Koni dial-a-ride's

[Al]

One of the rear dampers on mine had been leaking for the last couple of years.
Took them off and then apart and got new seal kits and fitted them.
Also washed out in white spirit, dried and refilled with a syringe; the exact amount of the correct grade of oil.

Now;

When they are both set to the same dial setting they act very differently to each other.

To get them to approx balance one of them needs to be on setting Number 1 and the other on Number three!!!!

Everything inside looked ok Have i performed a cock-up or is something else not right?

All i got with the seal kit was an exploded diagram not a rebuild schedule or any kind of guidance.



AL

[Taffus]

Here you go, read down the page
http://www.thisoldtractor.com/gtbender/loopframe_shocks.htm#shocks_-_koni___ikon_rear_shock_rebuild

[Al]

Many thanks Taffus an interesting read and roughly accords with my current limited understanding of what i have done wrong.

Its with the springs off, that when clamped in the soft jaws on the vice they can be pushed down and pulled out with very different amounts of force.

The 'user' had found that there were some 'dead spots' where no damping was evident for a very short distance and during this 'window' lets say, you can hear the oil frothing as though it is not fully immersed as the damper valve pulls up through the,.. or down through the fluid.

I think there may be a couple of possibilities.

1 The damper on the leaking side is now damaged by the low fluid level over the last couple of years.

2 The 'bolt' on the bottom of the damper rod may be holding the damper valve in the wrong orientation relative to the single bleed hole on the piston rod.

3 I'm a numb-nut.

Being dial-a-ride the damping force is effectively controlled by the rotating switch (dial) at the top of the piston rod which makes me think i may have got something wrong when i put them together.
Problem is; when you select another setting on the dial you cant see anything moving when it's apart.



AL

[Al]

Its number 3
Was told that between 75 and 85 cc was correct
Not so!
Eventually filled them to the top of the internal damper tube and tried again.
They hydraulic'd.
Opened them up and tipped a little out of each.
Now working fine.
Cant say what the correct amount is because it wasnt done accurately by this time.
That said it doesnt need the same amount in each because the damper runs in a reservoir and isnt dependent on volume.


AL