Anyone running Koni shocks?

I picked up a set of Koni shocks for my '65 B body and thought I'd check in to see if anyone else is using them on a classic Mopar.

I like the adjustability of the Koni shock which is why I wanted to use them but I was expecting them to be a bolt in. The fronts are close to a bolt in but the upper bushing that Koni sends with the shocks has no chance of fitting so I replaced it with a normal two part bushing that most everyone else uses.

The rear shock is a little more puzzling but I think I've figured it out. The lower bushing is only 5/8 diameter so no way will it fit on the 11/16 stud in the shock plate. The Koni shock is also a little too short for my car. So I'm going to build some new shock plates with a 5/8 stud and move the stud up and in a little bit. That will solve the length issue as well as the mounting issue.

This kind of stuff doesn't stop me in my tracks these days since I'm fully equipped to build my own custom parts but I feel sorry for the more typical guy working out of his garage. When you buy expensive name brand parts like Koni shocks I'd expect them to bolt on. Some engineer at Koni didn't bother to even look up the correct mounting specs for Mopar vehicles before throwing this design over the wall to production.

Did you get the Koni 'Classic' adjustable shocks?

I have a pair on the back of my '62 Chrysler NewYorker which I bought used.

Do recall there was something with the bushings indeed.
I think I was able to push out liners and replace the bushings with regular ones that fit without issues. No machining was involved.

Their length was OK in recall.

Koni is a Dutch manufacturer of shocks and they are fairly local to me.

I use them on my Challenger. I don't recall any issues with the fronts. The rears are shorter, and the lower mounting hole is like you said. I pressed in 5/8" bushings that I made from some hydraulic tubing. I made some tapered boxed extensions for the top of the shock. That way they are still bolt in.
I have over 12k on them with zero issues.

Have you run any other shocks on your challenger? How do these compare?

Just Monroe Classics. The adjustability is nice. I have the rear backed nearly all the way off. I have never done any type of track time, just spirited driving on mountain roads.

Can you describe the differences and improvements?

What was it like with the rear not backed off?

When going over bumps the rear would jar badly. Backing off the rear helped. I have factory 72 Cuda re arched springs.

Are they Koni yellows and if they are they build then for an one inch drop. Nice shocks I ran them on my Porsche 944 S2 and a lot of folks run them in Autocross in a bunch of different cars.

I've been running the RED adjustable Konis since the late 70s on my Challenger... had the fronts replaced once due to compression (dive) and causing them to fail... 2nd front set was rebuilt stiffer, along with eventually stepping up to much stiffer TBs (1.24 eventually).

I've played with the settings alot -- car dominantly used for SCCA AX from late 70s through early ~2000... and now HSAX/HPDE track time.

The fronts are set at full stiff; rears played with pending track/AX, etc... between 1/2-2/3-3/4 stiffness. the leafs are stiff (fiberglass monoleafs FLEXAFORM... 225#/5" unsprung arch. Too stiff rear shocks and the tire will lift off the pavement.. so.. ~2/3 stiffness max. (also pending choice of 3/4" or mostly used 1" rear sway bar).

I haven't had any installation problems front or rear.

Next set (car is apart now).. will likely be double-adjustable Viking or QA1... I've heard nothing but great things about the 2x adjustable shocks from AX/HSAX/HPDE guys running them.

I have the red shocks (classics). The front went on okay once I bought different bushings. The rears wouldn't go on without changing something in the lower bushing. I decided to leave the shocks alone and I designed new rear shock plates. I'll have some pictures in a few days.

My first set of shock plates came out okay but not perfect. I'll redesign and make another run of them.

The front Koni shocks went on without any issue once I changed the upper bushing. The bushing that came with the shock was not going to work. No idea what the engineer at Koni was thinking when he came up with that idea.

Andy, are you able to run a flat hood with your setup as I see it in the photo. If so, curious to see how far the filter unit sticks up when you measure from its high point to the top edge of the inner fender.

Yes it is a flat hood. I cut a hole in the hood for the air cleaner to poke thru, but the hood is flat.

Ok thank you.

