DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

67 912 with Boge struts. Found one of the inserts is really weak so need a new pair whilst doing the resto. Shocks need to be suitable for road and track use
Red Koni's look good price but cant I do better within a sensible budget?

Found Bilstein B6 Sports at only £40 quid more than the red Koni's guess these are a better option and worth the money

I've got a pair of Koni 86 1036 inserts for sale, they might suit you.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=53091

The Bilstein inserts that are currently available to suit the early Boge leg are about 3mm too short to fit correctly.

If you install them in the leg they will be loose and the gland nut will not trap them properly and they will also move radially which is not great news.

The bottom of the strut body has a slight curve on the face which helps to radially locate the Koni insert.

The end of the Bilstein insert is flat and doesn't sit well in the tube.

You can fit packers into the bottom of the insert and this will raise the insert so the gland nut will hold it axially.

I would use relatively thin packers - maximum of 1mm so they will bend slightly and take up the correct shape in the strut casing.

We have fitted quite a few sets in this manner and they have worked well.

Without packing they will 'rattle' over bumps and eventually some damage is likely.

To resurrect a slightly old thread.

I fitted my '66 912 with the following Record inserts which at the time I was told were for an early car with Boges front struts.
They looked like this



I get a similar rattle over bumps etc, and I can't seem to pinpoint the source.
Does anyone know if these Record ones also require the spacer insert to correct the problem?
If so does anyone sell a spacer kit?

Thanks
Andrew

Andrew,

These inserts seem to have the required 'curved' base to allow them to sit correctly into the base of the 'leg' and not move radially.

I would check to see if the gland nut at the top of the leg is tight enough and has fully clamped the insert in the vertical plane.

If the base of the insert isn't pressed tightly enough into the base of the leg it may still wander around.

We have just ordered a set from Chuck at Elephant for our 66 so hopefully all will be good

fetuhoe wrote:Andrew,

These inserts seem to have the required 'curved' base to allow them to sit correctly into the base of the 'leg' and not move radially.

I would check to see if the gland nut at the top of the leg is tight enough and has fully clamped the insert in the vertical plane.

If the base of the insert isn't pressed tightly enough into the base of the leg it may still wander around.

Thanks for the help Chris - it's a while since I fitted these and at the time I wasn't aware that some may or may not fit correctly so didn't pay too much attention at the time. I know I had to use a large pipe wrench to get the bigger nuts on nice and tight at the time.

If I push/pull on either of the front wheels at the top there seems to be a small amount of play with a telltale clunk.

I take it when you say gland nut Chris, you mean the large nut that holds the insert into the leg ( and not the smaller nut at the very top of the insert - visible from the trunk )? I can't think of an easy way to get at the larger of the two without dropping the suspension off - so would like some way of confirming this is the issue before I proceed.

On a slightly different note - any news on the laser cut spacers we were discussing? ( just about to go on holiday so no pressing need until September - but I thought I would ask ).

As for your findings Robind - I will be interested to see how you get on with yours - might be worth some careful measuring when yours arrive! Maybe put some blutac on for a trial fit?

Regards
Andrew

Most cartridge strut inserts use a loose gland to locate and clamp them into position.



I can see that the insert that you are using has an integral and a hexagon to tighten the insert with.

I am not too keen on this idea as it looks as if the entire cartridge rotates as you tighten the hexagon into the casing.

The means that the stiction between the base of the cartridge and the strut casing could be quite high.

This could result in lots of torque but little clamping and maybe this is allowing axial movement and the 'clunk' .

The insert really need to be FT in the case or it will try to float axially.

OK so two years later and having finally got the engine to run well, I thought I should fix the clunking front suspension.
The car has probably only done 100 or so miles in the meantime, so as I am now hoping to use it a lot more I thought the only way to guarantee a fix was to buy some new Koni Classic 86 1394 inserts to replace the Record ones I had.

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Taking the old ones out I noticed that the Record ones actually did have the gland nut separate to the strut, so probably a quick fix would have been to fit an aluminium spacer/washer and retighten them. A small amount of paint had worn off the insert at the bottom where it had obviously been able to move in the strut.

Oh well, I'd bought the Konis so they went in.

Result zero clunks or clicks from the suspension and a really smooth and quite drive!

Thanks to Chris for the earlier diagnosis now all is well.