Koni STR.T is Fine - Normal Variation

This happens all the time. Especially if it's your first time ordering and installing shocks, you may be surprised that the extension of the piston upon arrival can vary somewhat. We received this question:

"Hi. I received my shocks. One of the rears is too short. I don't know if it's blown or if it's wrong."

Fortunately, the customer included a picture so we knew everything was fine. Just to go the extra mile, we asked the head technician at Koni to give us the technical explanation for this phenomenon. Here is the answer from the Koni shock head tech guy:

"This is more than likely a case of the internal friction that is commonly seen with the STR.T shocks.* People LOVE to see shocks extend on their own after being compressed by hand. Only it has nothing to do with the actual function of the damper. Any minor differences in the seal friction, piston guide, etc. on these brand new shocks at these extremely low piston speeds can change the rate of self-extension, and in some cases the rod may not self extend at all once compressed."

Thank you, Koni head tech guy.

* That's the Koni orange entry level performance shock, STR.T, pronounced "street".