Busted Tokicos?

[Ishodu]

Just a FYI for anyone like me that busted up a set of tokico struts and were not able to find replacement inserts. Here is what I did. Something that was said couldn't be done.

All I needed to do was to drill the hole in the bottom and grind a little off the threads so that they wouldn't mess up the inserts, this may have not been needed but I did it anyway. They were the perfect length too.

 

[Ishodu]

Just a note, These were only the fronts. I do not know if the rears will fit.

 

[tauruswithheart]

sweet....i might be in this boat....but unfortunatley i have 1 good front and one good rear.....i posted under suspension

 

[Ishodu]

doh so should I have. I will move it to the correct section. even mods make mistakes.

 

[tauruswithheart]

haha...yup

 

[SHObill]

Marcel, You did not mention but I take it you put a set of 'Koni' inserts in the Tokico's? I have a set of frt Tokico housings & a set of Koni inserts & could not get them to drop all the way down unless I try to grind off the bumps at the top of the Konis &/or file down the threads on the Tokico & file down that ridge in side below the threaded ring. Did yours drop all the way down to the washer/ring on the top of the konis?

 

[Ishodu]

Marcel, You did not mention but I take it you put a set of 'Koni' inserts in the Tokico's? I have a set of frt Tokico housings & a set of Koni inserts & could not get them to drop all the way down unless I try to grind off the bumps at the top of the Konis &/or file down the threads on the Tokico & file down that ridge in side below the threaded ring. Did yours drop all the way down to the washer/ring on the top of the konis?

Ah yes, they are Konis. The spacer was not used. I didn't have to file anything other than the threads a little. The sleeve inside the housing was a very good interference fit with the 3 little nubs that are on the insert but thats what you want. I needed to use the bolt to pull the insert down inside the housing because it is quite tight. I think I measured that it would be a .005-.010" interference fit with the nubs on the insert.
Just thought I would mention that the threaded section was welded on from factory and the first one I did seemed to have a bit of a hang up on the threads but the second one I did didn't. I think it may have been just welded a little offset of the tube.

 

[SHO Dude]

Tokiko will warranty their inserts for life if you've got the original paperwork. I had a customer here that got an entire set of Tokiko inserts for his car. He had all of his original paperwork and Tokiko sent him a new set. We installed them and it was a piece of cake. The old inserts unscrew and the new ones go right in. Interestingly enough, Tokiko wants you to add 1/2 a qt of engine oil to the housing when you install the new insert. It's for heat transfer and dissipation. The oil conducts heat away from the insert and dissipates it thru the outside of the housing.

 

[SHObill]

Tokiko wants you to add 1/2 a qt of engine oil to the housing when you install the new insert. It's for heat transfer and dissipation. The oil conducts heat away from the insert and dissipates it thru the outside of the housing.

Thanx Doug! That I have not heard before, makes sence!

 

[SHOspazz92]

Interesting.

-Sam

 

[tauruswithheart]

i just spent an hour talking to tokicos warranty claims/customer service......i was checkng to see if mine fellunder warranty which they didnt anyways but......i got some info on why they stopped and why they can never honor the warranty.......first they no longer have the tooling to manufacture them anymore....second the inserts were sable and taurus specific so there is no other interchangeable insert....and the tooling for those are gone too.....he said sales began to fall around 2004 into 2005....he said there was a surplus that were collecting dust.....so they did one more run then ceased everything to get rid of the surplus.....then when everything was gone they didnt feel the need to remanufacture and they scratched the whole line.....he said if a hb5003 or hb 5002 were to fall under warranty there is nothing they can do now(because there are no more inserts left). we then began talking about shos and he said he had talked to some one a few months ago who autocrosses with the hp struts and thought it was funny because taurus's are so heavy...he couldnt believe the following Sho's have and i explained that they are great handling cars with the right products like theres.....anyways he said hes been getting calls and calls from people all voer the us and i was the first person from CT...YAY.....and he said he sees that there is still an interest in these but he doesnt think it will ever be enough for another run but hewould talk to his superiors and what not.....

 

[Ishodu]

They don't make the inserts any more and there is no stock left. This is why konis were installed. I am still waiting on my refund from tokico because they can't honor the warranty.