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| KYB rear shock issue!; Only a year old! | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 28 2016, 11:41 AM (1,663 Views) | |
| Otey13 | Feb 28 2016, 11:41 AM Post #1 |
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Geo Nerd
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All righty then! Just got done spending a few hours putting on my new 2in exhaust on the 93 , took it out for a little spin to see how it would sound under load. ( sounds great by the way!). Went around a little curve, all of a sudden.... bam! Ah! Shit! One of the back hangers must have broken loose! Pulled over to check the back end by the bumper. Wiggle wiggle wiggle..... nothing, very solid. Was thinking hummmm.... under load part of the exhaust is hitting the rear spring maybe the end link on the rear sway bar? Nope.. So I decided to drive it back to Panzerjunkie's to load up and drive back home. Wow! What a surprise when I opened the rear hatch! And here it is in all its glory!!!!! ![]() What a surprise! I have never had any problems with KYB's. I've put them on all of my cars/trucks. I've beat the hell out of my 99 dodge truck with KYB's, no issue. Has anybody else had issues with the KYB shocks/struts? Luck would have it that I had a set of good shocks stashed with HR springs. So we put them on the rear. |
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| Murf 59 | Feb 28 2016, 11:52 AM Post #2 |
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That is wild. I have never had a problem with mine. Is this car lowered really far? Just trying to imagine what would cause it to bottom out like that. Does he have a spare you can put on to get home till you can work this issue out? |
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| t3ragtop | Feb 28 2016, 12:05 PM Post #3 |
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Turbo3 and Twincam Tweaker
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that does not look like a strut issue to me. that looks like a failure of the rubber strut mount. also, the big flat washer is not the proper bit of hardware for the strut mount. the oem piece for that is a cupped washer formed to fit the rubber spider of the mount. the upper strut mounts fail from time to time when the rubber dries out. they need to be carefully inspected and replaced when you find dry rot in them.
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| Otey13 | Feb 28 2016, 01:37 PM Post #4 |
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Geo Nerd
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Murf, what is weird is it looks like the top bushing where the tower is set into the shock support looks like it has failed. It looks to be chewed up, I wish I would have taken a close up of the shock. I'll head back down to Panzerjunkie's house to retrieve it and take a better pic. But to answer your question about if it was to low...When I lowered the car I used a set of 98 4cyl springs and cut off one whole coil all the way around. Here's a pic, its not slammed I don't think, it drives very nice and tight. Better than the stock set up. ![]() This is a pic of the set up when I added the springs, KYB's, rear disk brakes and the lower sway bar, after I installed all the parts front and rear I took it down and had it aligned. There where miner adjustments. The car drove straight and good wear on the tires. ![]() I just don't know why this would happen. I'm not racing the crap out of the car, I'm not putting heavy loads in the back. I mean I've had the parts on the car for almost a year. Very confusing! |
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| myredvert | Feb 28 2016, 01:39 PM Post #5 |
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myredvert
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The mount failed.Just installed my KYB rear shocks yesterday, with new mounts - but I reused the proper oem hardware - the stuff that came with my mounts looked like what you have on yours. Edited by myredvert, Feb 28 2016, 01:41 PM.
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| Otey13 | Feb 28 2016, 01:58 PM Post #6 |
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Geo Nerd
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T3, you know I was thinking the same thing when I was installing the shocks. Whenever I installed KYB's in any of my other vehicles, they had a pinch six sided washer with the nut on top of that, I really should have taken a better pic of the shock but I was in a hurry and pissed lol. Basically we had to take off from another car, shocks and springs then put them on my car within an hour so I could get home. Now the issue I'm having is the car is too low in the rear...HR springs with Koni shocks. When I hit a bump, it scraps the 185/65 r14 tires in the rear I was thinking of putting the HR springs and the Koni adjustable struts in the front but hell if they are going to rub. I don't want to tear my car up or the tires. I might just have to put my old springs back on and get another set of KYB's for the rear, that set up worked great for me! Thanks for pointing that out T3! |
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| Otey13 | Feb 28 2016, 02:05 PM Post #7 |
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Geo Nerd
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Bingo! So I'm not going crazy So the hardware that comes with the KYB's is crap to use on our Metros? Lesson learned here..... USE THE STOCK UPPER HARDWEAR! ( if in good shape) Damn! that's a hard lesson
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| myredvert | Feb 28 2016, 04:17 PM Post #8 |
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myredvert
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Were those new KYB upper mounts? Mine were Mevotechs that came with different (than oem) hardware. Did you re-install the oem seat (kind of a large slightly cupped washer) that sits on top of the dust cover? Edited by myredvert, Feb 28 2016, 04:21 PM.
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| Otey13 | Feb 28 2016, 05:44 PM Post #9 |
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Geo Nerd
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Nope, just the crap that was sent with them. I ordered them off Amazon with the hardware. I made it clear it was for a 93 Metro. I think I got screwed. Should have used my oem stuff, they were in great shape! Live and learn. But man I'm angry at myself and the worst part I was having second thoughts about using the old hardware when I was installing them. Should have went with my gut. P.S. it was all from KYB, ordered though Amazon. |
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| Murf 59 | Mar 4 2016, 01:54 AM Post #10 |
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That all looks great. I really like the rear disks. You should swing on over to TS and hit up dethbird for a set of the rear toe in rods. Very nice. Really strong. And pretty cheap too. Love mine. You already have all the other components, so why not finish it up. It looks freakin great man.
