Koni RAID 90 group buy

[Roosevelt T]

Any idea how these are meant to compare to the heavy duty foam cell options offered by the other vendors? I've got an adjustable shock that doesn't require removal to adjust, just a turn of a knob. Curious what the benefits might be with these parts.

Well, yours are foam cell first off.

The Tough Dogs have a little beefier rod, and a little larger internal bore, esp if you get the 53mm. Also, 9 adjustments and its obviously easier to adjust. They also cost more, at least than this group buy. What do they run without the springs and torsion bars? 1400-1500 or something? Its not on Trail Tailors website.

 

[MongooseGA]

Well, yours are foam cell first off.

The Tough Dogs have a little beefier rod, and a little larger internal bore, esp if you get the 53mm. Also, 9 adjustments and its obviously easier to adjust. They also cost more, at least than this group buy. What do they run without the springs and torsion bars? 1400-1500 or something? Its not on Trail Tailors website.

Right, I'm familiar with the shocks I bought.

I'm not making any comparison, just asking. If the reviews so far are rave, it'd be helpful to people shopping or even casually shopping to be able to compare. We've got a very active vendor for the TD parts and lots of guys running them to give feedback. These would be less known (from what I can tell) and might bring up some questions from shoppers.

I think I paid ~$2K for everything in the kit (shocks, diff drop, springs, TBs, sway links), so not positive on cost by line item. I believe another user just put on a set (not the 53mm fronts though) and mentioned $7-800 for them. Granted, the fronts from TD are not adjustable.

 

[Roosevelt T]

Right, I'm familiar with the shocks I bought.

I'm not making any comparison, just asking. If the reviews so far are rave, it'd be helpful to people shopping or even casually shopping to be able to compare. I think I paid ~$2K for everything in the kit (shocks, diff drop, springs, TBs, sway links), so not positive on cost by line item. I believe another user just put on a set (not the 53mm fronts though) and mentioned $7-800 for them. Granted, the fronts from TD are not adjustable.

I wasnt trying to talk down to you, my apologies if it came off that way - I assumed you didnt have the specs in front of you and were asking, and I was interested myself so i looked up all the specs.

Re: Reviews - I actually cant find a ton of reviews. The ones I find are mostly positive. These are a more popular shock in Australia, but its not like they are the go to for our platform or anything.

Tough Dogs seem to be a little more robust. But I am curious about the cost myself. I thought it used to be on Trail Tailors website but its not anymore. If I find a retailer in the US I'll post it.

 

[MongooseGA]

No worries. Sorry if my reaction was knee-jerk.

It's sounding like these may be a nice alternative to some OME shocks. Good upgrade from stock, a little more rugged, but generally an on-road type product and not fully comparable to say the big-bore TDs or remote-reservoir style units from other vendors.

 

[Roosevelt T]

No worries. Sorry if my reaction was knee-jerk.

It's sounding like these may be a nice alternative to some OME shocks. Good upgrade from stock, a little more rugged, but generally an on-road type product and not fully comparable to say the big-bore TDs or remote-reservoir style units from other vendors.

On paper these are much closer to the twin tube foam cells like TD's than mono tube OME's in my eyes. They don't have quite the specs of the big bore TD's, but I think it's a better comparison.

Again, on paper. I haven't used either.

 

[TheForger]

My TD 53mm fronts were $320 & the 45mm adjustable rears were $340 so just under $700 for all 4 shocks including shipping, plus another $320 for t-bars.

I would absolutely hate to have to partially remove the rear shock just to adjust it.

 

[bjowett]

These are the same type of shock.

The foam cell, in theory, prevents aeration of the oil when things start to move around. How much of a benefit they provide... do not know. The foam does eventually break down in the oil, but I have no data on the amount of time/use that causes it.

These Konis have rebound adjustment, whereas the TD have compression adjustment. Given the choice of one or the other, I'll take rebound. Both are nice.

The TD are, from I can gather, a larger version of the RS9000 which is produced by Tenneco. Nice units for what they are. I would have no issues using them.

The Konis are a rebuildable and modifiable unit. All replacement parts are available. External compression and rebound can be added, as well as gas filling.

 

[Whiskerz]

Any Chance of adding 200 series to this and increasing the buyer group size?

 

[bjowett]

Yes, already have a couple folks interested.

 

[divemedic]

@bjowett thank you for responding. I caught this as I was jumping in the truck.

to add (superficially as the tech side is handled above) the Koni Raids are predominantly used in commercial/NGO applications (similar to the Land Cruiser). Koni makes enough money from these orders to really not need to market or offer them to consumers (similar to the Land Cruiser). I’ve experienced these shocks in work trucks and cannot recall a failure. They’re beefcake and they work extremely well especially when worked hard and under load. They’re not designed for stock trucks or road use which was alluded to above.

