Sorry,

When you tighten down the bolt on the carrier, is there any gap on the shocks tab that slots into the clamp of the axle carrier? Is that clamp (around the shock body) tightening on the **** when you tighten it? I wonder if you are bottoming out on the tab or something else.

 

I will never buy FSD shock again...i had issue with mine, the item # 3 on the picture come loose from shipping and it causing noise when i drive, they sent me another replacement and still came off during shipment and i gave up, they need a better design.

 

Wow, you know what?; I dont think I ever checked to see if it was under the same torque once it had come loose. Im gonna do that tonight, since its loose again. Im gonna put the torque wrench on it and see if I clicks at 75 ft lbs immediately or not and Im gonna add 11 ft lbs to the piston nut.

I put some primer on the strut body to see if I could tell how the strut is moving in the knuckle once its loose.

Im also gonna triple check the tab for straightness and make sure its centered before I re-tighten. Ill even use a new bolt and nut.

Frankly, I don't know why any of this would make any difference. This is usually a very simple procedure. Most mechanics dont even use a torque wrench. They just zap it with the impact gun and walk away (I tried that too...).

I just swapped an entire coilover suspension off of another FWD car on Sunday and Ive driven it 100 miles with no issues. 4th time Ive swapped that particular car's suspension. Ive done the same on other FWDs and trucks. No issues.

This is so bizarre. The control arm bushing and inner/outer ball joints look normal. No play. Maybe the control arm is bad. Maybe one of both of the practically new ball joints are bad and allowing the knuckle to move around. Problem with that theory is that there is not noticeable symptom until the strut comes loose and starts clanking. Ive shaken down the front wheels a dozen times. No play up/down or left/right.

 

The spring perch came off????? Isnt it welded on?

 

I mean it looks like its touching the tab on both sides when I torque to 75 ft lbs, yes.

Here is a pic of what it looked like after it came loose after a 10 miles drive after having been torqued to spec.




That's a good point...I'm gonna try and smack the knuckle off the strut AFTER I've tightened it to 75 ft lbs! It should not slide off...if it does....then....well....I know Im wasting my time tightening it.

Note that the pinch bolts I bought from you guys are threaded all the way across the shaft. The OEM bolt that came on the car was smooth where it passed through the knuckle.

 

Nope. Press fit. One of mine came loose too and I just got it fixed last week.

James

 

You too? Looks like Koni is having some quality control issues.

 

Can you get some shim stock and wrap the strut to make it slightly oversized? Even .005" would tell you something. My gut feel is that you are clamping the tab, but the strut isn't tight. Measure the thickness of the tab, and tighten a washer in the knuckle that is the same thickness. Now measure the diameter of the knuckle bore and see how that compares to your strut diameter.

You are doing so many things right.

Have fun,
Mike

 

mbwizc,

Thanks for your thoughts. That's what I think as well.

First thing I did when I took the wheel off was check the torque on the pinch bolt. Set at 80 lbs I was able to get the bolt (which had I had secured with Loctite Red) to turn 1/4 turn before the wrench clicked. Why it would have loosened is a curiosity. Yes it was a used bolt and nut but the threads were in good shape. Think about how many times we take wheels off...those bolts and nuts dont just back off.

So I sanded down the tab to half its original width so that it would not interfere with the pinch bolt contacting the strut. Then I tightened to 80 ft lbs with Loctite Red. I havent driven it because my paranoia has caused me to follow all manufacturer's instructions and so I allowed the Loctite to cure overnight. I will drive tonight.

Tab on Koni FSD before sanding:


Tab after sanding:



Its actually much thinner than this second pic. I kept sanding, I think down to 2mm at the thinnest. This game is getting tired and I'm getting desperate. As you can see the tab in its original condition looks straight.

As for the shim stock, ya I thought about that. In fact I used some emery cloth in between the strut and knuckle. It didnt help. I have body spacers for autobody work but they are small u-shaped spacers that go under 10-12mm bolts. Might be worth a try. Some of them are very thin and might make it in between the strut and the knuckle but my concern is that they wouldnt allow the strut to be clamped throughout.

Maybe I'm not tightening the piston to the strut mount with enough torque. Its very hard to put 60 ft lbs to a 19mm bolt with only a 3 inch 6mm allen wrench to resist the force. (which is why most techs just zap it with an impact gun).

Anyway I checked to make sure this second knuckle could reduce its diameter enough to envelop the strut. It's only 1/2 mm smaller than the strut body, when empty, and I could have tightened it more.

That's my smallest measurement:



This is the actual diameter of the strut, even with the paint rubbed off.



I also bought a $53 Sensen Strut so I could send this misbehaving strut to Koni but it was the wrong application, so I had to stick it back in the box. SENSEN 4214-1091 Front Right Strut will not fit R56 Coopers. The spring perch is totally incorrect. Damn waste of time.

 

ok, so this weekend I tried one last trick before paying $220 for a replacement strut. I placed three 1/64th inch autobody shims I had lying around, between the strut and knuckle. Its not the easiest thing to do BTW.

You can see one in the pic below. The other 2 buried themselves inside the knuckle as I pounded the knuckle into the strut.

Anyway it didn't work. It lasted about 10-11 miles before it came loose again.

So I put in a new strut and so far after a 12 mile ride it hasn't moved. I think the strut simply didn't have enough meat on it to stay in place, even though the measurements implied the diameters were the same. That caliper measurement is just one tiny point on the strut body and frankly it assumes you have the caliper at a perfect 90 degree angle to the strut when you make the measurement which isn't possible.

Lastly, that measurement doesn't represent how much of the strut is making contact with the knuckle.

Clearly the strut was not making enough contact to be held in place by the knuckle.

Hopefully I've solved the issue.

 

I temporarily disable my car i cant stand the grinding noice whenever i turn, spring hitting something, i ordered a replacement already. My biggest complain the first time that the PERCH seperated during shipment even after they sent me a replacement still seperated. I will not buy Koni FSD again.

 

Wow. 2 in a row! You didnt hit the spring perch with a hammer when installing or any such thing?

 

I just put bilsteins in my car last weekend, and have had no issues after a couple of hundred miles. The pinch bolt was fully threaded. I'm pretty confident that this stuff was all OEM that came off.

Hopefully you solved it with a new strut. Still doesn't make sense....

Mike

 

Im waiting for the replacement, same brand you bought from Amazom Prime (free shippijg) i cant wait to get rid the piece of junk where some of mini owners regarded the Koni FSD as the best, my ecperience a piece of crap!!!

 

UPDATE: Sorry for the long delay. I kept forgetting to update this thread. The cause ended up being a broken (almost new) tie rod end which allowed the wheel's toe angle to change constantly. This caused the clunk on the suspension, the strut to shift around in the carrier and the very premature wear in that tire. It wasnt obvious until I took the tie rod end off the knuckle completely. Had nothing to do with the Koni shock.