Koni shock alert

[Erik W. Treves]

http://www.factoryfive.com/whatsnew/.../ksupdate.html

Official KONI Shock Recall Notice

I wanted to take a moment to let you guys know about a potentially serious matter that requires your immediate attention.



Recently we received a report from a customer regarding a KONI shock absorber that had failed. This is the only incident of a broken KONI shock that we have received. We immediately obtained the part from the customer and forwarded it to the guys at KONI. It was quickly determined by the technical guys at KONI that the root cause of the failure was due to a cold weld. KONI and Factory Five Racing, Inc. are taking immediate action to replace any affected parts in the field.



The potentially affected shocks are in a small range of about 125 customers and were delivered in FFR kits and parts sales AFTER February 2010. We have identified the potentially affected lot numbers and are asking you to check your shocks for the following batch numbers:



Part Number: 30-1720, Date Code: 07-2010

Part Number: 30-1721, Date Code: 07-2010

Part Number: 30-1721, Date Code: 13-2010

[ipsale]

As one of the customers that are potentially effected I want to take a quick moment to thank FFR and Koni for there quick response to this issue and their detailed instructions on how to check the situation on each individual car. Safety should always come first and this certainly shows that FFR believes the same.

Rob

[3kcarbon]

My left front shock is the only one I can read the label on and the date code is not legible. The RF shock doesn't appear to have a label at all. Perhaps it is in another position and behind the sleeve. The rear are hidden behind the adjust sleeve and will require removal and reset of the ride height. This is not going to be a quick or simple task. The welds look to be fine and even though I want to be sure it is safe without a date code I have nothing to go on. After spending 2 days setting the alighnment with a Fastrack gauge and adjusting the ride height I'm really not looking forward going back to that issue all over again. At this point I feel Koni should be paying for this service work just as Ford,Chevrolet or any other company would. Perhaps all shocks shipped during this period should be replaced if the date isn't certain or if there is any question about the rest of the shocks made during similar dates.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Carbon Buddy,
I just went to Steve's house today to check his "indy14" car. No disassembly or collar adjustment required. With the suspension at full droop after pulling the sleeves toward the end of the shock body (away from the shaft end) the area of the tag with the date code was still not visible BUT by walking the sleeve retainer "C" clip out of it's groove and sliding it along the shock body I was able to move the sleeve far enough to view the entire tag. As luck would have it all four shocks are from the affected batches and will have to come off for replacement (the kit was shipped at the end of June 2010). No fun but better than the alternative of a failure on the road.

Jeff

[3kcarbon]

As usual Kleiner the Grand Poobah of Roadsters is correct.
With a minimum of cussing and fussing I was able to read the rear 1 2010and both were the same. I had to get busy with the right front to get the sleeve down to find 28 2009. The left front has the decal lower than the right and so far I can't read it. Since the decal is in a different position I don't expect it to be of the same lot. I took several pictures and I'll try to pick up a clue there. I guess what had me spun up was having to roll around in a cold garage right before Xmas when that was about the last thing I need to spend time on right now. If the date code was "very easy" to find as referenced in the recall it could have been a 10 minute job. Perhaps they can reposition the decal on future products.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Perhaps they can reposition the decal on future products.

Or make better welds.

Oops ...did I just type that with my outloud voice?

Jeff

[John55]

I'm still building, so rather easy to check the date......both frontshocks have the 30-1720____07-2010 code. I'm contacting the european FFR distributor to see how things will be arranged.

John

[efnfast]

Bad bilsteins, bad konis...they can't catch a break, lol.

[Brian Z]

There was only 1 case of a koni failure. Bilstein had many. 1 of anything can break. Koni is a great company. They are doing a recall because of one bad shock out of the thousands they have made! I have broke almost every part on my mustangs over the years. No replacement T-5 for me...

Yay Koni!

[Shawnski]

My car was delivered (w/Koni's) prior to the dates listed (3/10). How is it possible that I am effected by this as suggested by the notification and call I received? My car is in the middle of body work, and while I will be able to check this once I get it back in my garage for completion - this strikes me as very strange.

[Shawn]

Wish I would have read this (I always forget about this forum) before removing my rear shocks to see the tags! I should've just removed the c-clips as Jeff recommended. Fortunately, none of mine needs replacement. I picked my kit up in April 2010.

[johno250]

Changed ALL mine out to QA1's from breeze after one of mine broke and scraped me along the pavement at 40 mph no major damage.
It COULD have been much more expensive, scary
Lesson learned.........

[gtaroger]

Went through this with the Bilstein shocks. Looks like Koni is stepping up a lot faster then Bilstein did.I hated the ride with Bilstein's , the Koni's are a much better shock. Roger

[ricobrafan]

Can anyone post some pictures of the procedure and labeling? Thanks