Koni Shocks: 82 series or 90 Series (1 Viewer)

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Ironbark

Joined
Mar 10, 2014
Threads
2
Messages
54
Location
Melbourne - Australia
G'Day

I'm not much of a person for posting but I'm looking for some experience/advice with different Koni shocks on a leaf sprung cruiser.

My 1988 HJ61 is fitted with the heavy/heavy OME kit which I put in 10 years ago.

She's set up for touring with a lot of accessories and bits and pieces fitted. Bull bar, winch, dual batteries full length steel roof rack, extra console with radios, roller draws, cargo barrier, long range tank. When we go away it's loaded up even more and depending upon what we're doing we sometimes tow a trailer. I've had a number of 'cruisers and this one is my "keeper". I've had her for 12 years now and have no intention of selling.

The shocks are due for replacement and this time I'd decided to go with Koni shocks as they are reliable units that are rebuildable and I've had good experiences with Koni shocks on other vehicles.

I made a call today to check that they were in stock and during the call I was told that yes they were there and they had two different types available the 82 series (Part numbers 82-2296 and 82-2294) and the 90 series (Part numbers 90-5461 and 90-5462).

The 82 series is around $440 a pair and the 90 series is $990 a pair.

I wasn't aware that the 90s were available, they're a bigger bore unit and more heavy duty. So the question is will they be noticeably better performers and give me value from the extra $550?

Cheers

Ironbark
 
Ok, just in case anyone reads this and wants to know more:

I've looked into both the Koni 82 series "Heavy Track" and 90 series "Raid" shocks in detail.

Both are fully rebuildable and the construction is very solid and confidence inspiring. However, the 90 series are a much beefier unit overall and have twice the oil volume of the 82 series.

This would mean that they would stay cooler for longer in tougher conditions and therefore continue to perform. The durability (i.e period between rebuilds) is also much greater in 90 series than 82 series when subjected to the same conditions. The Raids that fit the 60 were designed for 70 series cruisers.

My cruiser was on its second set of stock shocks, which I understand were Tokicos for the 60s, when I put in a complete OME kit.

After I did the change-over and worked out I was happy with the ride I went back a couple of weeks later and bought another set of OME shocks as spares. This, in hindsight, was a mistake because the performance of the OME shocks hasn't met my expectations. I've gone through both those sets in ten years with the ride being pretty poor for the last year on each occasion. In retrospect I should have just gone with Koni shocks all around when I refreshed the suspension in the first place.

This truck doesn't get driven a lot, in the ten years since the suspension replacement it's done 110,000km. Some years I've done big trips and some years I haven't. Also I'm no thrasher, I pick a speed to minimise damage and monitor the condition of components on a regular basis.

Loaded up it has to carry a bit of weight here's a guess:

Rear:
Permanent
- long range tank 20kg and contents 70kg
- steel roof rack 35 kg
- roller drawers 45 kg
- cage 10kg
170kg Total

Temporary
- water 50kg
- Fridge/freezer and contents 60kg
- camping/cooking/personal gear 70kg
-tools/spares 30kg
210kg Total

So 380kg in the rear


Front:
Winch 25kg
Steel Bar 50kg
Extra battery/Compressor/lights 25kg
100kg at the front


So all up, when on a trip, my cruiser is carrying about 500kg above what a stock 'cruiser would carry.

I spoke to some suspension people, a couple of different mechanics who work on these trucks and a couple of people who used 60 series for organised tours back in the 80s and 90s.

The view was that the 82 series would give me what I wanted in terms of improved control and durability as they were what was used back in the day as the 90s were not available. However, the 90s would be more comfortably within their capacity. They said that when laden on longer corrugated roads that the 90s would give a performance improvement and that they would be superior over long distances on rough surfaces in general where they would be better at controlling the rear end.

One of my mates said that if my truck were an 80 series or later, then for outback touring he would be pushing me hard toward the 90 series shocks over the 82s as the shocks are worked so much harder on coil-sprung trucks. With a leaf sprung truck there is a bigger margin for error with shock absorbers than with coils as the leaves provide a significant amount of self-damping.

After we'd gone over my loadings and usage the thing that eventually swayed me was when I was asked if I was planning on keeping the truck. When I said that I had no intention of selling it so long as I could still drive it, I got a shrug back and the response "well if you get the 90s it'll probably be the last set of shocks you buy for it. You'll get a good few years out of the 82s but the 90s will be there for the long haul."

So after a discussion on price, which resulted in the pain being more bearable, I ordered the 90s.

If I wasn't planning any more long trips loaded up on the dirt I would have got the 82s. I'm sure they'd be fantastic for 99% of the time.

However, the 1% things that I've done in the past have often paid off by saving the day, a couple of times in circumstances where I've thanked my lucky stars. So, as with a few other things I've done on this cruiser where the choice has been between a good thing and a slightly better thing, I've chosen the slightly better.

I'll try and take some photos when they go in and give folks my impressions.


Ironbark
 
I contacted Koni North America about the shock noted above and got these replies. Only the 82 2296 shock is available in the US Market as a special order part. Koni claims the 90 series shock part numbers noted above don't fit a 60?

These are email exchanges in reverse order:



Doug,
The 90 5461/5462 are for the slightly newer 90'-07.99' , PZJ70 / -73, HZJ70 / -73. Thought they are not available in the states either.


