Phil S

My shocks do not seem to be what they used to be. Has anyone else had them fad out, mine do not seem to be handling bumps very well any more. It is hard to tell, but every little rough serface seems to be noticable now, I have about 30,000 miles on them with Eibachs and Ronal R-28's, they are set on the middle, front and rear. Any one else have them go like this, and has anyone had Koni replace them?

CraigB

...but I've never been satisfied with them. I will either have them set all the way firm or swap for Bilstiens. BTW - I have H&R Sport springs.<p>CraigB

Greg Woo

Phil:<p>A quick visual inspection of your Konis will determine if the shocks are actually "blown out", i.e. massive loss of shock oil, or simply need an adjustment.<br>Look at the rod seal at the top of the shock housing. This is where the piston rod enters the shock body. If you see significant amounts of oil pooled in this area or running down the body of the shock, then the top seal has failed and the shock is losing oil. Oil is the dampening medium, so no oil = no resistance from the shock.<p>If the shock is okay (little or no oil on the body) then you are just experiencing some mild wear of the internal components, most likely the teflon piston band that seals the shock's piston to the working cylinder. This is perfectly normal. You can compensate for this wear by adjusting the KONIs to a firmer setting. While this requires removing the shocks from the car, it sure beats spending the money on a new set.<p>Best Regards,<br>Greg Woo<br>

ErikR

This is not unusual, unfortunately. Greg's description should help you figure out what the problem is. In ax it is not uncommon to blow a set of seals in a year. You got a lot of mileage actually (they can be rebuilt by TrueChoice). Note that Koni makes real racing shocks that are a lot more durable, but much more expensive