UPDATED: Replacing Rear Shocks: Reducing the rear end bounce.

[kennethjk]

I have tried to re read this thread but it’s just too long, I had followed it religiously but now I am having an independent shop do the install for me, they have already done this for another member @mkindler

questions I have for @Anton and @markboris

I currently have the Steeda ready sway bar only.

I had read about rubbing issues but can’t remember if it occured with the Koni’s installed on the rear.

any issues I should be concerned with. Also the shop who will be doing the work also said they will do an alignment. Any special things that need to be considered

thanks again for all your hard work for the benefit of so many others.

Ken

Sponsored

 

[azerik]

The bar will touch the frame at full compression. Mine does it. With or without the shocks it'll do it after enough time. It just kisses it. I wouldn't mess with an alignment unless you have some serious miles on it or been hitting pot holes hard. The shock install is straightforward.

 

[Anton]

I have tried to re read this thread but it’s just too long, I had followed it religiously but now I am having an independent shop do the install for me, they have already done this for another member @mkindler

questions I have for @Anton and @markboris

I currently have the Steeda ready sway bar only.

I had read about rubbing issues but can’t remember if it occured with the Koni’s installed on the rear.

any issues I should be concerned with. Also the shop who will be doing the work also said they will do an alignment. Any special things that need to be considered

thanks again for all your hard work for the benefit of so many others.

Ken

I've had no issues with sway bars contacting the frame. I did an inspection about a month ago and couldn't find any rubbing. I also don't hear any clunking (noise I was hearing previously is the plastic paneling on the rear hatch). That said, I haven't had any major weight in the back besides about 5 cases of water from costco.

 

[mkhuffman]

I've had no issues with sway bars contacting the frame. I did an inspection about a month ago and couldn't find any rubbing. I also don't hear any clunking (noise I was hearing previously is the plastic paneling on the rear hatch). That said, I haven't had any major weight in the back besides about 5 cases of water from costco.

I agree. I have checked my rear sway bar several times and have never seen any evidence of contact. But like you, I have not heavily weighted the rear very often.

 

[kennethjk]

I've had no issues with sway bars contacting the frame. I did an inspection about a month ago and couldn't find any rubbing. I also don't hear any clunking (noise I was hearing previously is the plastic paneling on the rear hatch). That said, I haven't had any major weight in the back besides about 5 cases of water from costco.

You carry that water all the time?

 

[HuntingPudel]

I'm with Mike on the rear bar contact. I don't have any, even though I had 12 bags of shot in the back for a short while. ?‍?

 

[Anton]

You carry that water all the time?

No. I was just using that as an estimated weight.

 

[markboris]

I have tried to re read this thread but it’s just too long, I had followed it religiously but now I am having an independent shop do the install for me, they have already done this for another member @mkindler

questions I have for @Anton and @markboris

I currently have the Steeda ready sway bar only.

I had read about rubbing issues but can’t remember if it occured with the Koni’s installed on the rear.

any issues I should be concerned with. Also the shop who will be doing the work also said they will do an alignment. Any special things that need to be considered

thanks again for all your hard work for the benefit of so many others.

Ken

As Erik said, there should be no rubbing of the rear bar unless the suspension is fully compressed. That is why Anton and Mike have had no issues nor should anyone else. Myself on the other hand, I did have issues with the rear bar hitting the body but only because I installed H&R lowering springs which dropped the car about 1" from stock GT height. In order to fix the bar contacting the body, I replaced the OEM non adjustable sway bar end links with adjustable ones and set them about 3/4" longer in length. Have not had a problem since. I have over 20K miles on the rear bar and 15K miles on the front bar with no issues.

The Koni shocks have nothing to do with the rear sway bar and again like Erik said, unless you have I ton of mile, drive over potholes or uneven tire wear, I would not get an alignment.

 

[phidauex]

Quick update after some highway driving and spending time in both the driver's seat and the back seat, I can definitely say that this is an improvement. I'm not super experienced with suspension tuning, but I've swapped springs and coilovers on different vehicles before, and spend a fair amount of time tuning bicycle suspensions, so I feel I understand the basics.

Currently running 255/45-R20 tires, 40psi (probably too high, I'm hearing), and the impression is as others have noted, it is still stiff ("sporty") and you absolutely feel every bump, BUT the car doesn't continue to wallow and bounce after the bump, so the impression from the back seat is much more consistent, without the up and down (and often side to side) wobble and sway that I had experienced before (and a contributor to car sickness).

It might be further improved by adjusting my tire pressure or other changes, but for the price, this was a worthwhile upgrade.

 

[azerik]

Tire pressure works to a point. If you go to low the suspension doesn't compress, thus the rebound changes you made won't get the chance to work. I've been running mine at right about 40 when warm (My tire pressure app in the car reads 2 psi higher than my pressure gauges so 36 cold). If I go lower than that on all 4 corners the car pops around on the tires and some of that wobble comes back for the first few miles of any drive it seems. I have a lot of expansion joints and finger sizes cracks in our crappy roads so that 'morning wobble' annoys me. Also I've had to replace a wheel and tire due to too low of pressure (I think around 30) and a pothole or train tracks.

I have had success with the Viking shocks making it not stiff. With the compression on 0 or 1 and the rebound all the way up. The joy of a 2 way adjustable shock at double the price or more. I'll still work on the Viking/QA1's as an option again around Oct. Currently it's 90 in my garage when I wake up and 115+ for the day so summer has caused me to back burner that. There's no way to make the Koni's softer on the compression as they are gas charged. I have other ways of reducing the rebound on the rear (and possibly the front) but it's playing with the design of the suspension which frankly might be unsafe.

 

[chcdmj]

Question for all that have upgraded the rear to Koni: since the front is still using the stock shocks, do you feel the bounciness is increased on the front (like do you feel the front and rear are unbalanced)?

My kids sit in the rear and they never complain. I definitely feel the pain in the front. So I was wondering how much improvement would upgrading the rear shocks make for the comfort of the driver?

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

Question for all that have upgraded the rear to Koni: since the front is still using the stock shocks, do you feel the bounciness is increased on the front (like do you feel the front and rear are unbalanced)?

My kids sit in the rear and they never complain. I definitely feel the pain in the front. So I was wondering how much improvement would upgrading the rear shocks make for the comfort of the driver?

I don’t think it makes the front worse - just that we notice it more because it’s the big remaining issue.

 

[markboris]

Many have done this mod and I’m sure will chime in. From what I can tell on cars that I’ve been in with the rear Koni’s is the front feels like it has a bit more bounce than the rear since the rear bounce is mostly gone. Prior to installing the Koni’s the rear has quite a bit of bounce.

 

[chcdmj]

Many have done this mod and I’m sure will chime in. From what I can tell on cars that I’ve been in with the rear Koni’s is the front feels like it has a bit more bounce than the rear since the rear bounce is mostly gone. Prior to installing the Koni’s the rear has quite a bit of bounce.

How would you rate the improvement? 0-10, 10 being the problem completely fixed.
Thanks!

 

[markboris]

How would you rate the improvement? 0-10, 10 being the problem completely fixed.
Thanks!

It’s very hard to say. It’s different for everyone that has installed them because it all depends on the roads you drive on. Some roads exaggerate the bounce more than others. I can tell you Anton said it virtually eliminated the bounce he use to get in his car while others say it was an “improvement” by lessening it. I can’t put a number on it but maybe others will chime in and rate their experience.

Sponsored