KONI Sports for Classic Z's

[jfa.series1]

As the owner of a sailboat for over 20 years, one quickly learns how to correctly deal with stainless steel fasteners. From the book "Lessons Learned at Mother's Knee", not just any old lube will work with SS - it needs to be an anti-seize lube that resists the thread-to-thread pressure that will displace ordinary lubes. I have one container that has copper as a component. The SS fittings on our hydraulic lines will always benefit from some anti-seize. While installing my KONI's I noted a light colored lube on the threads, possibly a lithium type lube. And yes... slow and easy is the technique.

[AK260]

Yup. That's typical galling. Here's some links that talk about such things. Some of these even specifically call out stainless nyloc nuts:

https://www.boltdepot.com/fastener-information/Materials-and-Grades/Thread-galling.aspx

https://www.anzor.com.au/blog/what-is-stainless-galling

https://www.westfieldfasteners.co.uk/Ref_Thread_Galling.html

The bottom line is usually... Use lots of lube and go slow. And even then, don't do stainless Nyloc on stainless threads unless you're an expert. Now I don't know if Koni's damper shaft is stainless, but it might be. Did they supply the stainless Nyloc nuts with the dampers? All those parts were in the same box?  Seems they would know about the risks. Especially by now.

So is the yellow tip the thing that you spin to change the damping? Seems like you could just take a small piece of metal tubing and judiciously "crush" one end to ovalize it and allow it to grip that yellow tab. If that's the case, it would be an easy way to make a longer tool to reach the adjuster.

 

Interesting links, thanks for sharing. My mistakes were that 1. I was in a hurry so I was undoing it quickly. 2. I didn’t stop immediately when I felt it fight back. Within a second of it resisting, it had welded itself solid!

 

The nuts all come in the sealed bag of bits Koni supply with the dampers. I do believe it is a stainless steel thread as it is part of the single piece damper shaft.

 

The yellow tip is indeed the adjustment - quite a neat solution. I agree with you - the pipe is the way forward. Because two of the dampers arrived damaged in the post, I have a template in the garage to work from. I quite like the idea of making something that looks properly machined.

[Mark Maras]

I doubt the shaft is made of stainless steel. Typically the bright finish is hard chrome over a higher carbon steel.

[Zed Head]

A closeup of the actual threads would be interesting.  

Are you sure the blue material wasn't actually a blob of threadlocker?  It's the latest thing, pre-applied threadlocker, encapuslated material that breaks open when it's crushed.  You see it on many of the things you buy through the mail now, unassembled.  Screws and bolts with blue blobs on the threads.

The automotive industry is a big driver of the technology.  Perfect for assembly line work.

https://nylok.com/

 

[madkaw]

Freaking IKEA instructions - give me a break . 
what about the spacer ? I can’t find it in the instructions . 

[AK260]

A closeup of the actual threads would be interesting.  
Are you sure the blue material wasn't actually a blob of threadlocker?  It's the latest thing, pre-applied threadlocker, encapuslated material that breaks open when it's crushed.  You see it on many of the things you buy through the mail now, unassembled.  Screws and bolts with blue blobs on the threads.
The automotive industry is a big driver of the technology.  Perfect for assembly line work.
https://nylok.com/

 

I don’t have a better picture unfortunately, I was just glad to get the blessed thing off and get on with my life. It was definitely nyloc and I ditched the rest!!!

Freaking IKEA instructions - give me a break . 
what about the spacer ? I can’t find it in the instructions . 

You said it spot on IKEA instructions!!!!!!!!! They do need improvement for sure.

That white disc thing - what do you suppose it does? I didn’t fit mine in the end as I could see no real need for them except to rattle and annoy me!

As for the spacer, it vexed me for some time. What I decided in the end was to put it the same way up as you have. It came through the spring top hat as I tightened the nut like an “interference fit”. It didn’t need much more than 25lbft to come through; i know this as I did it gingerly using a digital torque wrench. That way, it holds the spring top hat centre on and doesn’t interfere with the bump stop.

[Zed Head]

The white disc has been discussed before.  It's a hot Koni topic all over the internet.  Plug "koni insert white disc" in to your favorite search engine.

Apparently it keeps the bump stop off the top of the strut.  It's a bump stop landing pad.

 

[AK260]

The white disc has been discussed before.  It's a hot Koni topic all over the internet.  Plug "koni insert white disc" in to your favorite search engine. Apparently it keeps the bump stop off the top of the strut.  It's a bump stop landing pad.  

 

 

 Good advice!

 

Now why didn’t I think to do that (google it) when I was assembling them!? ;)

 

This is the best explanation I read:

 

“This little white plastic doodad is often overlooked, but its importance can't be overstated. If your strut bottoms out, the impact can actually seal the bump stop against the strut housing. When the suspension decompresses, that seal is broken, and it can actually create enough suction to break the seal on the strut itself. This piece of plastic creates an air gap between the bump stop and the strut, preventing this weird disaster from occurring"

 

Edit: thinking about this, the gland nut removal holes will likely perform a similar job on mine. What I’ve read so far says that the early seals were theorised to have this issue so they left the discs in as a cheap insurance policy.

 

[madkaw]

51 minutes ago, Zed Head said:

The white disc has been discussed before.  It's a hot Koni topic all over the internet.  Plug "koni insert white disc" in to your favorite search engine.

Apparently it keeps the bump stop off the top of the strut.  It's a bump stop landing pad.

 

I was referring to the steel bushing . My KYB’s didn’t have this . I don’t see it in the instructions 

[w3wilkes]

So where is @KONI Lee when you need him?

[Zed Head]

3 minutes ago, madkaw said:

I was referring to the steel bushing . My KYB’s didn’t have this . I don’t see it in the instructions 

The white disc was mentioned by AK260.

[Zed Head]

22 minutes ago, AK260 said:

Edit: thinking about this, the gland nut removal holes will likely perform a similar job on mine. What I’ve read so far says that the early seals were theorised to have this issue so they left the discs in as a cheap insurance policy.

It might just keep sharp edges, and dirt and grime from wearing the bump stop out.  It distributes the force more evenly than the ragged edges and holes of the gland nut.