Koni Yellow Sport Shocks - 2010+ Legacy Fitment

Please be patient guys, pics are coming. There is gonna be a lot of info here on fitment, installation, and setup when combined with various springs.

 

Donors

You want to use 2010-2014 Legacy front struts as donors.

Alternately, you could use 2008-2014 WRX front struts, but the spring perch is 1/2" lower and you may have clearance issues to stock size Legacy tires and you will be 1/2" lower in the front irrespective of the springs you are using.

 

Koni's are 2008+ WRX fitment

Front 8610-1453S (8610-1447S if the others are not available, not recommended with stock springs)

Rear 8010-1055S

 

4th Gen Walk-thru

Read this first, and look at the photos.

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/koni-shock-strut-epic-engineering-spring-install-145744.html

Edited October 12, 2018 by GTEASER

Measurements:

 

OEM Front (2010-2014 Legacy)

Full Extension 21.00

Full Compression 14.75

 

Koni Front (8610-1453S)

Full Extension 20.50

Full Compression 13.50

 

Koni Front (8610-1447S)

Full Extension 20.25

Full Compression 13.50

 

OEM Rear (2010-2014 Legacy)

Full Extension 17.00

Full Compression 11.50

 

Koni Rear (8010-1055S)

Same as OEM

 

 

All measurements taken from the bottom of the strut/shock to the shoulder below the threaded section of the shock piston rod. Measurements of the front inserts are taken with the insert installed in the 2010-2014 Legacy donor struts at the bottom of the strut tube, not the mounting bracket.

Edited October 24, 2017 by GTEASER

To give everyone the "technical" reason why Swift lowering springs don't work with the Koni's....here goes.... Swift springs are not a conventional progressive rate lowering spring, they are a linear rate spring and as so rely on their entire unsprung length to establish a given ride height for the car for which they are designed. So in a stock strut assembly, which is what they are designed for, with no weight on the spring, the spring has no (or at least an anticipated) preload. When a Koni insert is used in the Legacy donor strut housing, the Koni at full extension is 1/2" shorter than the stock strut (but also 1.25" shorter at full compression therefore more bump travel as stated above). When Swifts are put on a donor strut with a Koni insert, they are preloaded, or shortened by 1/2". This preload translates directly to ride height, so the unanticipated result of that is what Gary (blklgt05) found out, the car was 1/2" lower in the front after the Koni's were installed than it was prior. Edited April 4, 2016 by GTEASER

Here are some helpful hints:

 

The fronts donors after they are cut and deburred (the cut edge must be totally smooth), measured from the inside bottom of the donor to the top of the tube (cut end), MUST BE between 11-7/8" and 12". Any longer and the Koni will not go all the way in, any shorter and the nubs on the top of the Koni will not seat into the strut tube entirely.

 

Do not bang on the top of the Koni to get it started in the tube, banging will cause it to leak.

 

Get some hardened bolts from the hardware store in the same size and thread pitch as the one used by Koni to secure the insert into the donor. You need it to be 10mm-20mm longer than the one supplied. Use this to SUCK the Koni into the tube. You may need some large washers also to space it during the sucking process so it doesn't bottom out in the bottom of the insert. Only use the Allen Head bolt supplied by Koni for the final torquing, to 55 ft/lbs, and use Blue LocTite. The head of that bolt rounds out easily, so try not to damage it.

 

The rears are very straight forward and you probably won't even need a spring compressor for those. You will need to drill out your stock tophat center to 31/64" (12mm) to accept the slightly larger Koni shock rod, but no bigger than that otherwise you don't leave enough material on the tophat for the shoulder of the Koni shock rod to sit against.

 

Get a set of Pass-Thru sockets to disassemble the stock shocks from the tophat since you need to hold the stock shock rod with an allen key to keep it from spinning.

 

When tightening the tophats onto the Koni's, just get them as tight as you can. IIRC you can just use an open end wrench and smaller box end to keep the Koni shock rod from spinning. I have never torqued them and never had a problem.

 

Pay attention to the way that your stock assemblies come apart.

 

The rear Koni spring perch (silver stamped steel) goes down like a hat, not up like a bowl. Several guys have made this mistake and wondered why their cars were raised in the rear when they put it back on the ground.

 

When taking the rears apart, remove the outboard 3 bolts from the rear LCA. This drops the control arm down allowing you to pull the shock out. When reassembling, use a drift to line up the bolt holes and jack to push the control arm up, starting with the end link bolt, then the lower shock bolt, then the hub carrier bolt.

 

Torque Specs in foot pounds:

 

Front tophats 15

Front lower strut bolts to hub upright 114

 

Rear tophats 22

Rear end link to LCA 24

Rear lower shock to LCA 89

Rear hub carrier to LCA 59

Edited April 4, 2016 by GTEASER

Reserved 3

Reserved 4

February 2014

 

Underdog, a vendor here on the forum, has put together a package deal for the 5th Gens.

 

The kit includes:

 

Koni Yellow Shocks

H&R Sport Springs

Whiteline front tophats.

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/koni-h-r-whiteline-combo-sale-underdog-motorsports-220911.html

 

 

Thanks Underdog for responding to the needs of the 5th Genners!!!

List of those running Koni Yellow shocks....

 

GTEASER (with H&R)

Swannee225 (with H&R)

blklgt05 (with Swift springs - not recommended)

Zee199969 (with RCE)

matts_pats

amidroc (with Eibach)

Nor*Cal (with RCE)

Fabsx (with H&R)

linxusmaximus

 

....and the list keeps getting longer...I can no longer keep up.

