First off, let me begin by stating that everything is new. I'm running new Koni yellows front and back. New Moog 5662 springs up front and 5665 in the rear. New Spohn upper strut mounts. All new bushings and so on.

Rear setup: I have the Konis adjusted to one click off zero (per Dean's suggestion), cut half a coil off the springs, and replaced the isolator with heater hose wrapped around the spring. The height is good and the rear feels great!! No prob there, thanks Dean.

Front setup: Konis are adjusted one full turn (in the firm direction) from full soft. Cut half a coil off the springs, and again with the heater hose. A full alignment is done and the height is fairly close to where I want it.

The problem: The front acts like the struts aren't even working. I hit a bump on the freeway and the front just oscillates up and down and eventually settles out.

I installed the Konis right out of the box. Didn't mess with anything. Once they were in I used the little adjustment **** to set them. Is that right?

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

 

What happens when you put all your weight on the front fenders, right above the wheel? Do this for the front and back. They should be VERY firm and if you try to shake the car up and down it should stop as soon as you stop with no oscillation. The front should feel just as firm as the rear. I have Koni Reds on full hard, there is supposed to be some overlap between Yellows on full soft and reds on full hard so our setups should feel very similar. In fact yours should be stiffer due to the increased spring rate from shortening the spring.

What about strut mounts? Have you replaced those?

 

Reset them at full soft, then make your adjustment--I suggest that because I experienced problems much as you describe, only to find that somewhere along the line, one strut had moved from full soft to perhaps half a turn. Once both struts were adjusted similarly, the improvement was immediate.

JamesC

 

The strut mounts are brand new Spohn pieces.

The rear is perfect, I can push down and its firm. Felt great on the freeway and driving around.

I'll try turning them down to full soft, push down on the car and see how it feels.

 

A driving test might be more telling.

JamesC

 

Even with the fronts on full soft, they shouldn't behave as you describe. I drive with mine on full soft most of the time, and it's much firmer than most cars I've riden in.

 

I have adjusted them to full soft and am still able to bounce the front of the car way too much. I want to get a road test, but between the weather and the holidays I haven't got to it.

Thanks everyone for your help. I'll try to update this when I get a better test.

Do you think there is a break-in time for the new springs and struts?
Also, do you think if it was hitting the bump-stops it could cause this behavior?

Thanks again.

 

I have mine set near the middle position, so I'm not aware of how they act full soft.

Loosen them all the way up & then tighten each about 4 turns. You should definitely notice the difference from full soft.

I started with mine in the middle & experimented slightly in either direction from there. I'm still very close to my initial position, so I would say this is a good starting point for the front.

FYI I started full soft at the rear & after testing, I'm back to full soft as well.

 

I have my yellows set on full soft (or at least if they are not on soft now I havent changed them) and no front swaybar and I dont really feel the need to change the strut setting or add the swaybar back in. I would think there is something wrong with your struts