Koni Shock Absorbers -- Too firm?

[Anthony]

 

I've just fitted some Koni dampers to the front and rear of my Herald 1200.

Based on all the research I've done I was expecting the Koni dampers to completely transform the ride quality of the car, however, this has not happened.

At present, the ride quality is exactly as it was when the cheap old dampers were fitted.

The handling is pretty good, and there seems to be very little body roll -- Just how it was previously

But the ride seems a little harsh in both compression and rebound -- Just how it was previously.

Does anybody have any thoughts or suggestions on this, and how I can improve the car's ride quality?

The dampers have Superflex bushes in them.

The rest of the car's bushes are rubber and are in good condition -- although I'll be replacing them with Superflex items in the future.

The front and rear springs are standard Herald 1200 items.

Tyres are currently old 165/80 13 inflated to 24psi on 5.5" Dunlop steel wheels -- I'll be replacing the tyres with 185/60 13.

[glang]

Cant help but I know the move to lower profile tyres together with the higher pressures they will need isnt going to help ride comfort....

[Clive]

Yo may need to adjust the dampers to a softer setting. 

Honestly, Konis are truly excellent.... I have had a set for 25 years, moved from car to car.

[Anthony]

I have to admit I didn't check the settings on the dampers (besides opening and closing them by hand, which was very easy to do, with little in the way of resistance) as I was told when they're delivered they're already adjusted to their softest setting.

 

But, even if they aren't on their softest setting, isn't it just the rebound that's adjustable?

My compression also seems a little hard/harsh and I don't think there's any way of adjusting that.

 

I do need to do something though, as the ride quality is no different than when the car had it's cheap rusty blue dampers fitted. 

[Nick Jones]

Um, it’s a small chassis Triumph……They don’t really do refined, there’s simply not enough suspension travel.

Konis are the most refined of the “performance” offerings and do a decent job of damping without making the ride any more harsh.

Wheel/tyre combinations have a fairly large effect - what do you have fitted?

[PeteStupps]

How old or rusty is your rear spring? That might explain harshness at the back end, if it's binding. I changed my Spitfire to a new swing spring (softer than the fixed one anyway) and it made the ride much smoother. 

If you're dissatisfied with the Konis i'll gladly take them off you!

[Anthony]

3 hours ago, Nick Jones said:

Um, it’s a small chassis Triumph……They don’t really do refined, there’s simply not enough suspension travel.

Konis are the most refined of the “performance” offerings and do a decent job of damping without making the ride any more harsh.

Wheel/tyre combinations have a fairly large effect - what do you have fitted?

 

Yeah, I wasn't expecting it to be refined, but I'd have thought 3" of shock travel (6" of wheel travel) would have been more than sufficient to provide a reasonable ride.

 

The bottom line is there is no noticeable improvement in ride quality between my brand new ~£500 Konis and the worn-out old £10 dampers that were on the car when I bought.

 

I took my friend out for a drive after fitting the Konis (I upgraded the brakes at the same time) but didn't tell him I'd done anything to the car.

 

He noticed the difference in the brakes immediately, but had no idea I'd changed the dampers.

 

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. There are so many glowing reviews about the Konis. There must be something that I've over-looked.

 

I've got a few different sets of wheels, so I've driven the car with a few different tyres, ranging from 165/80 13 to 175/70 13. They're Michelins, Goodyears, and Dunlops. There difference was minor, and the ride quality was still "not great"

 

 

[Anthony]

2 hours ago, PeteStupps said:

How old or rusty is your rear spring? That might explain harshness at the back end, if it's binding. I changed my Spitfire to a new swing spring (softer than the fixed one anyway) and it made the ride much smoother. 

If you're dissatisfied with the Konis i'll gladly take them off you!

 

Rear spring is in reasonable condition. Not binding, and the buttons are present.

I'm planning on swapping to a rotoflex rear-end in the future.

 

I think the rotoflex set-up has less travel than the swing axle set-up, so I wanted to get the ride quality as good as possible before making the swap. 

 

[Clive]

I have been thinking about this.

I wonder if you need to adjust the settings, to give some more damping. If the Konis are set to softest, they may not be doing enough. 

As Nick points out, the transverse spring setup is never going to be compliant like a more modern setup. But have you checked the rear trunnions? if they are stiff/seized that won't help matters. Or you may want to experiment with the spring to make it softer.

[Gt6s]

Koni are REALLY GOOD ! Sounds like siezed trunnion bush's. Have you renewed those lately ?

Edited August 9, 2022 by Gt6s

[drofgum]

Anthony,

You and many others seem to have missed the original point of Koni dampers. The original intent was they would work exactly as the standard damper did, but when worn they could be adjusted to recover their rebound damping action so they would behave as new again. This is how Koni advertised them back when our cars were current.

So expecting an improved ride from them is not really reasonable unless there is something very wrong with the dampers they replace.

You posted that you have used Superflex bushings at the ends of the dampers. Depending on which ones you chose those may be contributing to your disappointment. Most urethane bushings are harder than the original rubber ones. This improves handling at the expense of the ride.

Age can harden the original suspension bushings which also makes the ride harsher.  Unfortunately the new rubber bushings available seem to be of questionable quality. So replacing with new may not give long-term improvement.

Kind regards,

Paul