So I tried to buy koni reds for the rear of my 86 gt a couple months ago, only to find out today that they are discontinued. Has anyone come up with anything from any other gm's that fit, or maybe cut-a-strut cartridge deals? It's my autocross car and I run it in e-street so my options are limited on how much rigging I can do, but as long ride height ends up the same, I could do some limited fabri-cobbling.
If you actually talk to koni directly they will tell you they are discontinued, unless somewhere has some laying around on the shelf somewhere, then the only reason they are still listed is because they haven't updated their catalog. That's what I ran into, I ordered from a place that listed them as available, was told it would be early november before they shipped, they never shipped so I called the place I ordered from, they called koni, koni says no more of them
I'm going with a Bilstein monotube conversion. Not at all cheap. But it does mean I can decide what level of damping I want. Some manufacturers also do adjustable versions. Lot of work but it should be worth it. You do have to change the mounting plate too, the strut tops are 20mm, so unless you can make new rubber mounts it's spherical bearings. I'd post pics but pip doesn't work on phones.
I have confirmed with KONI that the Fiero strut is indeed discontinued and why. They have only processed 2 orders this year and the last one was in April and I have confirmed those two no longer have any inventory.
Here is the deal: Within the KONI product line, the Fiero is the only application using the 2 metal stampings that create the attachment point to the knuckle (there are other applications within GM, but those were never in the KONI product line to help spread production costs and increase the available market). Two large steel stamping companies in Europe went bankrupt last year, one of these was the supplier for the two Fiero bracket stampings. KONI has been and continues to work on sourcing a new supplier, but with the Fiero market being double digit struts per year, they haven't found an economical solution from a European supplier. Until KONI finds the right stamping supplier, they can't make any more, and with the declining potential market, there isn't much financial incentive either.
The largest purchaser of the Fiero strut has an open order for about 30+ struts. I called them today and they are a private distributor and will only share inventory details with their approved dealers (and there is a pretty high bar to being approved as one of their dealers - so I can't make the cut). The 2nd largest purchaser has been verified to be out of inventory and has been pushing Koni to find a solution for a while. If you google the part # and a business pops up, I have called or emailed them and confirmed their inventory is depleted.
Sourcing these will require finding some small to mid-level parts business that just happens to have some gathering dust on the shelf, or finding some in a bankrupt companies surplus auction.
[This message has been edited by fieroguru (edited 11-30-2018).]
I figured that there were very limited sales on them and that was a large part of why they are discontinued. Looks like my choices are kyb or fab something. Anybody know of a strut with the correct body length that has an available koni insert cartridge? So long as the body is the right length and I can take everything out of it, I can steal the knuckle and spring mounts off an old strut and weld them on.
[This message has been edited by kzelisko (edited 12-01-2018).]
You know what is really frustrating about this? Bilstein still makes struts for the MR2s and yet there are only 1/10 as many of them originally......and probably that ratio still exists! I understand that Fiero owners are not into spending as much on shocks/struts as a 911 or Ferrari owner, but the MR2 guys ain't money-bag types, either.
I had a 1973 mach 1 w/5.0 FI engine......I tuned the suspension so it handled very well...Had the Gabriel strider shocks on it.....Changed over to Bilsteins....It RODE better and Body control was better......they helped at both ends of the shock performance spectrum! Amazing......
I could breadboard a Bilstein shock onto the front of my Fiero with custom brackets, but the rear is very tightly constrained....and makes up most of the rear suspension.....
Bilstein used to make struts for the Fiero...then they stopped....They have the info/specs...Just make some more of them!
[This message has been edited by cvxjet (edited 12-01-2018).]
Hey Guys, get a set of FieroGuru fully assembled KYB Struts and you will be so happy! Koni is way overrated IMHO anyways. You will love them and the quality and price!!
A little off topic....sorry. Is it true that KONI's are rebuildable? I have a pair of '88 front shocks and a pair of struts.....the shocks seem to be OK, but the struts are shot.
A little off topic....sorry. Is it true that KONI's are rebuildable? I have a pair of '88 front shocks and a pair of struts.....the shocks seem to be OK, but the struts are shot.
Just curious if anyone knows.
Yes. Rebuildable and they can be custom valved as well.
A little off topic....sorry. Is it true that KONI's are rebuildable? I have a pair of '88 front shocks and a pair of struts.....the shocks seem to be OK, but the struts are shot.
Just curious if anyone knows.
quote
Originally posted by fieroguru:
Yes. Rebuildable and they can be custom valved as well.
They can even convert them to be double adjustable. The all-in cost a few years back was $500/corner, including buying new struts. If you send them your old ones, it probably won't be that much, depending on how bad your struts are.
Yes. Rebuildable and they can be custom valved as well.
quote
Originally posted by Will:
They can even convert them to be double adjustable. The all-in cost a few years back was $500/corner, including buying new struts. If you send them your old ones, it probably won't be that much, depending on how bad your struts are.
Hey Guys, get a set of FieroGuru fully assembled KYB Struts and you will be so happy! Koni is way overrated IMHO anyways. You will love them and the quality and price!!
Yes KYB Struts are adequate for daily/spirited driving, but serious autocrossing or track/HPDE necessitating a ~1.8 and above suspension frequency will require a much stronger shock to control such spring rate. Once you get close to a 2.0 frequency and much above even the koni's in stock form have a hard time keeping up. Ultimately its about what you are attempting to accomplish with the shock/strut.