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| Otey13 | Mar 4 2016, 02:16 PM Post #11 |
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Geo Nerd
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Well here is the damaged mount. When I ordered the shocks/struts from Amazon, I ordered the mounts, bumpers and hardware. After close inspection of the mangled mount I noticed the stamp, made in Taiwan..... Figured as much! So today I took all the shocks/struts out of my car and used the oem parts, except the bumpers... Once I took everything out, all the mounts were made in Frick'n Taiwan .... I guess when you order from Amazon you have to ask for KYB mounts and hardware or something that isn't made in China/Taiwan ![]() ![]() Hey Murf! I would love to have a set of those adjustable rear toe ends! Damn! That means I'm going to join TS... Thanks for the info Edited by Otey13, Mar 4 2016, 02:20 PM.
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| Otey13 | Mar 4 2016, 02:18 PM Post #12 |
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Geo Nerd
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Thanks Murf! Dig your stuff too
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| myredvert | Mar 4 2016, 05:11 PM Post #13 |
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myredvert
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Not sure that would have changed anything. It struck me that there are a lot of threads showing above the strut top nut, and that there might be something missing in the "stack" at the top of the piston rod. I'm thinking it's got nothing to do with the "KYB" washer that comes with the struts and that you installed on the top of this assembly that caused the problem, it's the part that should be immediately below the mount (but wasn't installed?) that could. Did you install the strut (mount) lower seat (#8 in the diagram)? By sitting up on that first "step" of the piston rod, it distributes the force of the rod across the entire diameter of the rubber portion on the bottom of the mount, and prevents the piston rod from pushing through like that. I'm just imagineering here, but I think what may have happened was that every time you hit a bump, at the same time the strut was trying to compress, the piston rod was also applying the same amount of force up on only the center bushing of the mount, and the rubber webbing surrounding it eventually failed. ![]() I'm also guessing you installed KYB bellows based on the honking large diameter opening at the bottom of them. If you did, you probably wouldn't have the oem bumper stopper cap installed either. It isn't as large a diameter as the lower seat, but is still something larger than the step of the piston rod that may have helped distribute the force across the entire bottom of the mount as well. I hope you'll understand if I don't offer to go remove the lower seat on mine and find some good hard bumps just to see if the same failure occurs on my new mounts? ![]() ![]() ![]() By the way, how clean everything under your car is between living out there in Colorado with the low humidity and how well you obviously take care of it makes me puke.
Edited by myredvert, Mar 4 2016, 05:12 PM.
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| Otey13 | Mar 4 2016, 06:06 PM Post #14 |
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Geo Nerd
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Myredvert, Well I try to take great care of my cars. It also helps that I have a good friend that owns a very nice car wash, only about 5 blocks from my house. I installed HD camera's and a security system at the car wash. So I get to use the wash bays for free, I have a code. I think he got the wrong end of the deal Here is a pic of the Koni shocks with the OEM mounts and hardware that I pulled off of my 92 GT. ![]() If you notice the washer between the bump stop and the mount, it's cupped and larger than the bump stop cover. I didn't have that on my KYB set up, It was only a large thick flat washer...But and this is a big one...On the KYB set up the washer was not bigger than the bump stop. It almost looked like the washer that you would have on a front strut, the one you would sandwich between the mount and bump stop. The KYB set had just the four washers one for the bump stop one for the top of the shock. The thing of it is, when I pulled the shock out.... at a fit of anger!!! The bump stop was at the bottom limit of the shaft, so there must have been some extreme pressure at the bump stop to break that mount. Or just the mount was crapola |
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| myredvert | Mar 4 2016, 09:35 PM Post #15 |
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myredvert
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While it's unfortunate that aftermarket struts and mounts come with incorrect hardware that people might be tempted to use instead of re-using the correct hardware, the actual physical failure was still not caused by KYB or Taiwan or the Boogie Man. The failure occurred because the correct hardware was not installed on the bottom of the mount. When I did my struts and mounts last week, I tossed all the incorrect hardware that came with them back in the boxes. I also tossed my shiny new KYB bellows back in their boxes so they could be sent back to Rock Auto. Then I cleaned up everything as best I could, repainted the metal pieces, then reinstalled all the correct original oem hardware (except the nuts). Edited by myredvert, Mar 4 2016, 09:36 PM.
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Welcome to the all new Geo Metro Forum. We hope you enjoy your visit.









The mount failed.
I was thinking of putting the HR springs and the Koni adjustable struts in the front but hell if they are going to rub. I don't want to tear my car up or the tires. I might just have to put my old springs back on and get another set of KYB's for the rear, that set up worked great for me!
So the hardware that comes with the KYB's is crap to use on our Metros? Lesson learned here..... USE THE STOCK UPPER HARDWEAR! ( if in good shape) Damn! that's a hard lesson
Figured as much! So today I took all the shocks/struts out of my car and used the oem parts, except the bumpers... Once I took everything out, all the mounts were made in Frick'n Taiwan 



7:32 PM Jul 10