Edited August 3, 2016 by GTEASER

bump for those interested in Koni's.

IMPORTANT!!!

 

Unfortunately today I ran across some disheartening news from a fellow Forester owner over on the Forester forums. This is directly from some correspondence that he had with Koni. It seems Koni will be discontinuing the 8610-1453 inserts since they just introduced a complete front strut assembly for the 2008-2014 WRX (8710-1454 Left and Right). These will not work for us since the spring perch is 1/2" lower than ours. I sent a message to Koni (see below) and am hoping they respond with something positive. This is the link to their new product.

 

http://www.koni-na.com/en-US/NorthAmerica/Products/Cars/List/?t=KoniPartSearch&q=2010&m=424&mk=40&mt=1

 

 

Message Sent to Koni 8/3/16

 

Hello,

 

I am inquiring about the status of your 8610-1453 Sport inserts for the 2008-2014 Subaru WRX. I have heard that with the introduction of your new product, the complete struts (PN 8710-1454L Sport and 8710-1454R Sport) you plan to discontinue the 8610-1453 Sport inserts, will cease manufacturing them and will let existing stock be depleted to 0 with no plans to renew stock. This is troublesome for the 2010-2014 Subaru Legacy owners community as the option of upgrading our OEM shocks with the 8610-1453 Sport inserts is something that many of us have done, and many of us are looking forward to doing in the future.

 

Although these inserts were not made specifically for our cars, members of our community took it upon themselves to try this option and found that it is the perfect upgrade for our cars with both OEM and aftermarket lowering springs, without fitment or performance issues. Nothing else in the way of aftermarket sport shocks is available for us, Koni Yellows are our only option without going to full coilover suspension. The specs of the 8610-1453 Sport insert are so close to our OEM suspension, that they work without issue, and the performance improvement is significant and amazing. Also, the 8010-1055 Sport shock is a direct replacement for the rear OEM shocks of our vehicles.

 

Unfortunately, your new 2008-2014 WRX specific 8710-1454 complete struts will not work on our 2010-2014 Legacy because the spring perch location on the strut body is 1/2" lower than on our factory OEM struts. We need the 8610-1453 Sport inserts. Discontinuing them will leave a void in the aftermarket shock market for the 2010-2014 Subaru Legacy.

 

I am contacting you to make you aware of this, and to ask Koni to reconsider the discontinuation of the 8610-1453 Sport shock insert.

 

Thank you for your time and I hope to hear from you. If you would like to discuss the details of the fitment of these inserts into the OEM Legacy front struts, feel free to contact me directly at 925-XXX-XXXX. I am a moderator and very active on the http://www.legacygt.com forum, have built many of these front strut inserts for fellow members and owners, and I have first hand knowledge of the fitment of this product on the Legacy platform.

 

Thanks,

 

Joe xxxxxxxxxxx

Edited August 3, 2016 by GTEASER

That sucks. Even though I am completely satisfied with my Bilstein/Blacks combo, I was going to switch to the Koni setup when they went bad since so many members rave about the Koni's.

Why wouldn't the new Koni front struts work if the stock OEM WRX front struts have been proven to work? Just have to factor in the fact that you will have a 1/2"-1" drop built in. Or am I mistaken.

I suppose you could get 1/2" spacers up front instead of having to do a full rebuild.

I suppose you could get 1/2" spacers up front instead of having to do a full rebuild.

 

Yes, tophat spacers would be one way around this, but not ideal. Also the lower spring perch WILL have clearance issues to the Legacy OEM size (diameter) tires if you're running a wider wheel that is closer to the strut.

Well, depending on when this happens, this may simplify my "Konis or coils?" dilemma, although not quite in the way I thought it would.

Everyone who wants Konis in the future, just order the front inserts now. The investment is $300 and they can sit on the shelf in the garage until you're ready for the whole swap.

Everyone who wants Konis in the future, just order the front inserts now. The investment is $300 and they can sit on the shelf in the garage until you're ready for the whole swap.

They are NOT getting rid of the rear? Or would that not matter?

 

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

They are NOT getting rid of the rear? Or would that not matter?

 

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

 

They are NOT getting rid of the 8010-1055 (rear) since those are still listed as the fitment for the 2008-2014 WRX and would pair with their new complete front struts (8710-1454 L and R). They are only getting rid of the Yellow "insert" in favor of a complete left and right Yellow strut assembly.

They are NOT getting rid of the rear? Or would that not matter?

 

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

 

The rear struts are a direct swap with our 5th gen Legacy and the 08-14 WRX. There are no housings that would have to be cut unlike the fronts.

I'm glad I just had my KONI Yellows installed this past weekend! Best thing I ever got for my car. (GTEASER was my inspiration.) My car's handling has been transformed. Only regret is not having done it a long time ago. It will be very unfortunate if KONI discontinues these, being the only KONI option for 5th Gens.

hmm what to do, the plan is to had this down to my son in two years, then my daughter after he's done high school.

I bet GTeaser's e-mail will probably help change KONI'S mind on completely discontinuing the front inserts all together. Might even help them decide to just make a Legacy specific strut assembly which would be even better.

I bet GTeaser's e-mail will probably help change KONI'S mind on completely discontinuing the front inserts all together. Might even help them decide to just make a Legacy specific strut assembly which would be even better.

 

Fingers crossed.

I love Konis and the adjustability. You can tune them to your car, the weather or your use.

Big shout out to GTeaser for posting all the info about the Koni's. I bought 4 last night and can't wait to get the suspension dialed in!