RE: Defective Koni??

[glen powell <quattro@acacianet.com>]

<snip>
what you have here is a shock that has not been primed.  Twin tube
shocks (especially those that
are NOT gas charged like the Koni reds) need to have the air pumped out
of the pressure tube since they
have probably been sitting around on their side on a shelf for sometime
and possibly shipped upsidown.
Your hand pumping of the shock is sometimes not sufficient enough to
purge the shock so that it fully functions.
It needs to have some higher compression velocities  placed on it to
force air through the foot (base) valve and
out into the reservoir tube.  If you just left it on the car and drove
around for a while it would probably purge itself
and you would not have to rely on a replacement.
<snip>

I have observed a similar effect with Konis. My 4KQ race car frequently sits for long
periods of time without use. I noticed that when I bounce the car after it has sat for
a long time it is as if there are no struts in there at all! It bounces and rebounds wildly
a few times. After a few bounces the struts then become very stiff, just as they should
be.

-glen