K Sport GT Pro inverted coilovers

[HYP04]

As in the title my i have discovered 1 of my new inverted coilovers is leaking from what appears to be vents on the bottom of the strut unit. The fluid (clear) appears quite thick and tacky, similar to vaselene left in the sun.
The car has travle around 12kms at Pittsworth Sprint and a Trailer ride back to Tannum Sands.

I have reported this to my place of purchase who's corespondence with Ksport quote( below). But find it hard to believe that approx 1.5-2 egg cups of fluid have leaked either in my trailer or onto the shed floor since i raced at Pittsworth. Plus the type of fluid that is leaking to be "packing oil".
I have since taken the strut in question out and wound the mounts out 50mm to check out just the struts ability to stroke. With either adjusting soft or hard, it is relativey quite easy to compress, but very slight difference in rebound time.

What are your thought and experience with inverted coilovers and suspension oil?


"From Ksport;

that honestly looks to the be either the packing oil or the internal oil to lubricate the two pieces of the gt pro shock when they interact with each other. Since we have never had a gt pro shock leak ever, i find it pretty near impossible this persons shock may be leaking after just 14km. I would tell them to give it time for the packing oils to exit the shocks.

Thanks,
Nick J.
Ksport Suspension Company"

 

[BMGTZ]

As in the title my i have discovered 1 of my new inverted coilovers is leaking from what appears to be vents on the bottom of the strut unit. The fluid (clear) appears quite thick and tacky, similar to vaselene left in the sun.
The car has travle around 12kms at Pittsworth Sprint and a Trailer ride back to Tannum Sands.

I have reported this to my place of purchase who's corespondence with Ksport quote( below). But find it hard to believe that approx 1.5-2 egg cups of fluid have leaked either in my trailer or onto the shed floor since i raced at Pittsworth. Plus the type of fluid that is leaking to be "packing oil".
I have since taken the strut in question out and wound the mounts out 50mm to check out just the struts ability to stroke. With either adjusting soft or hard, it is relativey quite easy to compress, but very slight difference in rebound time.

What are your thought and experience with inverted coilovers and suspension oil?


"From Ksport;

that honestly looks to the be either the packing oil or the internal oil to lubricate the two pieces of the gt pro shock when they interact with each other. Since we have never had a gt pro shock leak ever, i find it pretty near impossible this persons shock may be leaking after just 14km. I would tell them to give it time for the packing oils to exit the shocks.

Thanks,
Nick J.
Ksport Suspension Company"

I worked in the suspension industry for quite a while and it is pretty normal to have some "weeps" from new shocks. but 2 egg cups would be a lot .......take it back

 

[banned]

My dad has inverted Bilstein's in his Sti. Hasn't had any problem with weeping, but has had ALOT of trouble with them knocking. Had about 4 or 5 replaced when it was under warranty, now he just pulls them out and repacks them everyone now and then.

Pain in the arse!

 

[HYP04]

I worked in the suspension industry for quite a while and it is pretty normal to have some "weeps" from new shocks. but 2 egg cups would be a lot .......take it back

Would a thick clear tacky oil, be concidered as the oil in a shock? as i thought the oil used for packing/assembly would be thin wd40/silicon like?

 

[BMGTZ]

Would a thick clear tacky oil, be concidered as the oil in a shock? as i thought the oil used for packing/assembly would be thin wd40/silicon like?

most seal lube[packing oil] is almost like a thin grease......some times it red in colour

shock oils vary from fish oil thin to engine oil thick.

 

[HYP04]

most seal lube[packing oil] is almost like a thin grease......some times it red in colour

shock oils vary from fish oil thin to engine oil thick.

Ive dug a couple of pics up, not that it show much, just found in the lower control arm a fair bit of the same fliuid.
The texture of this is like vaselene left in the sun. ANd very tacky.

 

[BMGTZ]

I cant see much in the pictures ...

when you took the spring off was there a free travel that suddenly got stiffer? that would indicate air inside and if you have lost as much oils as 2 egg cups that would be a lot in terms of the total volume of oil. so there would be free travel.....make sense?

 

[HYP04]

I cant see much in the pictures ...

when you took the spring off was there a free travel that suddenly got stiffer? that would indicate air inside and if you have lost as much oils as 2 egg cups that would be a lot in terms of the total volume of oil. so there would be free travel.....make sense?

Doesnt appear to be much free travel, just a little lite for aprrox 5-10mm then a little firmer, but not what id concider free travel, but when force is applied in either direction, even to the hardest settings, there doesnt appear to be much opposition.
My old Monroes on my 1200 coupe felt similar.
What leaked out took approx 2weeks, and thats what i had seen, not sure how much it had leaked during the race at pittsworth. when the strut would have been working hardest.