Mason O’Hara
KONI North America
1961A International Way
Hebron, Ky. 41048
859 488-0324
www.koni-na.com
www.koniracing.com
www.konirv.com



-----Original Message-----
From: d
Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2015 11:47 AM
To: info.koni.us,
Subject: Re: KONI-NA website contact

Mason,

Thanks for the quick reply to my inquiry.

With only the front or rear shocks being available, that puts a damper on using the shocks. In AU, this shock is very popular for this vehicle.

My friend in AU gave me another option also - 90 series (Part numbers
90-5461 and 90-5462).

Are these available in the US?

Thanks,

Doug


-----Original Message-----
From: info.koni.us,
Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2015 7:38 AM
To: dclagg@socal.rr.com
Subject: RE: KONI-NA website contact

Doug,
Thank you for contacting us here at KONI NA. the 82 2296 shock is available in the US Market as a special order part, meaning we do not stock it here at our KONI NA due to very low demand/volume. The 82 2294 is not available in the US Market.


Mason O’Hara
KONI North America
1961A International Way
Hebron, Ky. 41048
859 488-0324
www.koni-na.com
www.koniracing.com
www.konirv.com



-----Original Message-----
From:
Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2015 10:26 AM
To: info.koni.us,
Subject: KONI-NA website contact

From: Doug
Address:

Phone:
Fax:
Comments: Hello,

Are these shocks/part numbers available in the US?

82-2296, 82-2294

The PN listed are the front and rear Koni Shocks that fit a 1985 Toyota LandCruiser FJ60 model with a 2.5" OME suspension kit and are used on the same in Australia.


Thanks for your help.

Doug
________________________________
 
G'Day Doug

This is, I think, a difference between Australia and the USA. A lot of 60s were sold here in Australia, it'd be rare for me to take mine out even for a quick trip to the hardware shop and not get a wave from another guy coming the other way. Not bad for a 25-plus year old vehicle. You also see a lot of other Landcruisers on the road of various types 70s, 80s, 100s and 200s. The 70 series cruisers are the vehicle of choice for the mining industry which is huge and many farms will have a 70 series ute kicking about.

On the other hand Jeeps, Ford F-series and those giant GM things are comparatively rare. The latter two won't fit through our standard tracks and are absolutely notorious for being unreliable and getting stuck in the bush. A friend of mine had a thing for f-trucks and bought himself a new F350 a few years ago. It was considered a pretty eccentric choice, kind of like dying your hair green or wearing a dress if you are a bloke.

So we have more demand, as a share of the market, for things Landcruiser and specifically for those things associated with overland touring.

I'm confident the 90 series part numbers I provided will fit a 60 as they were recommended to me by folks who have done this before.

These shocks were originally specifically valved for competition trucks based on the mid-wheelbase 70 series 'cruisers produced in the 90s. Because I'm a bit pedantic I had them check the travel and both extension and compression are well within tolerances based upon fitment at my standard mounting points. It all appears to be able to fit up correctly, however, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating, so we'll see how they go on next week!

The 90 series "Raid" shocks are definitely "special order" items here but the 82 series shocks I have described are readily available through multiple Koni stockists. A suspension store two suburbs away from me had them on the shelf.

The mid-wheel base 70 series models of the 1990's were not officially imported into Australia and hence are only here in very small volumes- I tried to buy one 15 years ago and they were like hen's teeth even then. I'm guessing that these 90-series shocks that I'm getting are only produced in small numbers for the hard-core 60 -series enthusiasts like me who still use them for the big trips such as the Canning Stock Route or Cape York.



Ironbark
 
Righto, time for a report back

I had to have her into the workshop for some complicated brake work and, as the place I use is absolutely excellent and they are a Koni stockist, I got them to fit the shocks.

It turned out this was just as well. We'd been talking this over for a couple of months on and off, I'd finally settled on the 90s and they were ordered in for me. I was pretty pleased. Only, the next day, I got a phone call saying: "you know those shocks we ordered - they won't fit around your long-range tank and 3" exhaust."

So, they sent them back and I now have the 82 series fitted.

Having got over the fact I wasn't getting the super awesome raid 90s I have to say that after a couple of weeks on the car the 82s are great shocks. The ride is a lot better than the OME shocks ever were. When going over bumps both big and small the after effects are really controlled, making steering input and keeping the truck in check that bit easier. The truck is now significantly more comfortable to drive. The quality of the welds and finish of the shocks is top drawer too, so I'm happy that should they start to tire a few years down the track, a rebuild will be perfectly feasible.

The best test was taking my nearly 4 year old out for a ride, she loves the car and kept telling me she missed it when it was away. Despite all the excitement, she fell asleep within ten minutes of starting out and I had to wake her an hour later when we stopped for an Icecream.

I'll post back in a few months letting folks know how they go longer term.

Cheers

Ironbark
 
G'Day

I finally got the systems to talk to each other, so I've uploaded a few pictures.

Left hand Rear Koni

Left hand Rear Koni

This is where the 90 Series were too large, they wouldn't fit past my 3" pipe

As you can see there isn't a lot of room at the rear.
Right hand rear Koni

Right hand rear Koni

Again, the 90s wouldn't clear the fuel filler pipe to my mid-mounted tank
On this side too, with the filler pipe.
Right hand rear Koni from front

Right hand rear Koni from front

The 82 Series seem like a great shock - I only have 500km on them at this stage
a view from the front.

Left hand rear Koni from front

Left hand rear Koni from front

82 series Koni fitted up nicely
and on the other side.

See if this works before proceeding...

Ironbark
 
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