I can’t really make a fair comparison to TD, but knowing that the TD offers only compression compared to the Raid’s off the shelf rebound adjustment that itself speaks volumes. Simply put, do you want to have adjustment on how quick the suspension activates or how quick it returns. In application rebound gives the user the ability to adjust how fast the suspension will get buried during constant activation. Generally progressive-rate springs with compensate for lack of compression adjustment in the shock.

last note, these are 100% rebuildable as mentioned above. So are a lot of other high-end shocks. But the intervals are much longer and you don’t have to send them back to Koni to do it like most other others require. Honestly, all things considered, I’d say these arein the same league as the Slee res shocks made for the 100 (which are built/valved by ADS specifically for the 100). Take that for what it’s worth and know I haven’t driven the Slee shocks.It’s purely a paper comparison made with pragmatic reflection to the maintenance I’m able and willing to perform.

frankly I’m a set and forget type of guy. I’ll fiddle with my stuff untill it’s right and it better perform until I’m ready to rebuild. I expect the konis to perform as expected and flawlessly for 100k for my use.

 

[Roosevelt T]

@bjowett thank you for responding. I caught this as I was jumping in the truck.

to add (superficially as the tech side is handled above) the Koni Raids are predominantly used in commercial/NGO applications (similar to the Land Cruiser). Koni makes enough money from these orders to really not need to market or offer them to consumers (similar to the Land Cruiser). I’ve experienced these shocks in work trucks and cannot recall a failure. They’re beefcake and they work extremely well especially when worked hard and under load. They’re not designed for stock trucks or road use which was alluded to above.

I can’t really make a fair comparison to TD, but knowing that the TD offers only compression compared to the Raid’s off the shelf rebound adjustment that itself speaks volumes. Simply put, do you want to have adjustment on how quick the suspension activates or how quick it returns. In application rebound gives the user the ability to adjust how fast the suspension will get buried during constant activation. Generally progressive-rate springs with compensate for lack of compression adjustment in the shock.

last note, these are 100% rebuildable as mentioned above. So are a lot of other high-end shocks. But the intervals are much longer and you don’t have to send them back to Koni to do it like most other others require. Honestly, all things considered, I’d say these arein the same league as the Slee res shocks made for the 100 (which are built/valved by ADS specifically for the 100). Take that for what it’s worth and know I haven’t driven the Slee shocks.It’s purely a paper comparison made with pragmatic reflection to the maintenance I’m able and willing to perform.

frankly I’m a set and forget type of guy. I’ll fiddle with my stuff untill it’s right and it better perform until I’m ready to rebuild. I expect the konis to perform as expected and flawlessly for 100k for my use.

Slee's shocks are a monotube 2.5" unit with remote reservoir, 22mm shaft, and tuned specifically for the 100 series.... Maybe its just me, but calling them in the same league (on paper) seems like a stretch. As you pointed out, these are a shock made for commercial trucks that have been revalved for offroad truck/SUV use.

That being said, Slee is like 1900 for 4, which is King territory. The group buy for these is 800.

 

[divemedic]

Slee's shocks are a monotube 2.5" unit with separate reservoir, 22mm shaft, and tuned specifically for the 100 series.... Maybe its just me, but calling them in the same league (on paper) seems like a stretch. As you pointed out, these are a shock made for commercial trucks that have been revalved for offroad truck/SUV use.

That being said, Slee is like 1900 for 4, which is King territory. The group buy for these is 800.

*im a few beers in*

Slee is $1600 for all corners. At least that’s what I was told a few weeks ago. But that might have been a quote for Slee fronts sand icon 2.0’s in back. I’m shopping for shocks so it’s foggy.

Yes their in the same price point as other high end shocks as you pointed out.

but

given the 100’s limits up front; buying boujee shocks only seems reasonable to me if they’re specifically designed to suit the 100 (Slees (a-la ADS)). The kings, icons, etc... are not made with the 100 in mind and are limited in performance accordingly. Case-in-point, OME isn’t making the BP51 for the 100 because of the 100’s front end hugely limits potential for performance. You just won’t get your money’s worth.