 

[BMGTZ]

[/quote]
this one doesn't look like packing oil

 

[HYP04]

this one doesn't look like packing oil

Still has the rocks in it from the Pittsworth Sprints. Since it was the last place the car really seen any road.
(very slippery/grainy/newly sealed in sections/wet track). But in saying that better layout.

 

[evopwr]

All I can say is you get what you pay for.

This wouldn't happend if they were Tiens/Ohlins/DMS/other reputable brand. And if it did they would be replaced straight away to minimise the company's shame exposure.

 

[BMGTZ]

All I can say is you get what you pay for.

This wouldn't happend if they were Tiens/Ohlins/DMS/other reputable brand. And if it did they would be replaced straight away to minimise the company's shame exposure.

I have to say that when I was in the game things were quite the opposite


In my experience...ive seen many brands of shock fail........ from the highest to the lowest price. anyone can have a component go bad. AND in my experience often the higher price shock vendors are harder to get warranty from because it is a high end price they have to give away. When the shocks are cheap they tend to not bother with warranty claim procedure and simply give a new one to avoid the paperwork hassles.

 

[HYP04]

All I can say is you get what you pay for.

This wouldn't happend if they were Tiens/Ohlins/DMS/other reputable brand. And if it did they would be replaced straight away to minimise the company's shame exposure.

I begg to differ. I spent close to 2 months researching and using google for many nights shifts. I found many faults mentioned on many brands and not just the so called cheap brands.
And support levels for different brands and suppliers also differ.
I descision and budget came down to 2 coilovers, the GT pro's for their inverted design and the BC external type.
All i can say if you can afford the so called reputable brands than do so, but if you cant and not into winning Super lap nor a state championship. Why buy, when you can buy a budget allternative.

 

[evo-gsr]

I think the point Alex is trying to make in regards to " getting what you pay for" is with all of these budget alternatives, sure, the quality of workmanship may be right up there but more than likely the components being used are cheaper/lesser quality than the big name brands...The end result? Things like we are seeing here...
From my understanding of these cheaper alternatives this is how they can afford to make a " similar" product and sell it for a considerably cheaper price...?

 

[milkandoj]

I think the point Alex is trying to make in regards to " getting what you pay for" is with all of these budget alternatives, sure, the quality of workmanship may be right up there but more than likely the components being used are cheaper/lesser quality than the big name brands...The end result? Things like we are seeing here...
From my understanding of these cheaper alternatives this is how they can afford to make a " similar" product and sell it for a considerably cheaper price...?

Cheap labour

 

[evo-gsr]

Cheap labour

That's part of the package, which comes with cheaper components, one would think....
The phrase " sweat shop" comes to mind!

 

[bazeng]

I had a similar problem to one of my Hotbits Coilovers where the lower adjustment knob was leaking very slightly.

It has been over 1 year with only limited kms on the vehicle so I called them and they fixed it hassle free.
That was the first leaking unit out of 5 sets I've purchased.

 

[evopwr]

I've never had a problem with buying parts that are not made in China. I think I'll stick to parts made in Europe/Japland/US/AUS .

Of course purchasing some products from China is unavoidable - but when I can I do so.

It took me a while to realize that "the cheaper option usually costs more in the end"

 

[rob323]

Don't panic just yet. They are inverted struts. It will most likely be the grease between the two seals between the lower casing and the upper tube that is coming out of the holes in the bottom. Maybe the grease is getting too hot and melting though which is concerning.

Remove the strut from the car. Measure the distance from the lower spring platform to a fixed point on the top of the strut (so you can reassemble it back to the same height).
Lower the lower spring platform to release any preload from the spring.
Then undo that big nut on the bottom of the strut and pull the damper portion out from the bottom casing and inspect the two dust seals and regrease if necessary.

Murray Coote from MCA has a good "how to" for this on his web site under "Tech Info".
http://www.mcasuspension.com/

This procedure is common maintenance on inverted struts especially after wet events.

 

[cbgsr]

I've never had a problem with buying parts that are not made in China. I think I'll stick to parts made in Europe/Japland/US/AUS .

Of course purchasing some products from China is unavoidable - but when I can I do so.

It took me a while to realize that "the cheaper option usually costs more in the end"

I agree whith you on this to a piont, I sell spare/performance parts and i also fit them . I also do know alot of the well known brands have components made for them out of china. I have had to deal with both big brand name companies and also cheaper and out of the two il take the lower i have had alot less complaints about k-sport than i have had for say t***s. I have had 2 complaints for k-sport in the past couple of years both of which where dealt with within a matter of minutes and parts arrived within days(one of them was me!). Im not saying all cheap brands are good i will never sell hsd,mdu or d2 again but to refer to k-sport as a cheap chinese brand is probaly jumping the gun alittle.

Beleive me faults will happen with all brands its just a matter of weather it will happen to you.