Thread: Koni shocks long travel?

umm, no.

model for model a Koni is longer than an equivalent Bilstein, but usually shorter than an equivalent OME, and if you want truly long travel you have to use something other than a shock designed for a Land Rover, which means adapting something.

not after "really long travel"... just trying to match a spring height to my shocks without spending a small fortune on more shocks. I assume you can damage things (or get a wheel off the ground) if the shocks are too short?

I have some Koni's on the front - they'e the cheaper model which are only adjustable in rebound - gas over hydraulic or something like that. Anyway they are the ones listed for rover front yet are slightly shorter - like about 10mm, than the cheap Monroe ones I had on before that.

Front is easy - use LC 80 Series fronts - you may have to space the spring tower to prevent the shock bottoming on full compression. The rear is harder - raising the top mount and using a longer shock is the only feasible way that I know of.
I wouldnt put longer springs in without lengthening the shocks - more than likely you will end up with a lot less wheel travel and it may be topped out even at rest..........

LRA have 2" longer bilstens for spring lifts. give them a call

Jeff

Hi there
I have a 30mm lift on my RRC with standard Koni's it runs fine.
Your koni's should be OK up to a 50mm lift but I'm not a mechanic I'm sure someone here will have Koni's and a 50mm lift that will let you know. I would think 4" lift would be pushing it a bit?

My long term plans are like this:
Remove the lifted springs and replace with standard hight keep the koni's and get bigger tyres, (eventually) bigger but still legal.
This will give me more diff clearance and slightly better articulation. Longer term plans I would like to go proper long reach shocks for better articulation.


rick130 umm, no.
model for model a Koni is longer than an equivalent Bilstein, but usually shorter than an equivalent OME, and if you want truly long travel you have to use something other than a shock designed for a Land Rover, which means adapting something.

So you can't just fit longer reach shocks without raising the springs? I was hoping it was more to do with the internals of the shock rather than the physical length. C'mon speak up who knows about long reach shocks??

I ran 2 inch lifted king springs with koni shocks in my 77 rangie with no issues at all, front and back. Having swapped the rear shocks onto my 1990 classic rangie with kings but standard height i have managed to drop a spring out of its upper seat the other weekend.

shortly I will be putting a 2 inch spring lift into my current rangie again with the same shocks

OK, just quickly as I have to go, if you use raised springs with standard travel dampers all you are doing is changing the ratio of suspension compression to droop.
i.e. taller spring will give you less droop (the wheels will drop less when negotiating a dip, hole, etc) and more bump stop clearance.

If you want to get more travel/articulation you need a different approach than just ordering some raised King springs and a stock damper. Even a longer travel shock witha HD raised spring wont work as the HD raised spring is usually either the same unloaded height or less than a stock spring. I'll go into why tonight.

Originally Posted by jbell110

LRA have 2" longer bilstens for spring lifts. give them a call

Jeff

And sit down ready for the price