I think I figured out the Koni install so now I've put the Fikse rims back on. The Porsche calipers are installed and the brakes are bled. I have the new fuel system plumbed in but I need to finish the wiring and then she should be ready to drop on the ground and fire up. I was shooting for the end of the month to get it started but looks like I'll miss that by a week or two.

I'm looking forward to seeing your 65 running and driving with everything you've done to it and how it works on the track.

Do you plan to offer a kit for those brakes??

How about another new book?

No more brake kits from me! They didn't sell well enough to justify spending any time on them. Besides, the price on Porsche stuff has gone crazy. I think I paid $400 each for the calipers new from the dealer a few years back but now they want $1500 each for just the caliper! I don't think I've ever met a Mopar guy who would pay that much for a brake caliper.

Here is a better picture showing the new shock plates. I made them with a D hole in the center of the spring for a tie down strap. When I go to the chassis dyno they need a tie down strap and I don't like it when they put a loop over the axle since it can crush the brake line. It was easy to just add an extra hole in the plate so now I'll have a strong place to hook the tie down straps.

Nice clean slick work AndyF. A lot of your stuff over the years have been my inspiration.

I designed a different style of shock plate for my Duster project and now I'm thinking I'll switch to this style on my Coronet also. The double shear design is stronger and easier to R&R. It is also a more flexible design which allows me to place the lower mount exactly where I want it before I weld the assembly together.

Got the Coronet running again after sitting in the back of the shop for 10+ years. Might get it out to a track day next summer. Doubt I'll drive it very hard but might take it out for a few laps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvGBDgF6sZk&feature=youtu.be

Cool video, thanks for sharing!! Coronet sounds good.

Andy, how much for a pair of those rear shock plates?

Depends on which ones you are asking about. The ones one the Coronet are fairly simple so they'll be around $90 from Mancini. The ones on the Duster will be a u-weld it kit and might be $120 or so. The Duster ones will have the extra plates for the CalTrac bars.

Andy- great work as always. What hub/disc are you using on the front?

Custom hubs with Baer rotors and Porsche calipers.

I did get the Coronet out for some driving the other day. The Koni shocks make a big difference in how the car feels. The car was really harsh with the old shocks that I had on there but now with the Koni shocks it just soaks up the bumps. I have 0.960 torsion bars up front but I think I can step up a notch to the 1.00 inch bars without any issues.

The adjusters are screwed in flush with the LCA plates with the 0.960 bars so it wouldn't hurt me to go one step larger to a 1.00 bar. That would give me a few more threads of adjustment.

I weighed the Coronet and it is 3800 lbs without driver. 50/50 weight distribution. So that is 1900 lbs on the front end which means a 190 lb/inch front spring rate would work.

I haven't tried different settings on the Koni shocks yet. I installed them with the adjustment in the middle of the range and they seem to be working fine so I'll probably leave it for now.

Within 2 or 3 days I had the adjustable shocks on my Dart fairly set up to my liking.
Hotchkis front / QA1 rear, 1" torsionbars, Hellwig front swaybar, 7 leaf springpacks in the back (because of 2 propane tanks).

The car felt like sticking to the road much better than ever before.

I got back on this project and finished up a set of rear shock plates with a double shear mount for the Koni shocks. I used a 5/8 hole in the bracket so I could use a 5/8 diameter mounting bolt. The Koni engineers used the wrong hole size in their shocks so I just adjusted my bracket to fit. A 5/8 diameter bolt is way overkill for this application but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

I have some miles on the car now and I think the Koni shocks are worth the money. It was a huge hassle having to build the custom rear shock plates but I suppose it was also a good learning experience. I'm lucky that I have the tools available to me so I can build stuff like that. Without those tools I'd been screwed. I'd still have a couple of Koni shocks sitting in a box that wouldn't fit on the car. No idea why Koni makes the wrong shocks for our cars but I guess that is just the way they roll.

I talked to the guys at Firm Feel about the Koni shocks and they told me that Koni has always made the rear shocks wrong. Koni engineers told them that the Mopar rear stud is 5/8 which is why they make their shocks that way. Evidently the Koni engineers refused to admit they were making the shocks wrong and refuse to change the design. Kind of funny in a perverse way. I've worked with engineers like that so I understand it. Convinced that they are correct while everyone knows they are wrong............