I have a new set of Koni Sports (8040-1035S), by just lowering the car off the jack, they bottom out. Am I supposed to remove the bump stop inserts?
With the car on the ground, I measure about 14 in from the top shock mounting bolt to the lower control arm mounting; the shock fully extended measures about 16 in, and it compresses about 2 in until it hits the bump stop.
Am I missing something here? I'm really confused about this situation. This car is new to me, and so far it's been one surprise after another.
Koni Shock Installation Issue
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Tom
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Are you sure you have the right shocks?? Are they new or used? Maybe post pictures?shft22 wrote: Thu Jan 15, 2026 1:46 pm I have a new set of Koni Sports (8040-1035S), by just lowering the car off the jack, they bottom out. Am I supposed to remove the bump stop inserts?
With the car on the ground, I measure about 14 in from the top shock mounting bolt to the lower control arm mounting; the shock fully extended measures about 16 in, and it compresses about 2 in until it hits the bump stop.
Am I missing something here? I'm really confused about this situation. This car is new to me, and so far it's been one surprise after another.
The shocks are new 8040-1035s; Jason at Paragon just confirmed with me that they are correct.
I took them out and verified the shocks bottom out at 14 in, and the car on wheels measures 14 in from mounting to mounting shock bolt.
I got under the car and exercised the suspension with a jack, and everything rotated as it should with no play anywhere.
This situation is very strange. Any ideas?
I took them out and verified the shocks bottom out at 14 in, and the car on wheels measures 14 in from mounting to mounting shock bolt.
I got under the car and exercised the suspension with a jack, and everything rotated as it should with no play anywhere.
This situation is very strange. Any ideas?
Last edited by shft22 on Thu Jan 15, 2026 5:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Tom
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Sounds like they are either bad or not the right part? What did Jason say about them bottoming out? I see paragon does sell a "Bump Rubber - Koni 8040-1035 Sport" on the same page with that shock - maybe that adds range?shft22 wrote: Thu Jan 15, 2026 5:10 pm Shocks are new 8040-1035s just confirmed with Jason at Paragon they are correct.
I took them out and verified the shocks bottom out at 14in and the car on wheels measures 14in from mounting to mounting shock bolt.
I got under the car and exercised the suspension with a jack and everything rotated as it should with no play anywhere.
This is very strange. Any ideas?
He is very surprised about this situation and asked me to send him some pictures. I did, and I am waiting on him.
I don't think they are bad. I mean, the car is riding at the height it needs to be, and the shock is compressing to the bump stop. So either the car needs to be higher or the shock shorter.
It would be great if someone could measure the distance between the shock mount with the suspension compressed to normal heigh.
I don't think they are bad. I mean, the car is riding at the height it needs to be, and the shock is compressing to the bump stop. So either the car needs to be higher or the shock shorter.
It would be great if someone could measure the distance between the shock mount with the suspension compressed to normal heigh.
Here some pictures with the car on the ground. As you can see ride height is normal but notice how much the shock extend past the mounting bolt
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Tom
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I have the KW coilovers, and my ride height is maybe .75" lower than stock via the stock eccentric adjuster. For reference, even with my set up, the mounting bolts are 14 inches apart top to bottom when the weight of the car is on the shock (measuring from center of bolts). Your shock looks too long in that picture, but if you take the weight off the trailing arm it will drop a lot -- probably enough to get the lower bolt in. However, if it then bottoms-out the shock, something ain't right. Are you sure it's really bottoming out and not just hitting an intentionally stiffer part of its travel? If it is sitting a hard, mechanical stop, then either the suspension (torsion bar? Eccentric adjuster?) is trying to compress the shock more than it should, or the shock is just too long. How long is the shock -- measuring from the center of the top mount to the center of the bottom -- when you compress the shock all the way by hand? If it is 14" or more before hitting a hard stop then I'd think it's just the wrong shock... Are both shocks like that or is maybe one just defective?
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OK, I reached out to Koni support about the piston been in contact with the foam and below is their response. BTW, excellent customer support, they responded in under 10mins.
Thank you for contacting us here at KONI NA. Yes, the foam bump stop compresses as the shock travels through its stroke. This is normal, and protects the shock from bottoming out and causing any internal damage to the shocks during deep compression strokes.
Thank you for contacting us here at KONI NA. Yes, the foam bump stop compresses as the shock travels through its stroke. This is normal, and protects the shock from bottoming out and causing any internal damage to the shocks during deep compression strokes.