Hi Patrick
You say that the springs fitted to the car are taller and designed for a heavier load. If you are using Koni’s standard replacement (heavy duty) shocks for your vehicle then I have a couple of questions.
Did you have them revalved to suit the heavier springs?
have they been matched to the spring length?
If you have only have their replacement shocks, they are only designed and valued to suit standard (original) springs in the car.
You MAY be able to get around your issue by adjusting them (and do this only if you know how as it is all too easy to unscrew the foot valve with the result that they will need to be rebuilt at your expense). Sorry, I hope I’m not telling you stuff you already know...
The adjustment on Koni shocks only affects the rebound damping and not the compression damping. Given that you have heavier springs I don’t see this as a major issue, as you are wanting to better control the rebound of the springs, from what you have described in your original post.
There are about 5 - 5/2 half turns of adjustment and in your case I would probably adjust them to about half way (about 2-3 half turns) and see what difference that makes. If the symptoms don’t improve once you’ve done this then I would look at revalving them rather than adjusting the rebound even harder. Adjusting them harder could result in binding up your suspension travel and make the ride and handling even worse.
Having them matched to the length of your springs is less of an issue given your symptoms but you do need to be sure that they don’t bottom out or top out before your suspension hits the bump stops or reaches full droop otherwise you run the risk of destroying them. Some manufacturers design their vehicles’ suspension so that the shocks perform the task of limiting suspension travel but it’s a less than ideal design in my opinion.
Cheers
David
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