Front Koni Strut install help.

[dohnelley]

alright ive read all the write ups and im stuck. the front end is off, but these konis are just not going in the strut housings. how much did u guys grind off the inside of these housings?? what did u use to do this?? this suspension install is really a pain in the ass, let me tell you. still not worth the $500 it woulda cost me though. any help and pointers as to the front suspension install are welcome and appreciated. thanks.

[jonnyg]

Hey man, glad to see you're doing the suspension install yourself. I went through the same thing. Just take the file or what ever you are using and grind the hell out of the insides and keep trying, it might take a while and try to lubricate the inside too. Another thing you can try is to get the strut inside the housing as far as you can, and stand the housing straight up, pick it up and drop it a little to get the koni insert to slide down closer to the bottom. Once the bottom of the insert is close to the bottom of the housing, try to put the bolt through the bottom into the insert and start cranking it to pull the insert closer. Hope this made some sense. You'll get through it, no worries.

[Stinky]

Didn't need to file anything with mine. It's gonna be a tight fit. What I did was turn the shock housing upside down, shaft sticking up. Get a piece of wood and place it on the base of the shock next to the shaft and hammer on the piece of wood to "help" it into the housing. Then when you get it close enough, use the bolt to draw it in all the way.

[RRSperry]

You know that there were two different sized strut housings used in production of the E36? Steve Dinan noted this and stocks a smaller size Koni insert that fits the smaller housing. It could also be that the welds from the anti roll bar tab are protruding into the housing. (the noted small bump) that is what you may have to file.

[vjlax18]

I cut and gut the struts for people and ship them to them. If you are interested, email at john @ team-bar.com

[DeeM3]

alright ive read all the write ups and im stuck. the front end is off, but these konis are just not going in the strut housings. how much did u guys grind off the inside of these housings?? what did u use to do this?? this suspension install is really a pain in the ass, let me tell you. still not worth the $500 it woulda cost me though. any help and pointers as to the front suspension install are welcome and appreciated. thanks.

I grinded them very little. It's just a very small bump that's in there that you have to grind.