doing it right... Any suggestions? If I can get the shaft to stop turning and torque it down I'll be ok...
I was able to tight then with a huge wrench for the nut and a small wrench for the the stud coming up. I almost stripped mine also...it looks like your only choice is to use the vice grips. Can you go any tighter with the grips? What are you torquing to?
Can't go tighter with the vice grips, pretty much went as tight as i could, and i used wax and grease remover first to clean everything up for a good grip still just turns the shaft and I can't undo it either using the grips. Originally I used a 24mm wrench on the nut and 11mm wrench on the stud. The nut must be on there fairly tight I'm guessing but I don't like to guess... GM manual says 44ft/lbs Koni directions say 59ft/lbs for a 12mm stud but you can't really use a torque wrench in this situation anyways, and I don't have torque spanner, basically its just do them up tight. At this point I'd like to get it off and replace the washer with something thinner so I can get more of the nut on the thread but as I said I'm scared to tryn move it again... I need a method that avoids using that stud if possible... Such a pain... Maybe a wrench that has better grip/more surface area?? I dunno... still can't believe the stud doesn't have sharper edges on it...
Why would you need vice grips on the strut shaft? You should be installing these in the shock towers IN THE CAR. You dont bench mount them. Take old ones out by dropping the a arm enough to slip it out. Install you new strut and shock tower. Install and let it hang. Pressure from spring will be enough force to let you torque the nut down. Last thing you want to do is put a vice grip on that shaft.
Already got it sorted, didn't need an impact. A friend of mine is a mechanic and he has an '87 Z28 so he knows his stuff... Removed the washer completely in the end because there's very little thread to play with with these plates. Also made custom dust boots to protect the struts. I know a few guys wanted to know if there was a boot for koni yellow shocks, if anyone wants to know how I can tell you what I did. They're not hard or expensive to do and they are height adjustable too... Now onto the LS1 brakes install...
Thanks for the input but already got it sorted, didn't need an impact. A friend of mine is a mechanic and he has an '87 Z28 so he knows his stuff, got it off and back on using hand tools... Removed the washer completely in the end because there's very little thread to play with with this combo.
Also made custom dust boots to protect the struts.
I know a few guys (me included) wanted to know if there was a boot for koni yellow shocks, if anyone wants to know what I did I can tell you. They're not hard or expensive to do and they are height adjustable too...
yeah, of course... why would I take it out? The dust boots are a completely separate thing to the caster plates and they don't come into contact with one another...
Last edited by OzCamaroz28; 06-30-2015 at 10:44 AM.
Already got it sorted, didn't need an impact. A friend of mine is a mechanic and he has an '87 Z28 so he knows his stuff... Removed the washer completely in the end because there's very little thread to play with with these plates. Also made custom dust boots to protect the struts. I know a few guys wanted to know if there was a boot for koni yellow shocks, if anyone wants to know how I can tell you what I did. They're not hard or expensive to do and they are height adjustable too... Now onto the LS1 brakes install...
Can some one help clear up what the issue here is? Are Koni's front struts hard to install for some reason? Is the 1" extended length of the aftermarket strut braces/ caster/camber plates causing an issue? Also, how come stock dust covers won't fit? Do the Koni's come with all the installation hardware needed? Thanks Guys!
Can some one help clear up what the issue here is? Are Koni's front struts hard to install for some reason? Is the 1" extended length of the aftermarket strut braces/ caster/camber plates causing an issue? Also, how come stock dust covers won't fit? Do the Koni's come with all the installation hardware needed? Thanks Guys!
The only issue I had was the factory dust covers. I bought some aftermarket strut bellows (rubber acordian style boots) at Advance for like $13. Other than that they fit my CC plates just fine and are no more difficult to tighten down than any other strut.
It's not a Koni issue. It's a factor involved with aftermarket upper strut mounts only.
The factory upper strut mounts work with all strut brands and with the stock black dust covers. It's only when you put aftermarket upper strut mounts on the car that the black dust cover blocks access.
It happens more often with Konis simply because most people who put the solid bearing upper strut mounts in the car also tend to have Konis. But the same problem exists if you have any other strut brand as well.
The bottom line?
If you're going to keep the stock upper strut mounts. Go ahead and put the dust cover back on your new struts.
If you're going to install aftermarket solid bearing strut mounts either now or later, leave the dust cover off your struts before installing (or buy the accordion type)
Thanks Reid. Having troubles understanding why the stock dust cover makes a difference with aftermarket strut bearings? Does the aftermarket have something mounted underneath?
I've been using those rancho boots for a long time and instead of a washer, I use a small bump stop to gold the top part on the shaft. The bump stops tuck up into the camber plate and the boot is simply zip toed around. Only pic I have is this recent one from gerrutcamaros build
Thanks Plum! Are you using a different Cc plate with 1" extend? What part of IA you from? I grew up in CR/Marion area.
I have J&M Products/Hotpart.com CC plates. They are 1" taller. They are the same as Founders and UMI. It's my understanding the latter two copied J&M ' s design.
Started Koni install this evening. Retaining stock upper mounts for now. Stock dust cover fits like a champ. One thing I noticed, Koni strut rod is smaller diameter than stock strut rod. Also uses different bolt thread size than stock up top. Finally, the small nut that is welded to top of strut rod that is used to help keep it from spinning when tightening top is an odd size, couldn't seem to find a good wrench or socket to fit it. Every tool tried was a wee bit loose.
P.S. when changing struts, do your self a huge favor and remove the rotor and rotor shield. Makes getting to the lower strut bolt so much easier. Would be a great time to do your front brakes if they are needing to be done.
Last edited by LiquidBlue; 11-26-2015 at 10:59 AM.
Finally, the small nut that is welded to top of strut rod that is used to help keep it from spinning when tightening top is an odd size, couldn't seem to find a good wrench or socket to fit it. Every tool tried was a wee bit loose.
I had the same issue. Had the shop who did the alignment tighten them for me. Looks like they used vise grips. At least the alignment was spot on to my specs.
I was thinking vice grips might be the answer. Not good for several removals tho.....
The rears are done now. Those were a piece of cake. I was unsure how much to tight top. The Koni instruction picture show not to squeeze the rubber down. I didn't think much of it until I actually did the install, its super, super easy to squeeze that rubber down. So they seem like they are not that tight up top. I guess the 2nd bolt is there to solve that problem. If they were to be torqued to spec, they'd definitely be squeezed down pretty good. The factory install was squeezed down pretty good.
Last edited by LiquidBlue; 12-03-2015 at 10:52 AM.
The little head is a metric size, I think it was 7mm. Just get an assortment of small metric wrenches, not a vice grip. Also, you really don't need it if you simply use an impact wrench.
The little head is a metric size, I think it was 7mm. Just get an assortment of small metric wrenches, not a vice grip. Also, you really don't need it if you simply use an impact wrench.
bumpstop also keeps the boot in place
Where did you get those bumpstops from? Are they a specific brand or size to fit correctly?
01-04-2015, 07:18 PM
. At least the alignment was spot on to my specs. 
