I'm runing Tien S-Tec Springs and added rear Koni's form the reccomendation of another thread. I'm set on max soft. Not looking to autocross, just for comfort

Big difference in ride comfort compared to having Tiens with stock shocks.

Anyone put Koni's on the front? Was it worth it? They're awfully expensive.

The front yellow koni struts are awesome.
I would buy them again.
The question is if you are looking for better handling?
I believe that on the soft setting they are softer than stock.
If you ask me there is less lean on hard turns with the full set of koni's

for us cheapskates, does anyone know if
Koni full soft = Monroe Sensatracs
...or are the sensatracs even softer? From what you-all are saying, I wouldn't want softer.

Thanks

I want to know, too, because I want to order new shocks this week. But to compare full-soft Konis with SensaTracs, someone would have to drive both shocks. I wonder if anyone has done that?

I recently installed SensaTracs on my 150K-mile Mazda truck, and they are firm, not soft. But maybe that's Monroe's recipe for such SUV/truck shocks.

are the monroes okay on goldlines? and for the goldline owners with koni,how may miles do you have on your springs?i have about 25,000 and need help on deciding on which shocks and struts to get. i need my ride to be softer since i have a new born in the back.i read that trd struts with goldlines are pretty soft,can anyone confirm?

I have the monroe sensa trac front struts on the way, hopefully it will mellow out the rough front.

For those of you who have installed the Koni's, do you by chance have the part numbers?

Thanks,
Liz

LTB Motorsports
http://www.ltbmotorsports.com/scion.html

SCION XA XB 04-05 Front Yellow Sport 8710-1403 SPORT
Regular price: $236.00 Sale price: $162.84 ea.

SCION XA XB 04-05 Rear Yellow Sport 80-2827 SPORT
Regular price: $140.00 Sale price: $96.60 ea.

Koni shocks, IMO, are the best out there (not considering coil-overs). I have them on S-techs and on the track they are the greatest thing ever, but just remember to dial them down when you leave the track. If not you will feel every bump and hole on the road as if you didnt have a shock absorber, more like a steel rod conecting your suspension arm to your chassis, they get way to rough for everday driving. I would definately by them again and again if i had to. You mix these shocks and springs with a good set of tires and a few suspension components you will be lifting that rear tire on those hard turns.

Is everybody sure about that? I thought that the compression damping is what was adjustable on Konis. When you feel a shock's softness, you are feeling its easy compression. When you adjust Konis to hard, you are preventing them from compressing.

I pushed and pulled on my KYBs and SensaTracs. The SensaTracs were much easier to push in (compression), but about the same to pull out (rebound).

The Koni's for the XB are adjustable in rebound only. If you have only one adjustment, this is the one you want.

http://www.koni.com/_cars/frame.html

Like you noticed, the stock KYB's are stiff in compression dampening and will make a better shock if you are trying to combat bottoming.

I just put the rear koni's on my 06 xb this evening. Even with no other suspension mods (stock springs, etc) they made an amazing difference in the ride. The "choppiness" in the rear is gone. Koni's set on the softest setting. I checked the stock shocks (with 1k on them) and they were so stiff its no wonder it felt like there was no suspension in the rear.

I did half a turn on mine and the car handles better, but it still rides nice. With the softest setting it didn't corner nearly as well.

Then I think what Koni is calling rebound is compression. Rebound is the wheel rebounding off the bump. Compression is what the shock does to control rebound.

The compression stroke is what makes the shock feel soft or hard when you hit a bump and the wheel tries to go upward. If the shock compresses and allows the wheel to come up easily, the bump will feel soft. If the shock won't compress, the bump will feel hard.

Probably we can agree on this. So we are adjusting the compression stroke of the Koni, what you feel when you push in on the shock. Those who have clicked and adjusted their Konis feel the effect of their adjustments by pushing on the shock, not pulling.

Well, this would be a good performance option.

I wish Tokico made shocks for the xB, though.

From this forum, I thought the OEM front struts are Tokico.
And as for the rear shocks, I doubt any could be better for the money than SensaTracs at $75/pair.
in going over speed bumps at low speed with my Tokico(?) struts and SensaTrac shocks, they both feel the same, so that combination seems a well-balanced match.

I'm looking to make my xB handle the best it can (for the money). If I were concerned about the ride quality, I'd look at SensaTracs, however, I'm looking for something that'll provide the best handling, even if it compromises the ride quality.

EDIT: I thought the OEM shocks were KYBs?

The rear shocks are KYB. The "best handling for the money" is the OEM stiff KYB shocks and the OEM Tokico struts. For free, they handle pretty good.

The "best handling that money can buy" is a set of Konis for $550. They can be adjusted from softer than SensaTracs, to rock hardness for best handling.