Iain, I would really like to see how you did your Bilsteins.........Any info and pics would be appreciated!
Been trying to do just that for about 2 hours, photobucket won't upload from my phone, this old computer took an hour just to find my phone and download the pics, now it won't connect o photobucket either. Trying PIP but it keeps hanging when I try to install.
I was trained as an Avionics tech in the Navy and fixed computers at Atari in 1982....Actually came up with a fix in a few days that took the head engineer 2 months to figure out.....I could not program a computer to save my life!!!! (I'm lucky my laptop doesn't grow legs and run away...)
If you actually talk to koni directly they will tell you they are discontinued, unless somewhere has some laying around on the shelf somewhere, then the only reason they are still listed is because they haven't updated their catalog. That's what I ran into, I ordered from a place that listed them as available, was told it would be early november before they shipped, they never shipped so I called the place I ordered from, they called koni, koni says no more of them
I guess this means that the lightly used set I've had sitting in my garage for years just went up in value . . .
I was trained as an Avionics tech in the Navy and fixed computers at Atari in 1982....Actually came up with a fix in a few days that took the head engineer 2 months to figure out.....I could not program a computer to save my life!!!! (I'm lucky my laptop doesn't grow legs and run away...)
I can fix just about anything mechanical......
Yeah, computers do my nut it, you can't fix them with eezi start, ...weeell you Can...Squirt.. Whoosh,.. Sorted..
Righty, lets try this, if it works I'll do the rest.
I'm not going over the procedure to remove/strip the strut, Safety etc, if you're contemplating something like this you're going to be well up on that.
The strut body is welded to the bracket at the bottom, you cut or disc just above the weld. DSC_0125 by patersoniain, on Flickr
Pic hasn't worked for the next bit, if you turn the bracket end on, there are two 'gaps' where the tube doesn't contact the bracket reinforcement, cut through those with a hacksaw, that should allow you to lever out the tube from the bracket, on one of mine there was a spot weld, I removed that with a holesaw.
Gives you this, clean, sandblast, acid dip, whatever you like, you may need to run a sanding drum/roll through, one of mine was fine, one was tight.
DSC_0130 by patersoniain, on Flickr I got mine from here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/...100675%26rk%3D2%26rk t%3D15%26sd%3D163182114918%26itm%3D153167667461&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3A37d53fda-f740-11e8-b9bf-74dbd180bdb7%7Cparentrq%3A75eacf8b1670a86195d70047fff8e528%7Ciid%3A1
[This message has been edited by Iain (edited 12-03-2018).]
I'll do this in several posts, since this computer is old, keeps freezing and doing strange things.
The tube comes fitted with DU bushes and wiper seal, you simply slide the tube into the bracket. There are two types, at least for Escorts, partially threaded and fully threaded. Partly threaded will be fine, I ended up with fully threaded simple because David at Classic Rally only had those in stock and sent them for the same price.. I have no connection to Classic and Rally other than being a satisfied customer for a couple of decades. You can have small or long spring perches. DSC_0134 by patersoniain, on Flickr
Choose your top cap, pilot hole or D shape if you're using Bilstein
You need a pair of these, 40mm inverted monotube, these are secondhand Long Escort Bilstein. Short ones are a better length for the Fiero, pretty much perfect in fact. You can have them made to pretty much any length you want. Even adjustable, you pays your money...
If you are getting them made and ask nicely you can have the tops machined to use whatever top mounts you want. If you're using secondhand or rebuilt stuff, as I am, that's not possible. An Escort top nut is 5/8 UNF with an o.d of 19.73 mm, or at least mine are. Faaaar too big for the standard strut.
You'd normally just go with an adjustable top mount, except I can't find any cheap, or, secondhand ones with a 20mm bearing, these are E36, no way will that top nut fit these without turning it down to scary thin, and it won't take a bigger bearing. Escort mounts are available, which could be redrilled, but they're expensive.
I'm trying to do this with Minimum Budget. So, I'm probably going to go with a 6mm steel top mount with a spherical bearing housing welded into it. I want to move the mount inward as Fieroguru did anyway.
That's as far as I've gotten with it, I'm trying to turn up a pair of short inserts, though if I can sort and sell one of the cars I have lying around, I may splash out on a pair of adjustable inserts.
Thanks for all the info, Iain....Wow, that is pretty involved! Do you happen to have the PN of the SHORT Escort insert?
It would be great if someone actually manufactured the strut-to-spindle bracket......
Sorry, not getting home until late these days and don't have a lot of comp access.
Afraid i don't cvxjet, I decided early on I was either going with used inserts or new from one of the UK manufacturers. Used just now to give the car suspension when I remove the subframe, then new so I can have tops which can fit those adjustable mounts. We have a whole host of Euro hatches which probably have an application I need, the companies don't have pdf's of all their application dimensions, least not that they'll make available anyway.
those come with the threaded strut tubes and hardware. various lengths, strokes and valving.
The bottom bracket is fairly easy to remove, though it does mean chopping up a strut. I have seen brackets made in plate steel, welded on and braced, the threaded tube is substantial enough for that. I once saw a magazine shoot decades ago, where the guy had machined an ali section almost like a motorcycle fork clamp to hold the tube, for no other reason than because he could.
