Thread: koni bushes. help

Okay so my 130 has koni raids which have been great but the upper mounts for the rear dapeners developed a bit of slop.
Seems to be between the crush tube and the mount bolted to the chassis, not a major issue but it does make quite a bit of noise so I thought I Would sort it out in Brisbane.

I have ordered new bushes (picked up today) and got hold of some new uper shock mounts (pick up on tuesday).

My question is about the bushes for the top eye of the shock. The ones supplied don't come with crush tubes but the old ones have crush tubes. The guy at the shop went on about the new ones doing away with the crush tubes. The measurements do back this up but it doesn't seem right and it looks as if this set up will allow movement along the upper shock mount as the bush isn't as wide as the mounting bracket.

I took the guys word for it after all he sells the stuff for a living.
Anyone know better?

If my original issue is a little unclear this tells it better

Steel Bush Wearing on Steel Mount (annoying clunk)

This little issue is the only problem I have with the Koni product and to be honest it’s a minor thing as it has to do with a rubber/steel bush in the "eye" type mounting, nothing at all to do with the dampers themselves.

The mounts are steel obviously and so is the inner sleeve of the large rubber bush that fits very tightly into the large "eye" of the shock absorber. Over a long period of time this steel on steel fitting wears enough to get some slop or movement in it. So you end up with a "clunk" whenever you drive over something that makes the suspension and shocks move quickly, like a rock or pothole.

The quick fix is pretty simple, just keep the nut tightened up and the large washer will hold the sleeve against the mount shaft base and prevent the movement. I’ll admit it took me a while to figure this one out as there can be over time many clunks from underneath a well worn heavily laden bus that sees a lot of rough country work.



eye mount
Eye mount; large rubber bush & inner steel sleeve on vehicle mount shaft.



I’ll also add here I’m beginning to see the same small problem with another vehicle that travels with us every year and has the same eye type fittings, and it isn’t a Land Rover.

Solutions

With the Defender you can replace the worn mount by undoing three bolts and slipping on a new one, a pretty handy feature. You can also with a bit of effort insert a new bush and sleeve into the eye of the shock absorber. But doing this doesn’t solve the original problem which is steel on steel wearing enough to cause movement. I guess it’s a small thing really but I work hard to keep the clunks out of our vehicle even though this problem doesn’t seem to have any side effects such as developing a stress raiser & cracking something.

I’ll talk to Koni/Top Performance and see if there is a rubber bush without the steel sleeve or maybe those fellas have a better solution that they’ve worked out over the years. Once again I’ll let you know.

Taken from http://www.beadelltours.com.au/shock_absorbers.html who had a simular issue

Just a quick follow up.

I have pushed the old bush out of one of the shocks and fitted the new one.

I appears the bush has streched a little and is now sitting across the whole width of the mount. So that aspect might no be a problem.

I have however broken off the bolt which holds the top of the shock in place.... so have taken that shock out.
Funnily enough it still seems to drive okay but I wouldn't want to swerve for anything!