PGT Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 good thing you didnt crash! lord knows a superior driver with race honed skills could handle that right? in for more info....this is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansGT Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 I just checked mine. Look ok with no leaking. I am only around 1k on them though. almost PM'd you about this thread. glad you caught it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wangspeed Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 For the other KW owners out there, I would suggest cleaning the welds and inspecting for cracks. Don't just peak and look for oil. If you see oil,it's probably because it already broke all the way through, and been through enough abuse to destroy the seals. JuxtaGT: Do you have the stock swaybars on? Warren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 almost PM'd you about this thread. glad you caught it. I pmed him. OMG, I am glad I survived the ride in Jedi Pimp's car. OMG! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansGT Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 I pmed him. OMG, I am glad I survived the ride in Jedi Pimp's car. OMG! thank goodness McDonalds was only 2 miles away. seriously though....jedi pimp...keep an eye on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottybue Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 WHEW, these KW's were always on my wishlist, too. now rocking the 2007 Mini Cooper S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirsimon Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Scary business, that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Pimp Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Its probably a bad batch. KW is a reputable company after all and they have a quality product. It will be interesting to see how they respond. In the meantime I have made an appointment to put the stock suspension back on just in case. I will inspect the rear shock surface for microcracks when they are off the vehicle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuxtaGT Posted January 26, 2007 Author Share Posted January 26, 2007 I am still waiting to hear back from KW with the proper eyelet dimensions.I implied defect because I have been lead to believe improper parts were used. I don't know yet if this was just mine, or a particular production run, or what. I'm trying to not make too many assumptions here until I get the facts. I'll only be willing to say this is a design flaw if every one's have these eyelets. I'd be very curious to know the eyelet measurements from other owners, anybody got a set waiting to be installed they can check? Wangspeed is correct. Do not just check for oil, if a crack has developed enough to cause leakage, a safety issue is already present. As he says, wipe the weld seam clean and inspect for fractures. I have Cusco sways, MSI endlinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wangspeed Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Have you checked to make sure that nothing is binding? With the shock out, or conveniently broken as pictured :-P put the rear of the car on jackstands and jack up wheel with a floorjack and make sure it goes up smoothly. I would imagine KW is going to want those rears back to check them out. I'm curious myself. Good to hear they're helping out. Warren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuxtaGT Posted January 26, 2007 Author Share Posted January 26, 2007 ^When I put the stocks struts back in I did a check on all the suspension pieces and for binding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyd2005 Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 I think that's a poor place to put a weld. I've seen other coilovers with a weld on the same spot. It's just a bad idea in my opinion. The lower body should be turned on a lathe as a single unit and then the lug faces machined and lug hole bored out. The bolt rotates relative to the lower shock absorber body just a tiny bit because it is tied to the main suspension. The rotational stiffness of the bushing dictates the bending moment transferred to the shock absorber based upon the amount of rotation required by the bolt. In the critical cross section, there is a stress concentration for bending and axial tension. It is never a good idea to put a weld at a stress concentration. You might be able to get it to work, but sometimes it won't. I don't remember seeing a weld there on the MR coilovers. I'm going to have to check now. Just my $0.02. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 I think that's a poor place to put a weld. I've seen other coilovers with a weld on the same spot. It's just a bad idea in my opinion. The lower body should be turned on a lathe as a single unit and then the lug faces machined and lug hole bored out. The bolt rotates relative to the lower shock absorber body just a tiny bit because it is tied to the main suspension. The rotational stiffness of the bushing dictates the bending moment transferred to the shock absorber based upon the amount of rotation required by the bolt. In the critical cross section, there is a stress concentration for bending and axial tension. It is never a good idea to put a weld at a stress concentration. You might be able to get it to work, but sometimes it won't. I don't remember seeing a weld there on the MR coilovers. I'm going to have to check now. Just my $0.02. That was my thinking, too. Very different from stock shocks, Bilsteins or Ohlins (which all are done in the same fashion). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuxtaGT Posted January 26, 2007 Author Share Posted January 26, 2007 ^ Agreed. Just looked at the pics for the MR rears, and they are a solid piece. Tein Flex have one weld and no spacer. Both also look like they have more range of movement from the bushing. ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuxtaGT Posted January 26, 2007 Author Share Posted January 26, 2007 News from KW: I have read over the thread. I am hoping that the customers out there can use this thread to double check there own systems. With our Quality control, we are unsure of how this would happen. It is still a bit of a mystery how this could have missed our testing. Both the quality control manager, R&D, as well as the owner of company already have been told about the issue, and it will be reviewed. We have gone over both our stock here and the stock in Germany, but we don't have any other of this coilover with the incorrect bushings pressed in. We have also checked the stock in Germany, and have received the same answer. Your particular system seems to be the only one with the incorrect bushings pushed in. With that said however, let everyone know to measure out the inside sleeve. Check to see the measurement. The inside sleeve should not be less than 42.5mm, if it is they have an incorrect bushing. Please let them know to get in touch with me ASAP so I can get them taken care of. I don't expect to find anyone else with this, but it is better to have the information out there just to be sure. The failure in your kit was caused the system not having enough movement because of the small inside sleeve. I have seen people mentioning the welds in the thread, however the welds would not be the problem. The constant stress this incorrect sleeve caused will have caused the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuxtaGT Posted January 26, 2007 Author Share Posted January 26, 2007 ^Basically, check to make sure that the inner sleeve protrudes at least 4 mm from each side of the eyelet as I understand it. Not 1.5 mm on each side like mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolbluelb Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 subscribe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobY Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 F*cking damit please get KW to get a rep onto this site... I dont want to stuff it during a track day. I measured the length of the inner eyelet... Mine is around 43mm "within spec" according to KW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Repsak Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 mine look pretty close to the eyelet, but its pretty much exactly 4mm away from the eyelet. that makes it about 43-44 mm long... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolbluelb Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 What exactly do I need to measure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobY Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 The diffrence between the outer eylet and the inner eyelet lengthwise. There should be enough room to allow for full suspension movement. I have faith in KW as a responsible company as the reason I am giving them the beniefit of the doubt right now is because of thier EXCELLENT reputation. They are a smart company and knows that fixing a problem now will mean ALOT less headaches later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Repsak Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 its basically how much further the inner bushing sleve sitcks out past the rest of the bushing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sutter2k Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 ^ Can this be measured from under the car? mine have about 6k on them. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boostjunkie Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 ^ Can this be measured from under the car? mine have about 6k on them. Matt You should be able to, although the measurement will be much more accurate if the lower mounting bolt is removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burnin4 Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 great , I ordered a set of kw's on 12/29 and the are arriving tomorrow. makes me really happy to install them knowing a potential problem exists . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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