I really can’t see the Slee fronts performing much better than the Koni’s given the 100’s limits; at least not enough to justify the added cost. Especially when maintenance intervals are accounted for. As much as I love the 100 it’s still a torsion system with 4” of shock travel.

that’s not to say the slee or King or any other high end shock doesn’t perform well. I’m saying they cant perform well enough given the truck we’re putting them on to justify close to $2000... Put Koni raids against the aforementioned shocks on a true long arm and my performance argument doesn’t stand. (The Koni’s will still outlast the others but longevity is not the priority of the other shock builders).

anyways I feel the the Koni’s may be the best shock you can get for the 100 so long as the price is at $800-900. If we lived in Europe or Oz that would be the rough price. But accounting for shipping costs (without a group buy) you’d be in Slee territory. it becomes a no brainer At that point. This is why I’d like to get a group buy.

 

[Roosevelt T]

*im a few beers in*

Slee is $1600 for all corners. At least that’s what I was told a few weeks ago. But that might have been a quote for Slee fronts sand icon 2.0’s in back. I’m shopping for shocks so it’s foggy.

Yes their in the same price point as other high end shocks as you pointed out.

but

given the 100’s limits up front; buying boujee shocks only seems reasonable to me if they’re specifically designed to suit the 100 (Slees (a-la ADS)). The kings, icons, etc... are not made with the 100 in mind and are limited in performance accordingly. Case-in-point, OME isn’t making the BP51 for the 100 because of the 100’s front end hugely limits potential for performance. You just won’t get your money’s worth.

I really can’t see the Slee fronts performing much better than the Koni’s given the 100’s limits; at least not enough to justify the added cost. Especially when maintenance intervals are accounted for. As much as I love the 100 it’s still a torsion system with 4” of shock travel.

that’s not to say the slee or King or any other high end shock doesn’t perform well. I’m saying they cant perform well enough given the truck we’re putting them on to justify close to $2000... Put Koni raids against the aforementioned shocks on a true long arm and my performance argument doesn’t stand. (The Koni’s will still outlast the others but longevity is not the priority of the other shock builders).

anyways I feel the the Koni’s may be the best shock you can get for the 100 so long as the price is at $800-900. If we lived in Europe or Oz that would be the rough price. But accounting for shipping costs (without a group buy) you’d be in Slee territory. it becomes a no brainer At that point. This is why I’d like to get a group buy.

You had me at a few beers in.

I see your logic. My logic is that even though we have dumb torsion bars, I still think a nice monotube with reservoir, especially when valved specifically for these trucks should get me a good amount of additional small bump compliance over a twintube, even a good one like these or the TD's. My issue isn't rock crawling or on road performance, even with these meh OME's... Its performance on washboards and other small bumps offroad. We have a ton of this in AZ and they drive me nuts.

Maybe I am just convincing myself though, haha!

 

[CruiseLanderAZ]

You had me at a few beers in.

I see your logic. My logic is that even though we have dumb torsion bars, I still think a nice monotube with reservoir, especially when valved specifically for these trucks should get me a good amount of additional small bump compliance over a twintube, even a good one like these or the TD's. My issue isn't rock crawling or on road performance, even with these meh OME's... Its performance on washboards and other small bumps offroad. We have a ton of this in AZ and they drive me nuts.

Maybe I am just convincing myself though, haha!

I want the same type of thing in a shock. Controlled ride and not jarring on rough roads/washboard (aired down) and being pretty comfortable to daily drive.

 

[divemedic]

You had me at a few beers in.

I see your logic. My logic is that even though we have dumb torsion bars, I still think a nice monotube with reservoir, especially when valved specifically for these trucks should get me a good amount of additional small bump compliance over a twintube, even a good one like these or the TD's. My issue isn't rock crawling or on road performance, even with these meh OME's... Its performance on washboards and other small bumps offroad. We have a ton of this in AZ and they drive me nuts.

Maybe I am just convincing myself though, haha!

washboard performance is great. mind you my experience with them is from work and I didn’t drive/ride in 100 series.

the biggest problem with curregations is fatigue-failure and the shock heating up killing performance. I’d bet a paycheck these will outlast the TD and Other foam cell shocks.

that said, tire pressures and proper speed is your friend for that.

 

[REDrum]

So what ever happened to the group buy? Any sets still here in US?

I ran the raids on my old 99 UZJ100 they were brilliant. Looking for a set for my, new to me, '04 UZJ100.

Hi Brian!

 

[divemedic]

So what ever happened to the group buy? Any sets still here in US?

I ran the raids on my old 99 UZJ100 they were brilliant. Looking for a set for my, new to me, '04 UZJ100.

Hi Brian!

So what ever happened to the group buy? Any sets still here in US?
I ran the raids on my old 99 UZJ100 they were brilliant. Looking for a set for my, new to
Hi Brian!

I couldn’t get enough commitment to bring down the shipping costs.

That said, I ended up running the Slee 2.5 res shocks. I highly recommend them. Joint project between Slee and ADS. Specifically designed for the 100 Series.