Anyone using the JIC coilovers with stock 8/6kg springs? What is your dampening setup around your car set to for daily driving?

A friend of mine is putting them on soon, Ill check with him when its done.

-Pete

I have a friend that has his JICs with the 7/5kg springs and he said that the ride is a bit harsh. But then again when I first rode in his car, it was pretty harsh.

i'm putting JIC FLT-A2's (replacing H&R coilovers) in my civic in a week or two e-mail me in a few weeks if you want and i'll let you know how they are. the spring rates are 9kg/mm front and 6kg/mm rear. also talk to Adam from Z1 automotive, that's where i ordered mine from. he's put them in a few subarus and he said they're the best coilovers out right now for the money.

-Sean

Originally posted by IMPREZIV A friend of mine is putting them on soon, Ill check with him when its done.

-Pete

Originally posted by irunfromcops
i'm putting JIC FLT-A2's (replacing H&R coilovers) in my civic in a week or two e-mail me in a few weeks if you want and i'll let you know how they are. the spring rates are 9kg/mm front and 6kg/mm rear. also talk to Adam from Z1 automotive, that's where i ordered mine from. he's put them in a few subarus and he said they're the best coilovers out right now for the money.

-Sean

Nevermind, he checked in on his own :p

Originally posted by IMPREZIV
Nevermind, he checked in on his own :p

Yea, I know.

Originally posted by Lobster Man
Yea, I know.

Hey Lobster...PW

you guys are horrible

try and pm shinrs hes running that setup

i have JIC FLTA2 on my WRX. I love them. great value. dont want to post prices publicly

Myself, Mildse7en, and another guy had major problems with those crap pieces blowing out on us. Lousy build quality... Followed by lousy customer support... I've heard that they have "turned a new leaf" as to customer support, but am still wary about that... I warned a guy locally about them the week that he got them installed, then he laughed and said his weren't giving him problems, well, one week later they blew out...

Caveat emptor

are they worth the money

Shin RS - This is the first I've heard of JICs having problems. Please explain further! Thanks.

I ran 8F/6R FLTA2's in NYC for a month or so. In short, they're stiff as hell, simply awesome on a smooth track, incredibly punishing if the roads aren't perfect, and have very minimal low speed dampening (boingboingboingboing). They tend to make odd popping sounds for the first week or two, but they became completely silent afterwards (none of the Tein pillowball clunk).

I ran them at the halfway dampening point. Sold them because I stopped racing the Rex and didn't need the punishment.

I'm now back on my Whiteline springs and the car feels like a Cadillac in comparison. :D

Only get them if you're a serious road racer/autoxer. If you want something for the street and to floss, go for something more liveable, like the Tein Flex or Wagon.

Maybe I can shead some light on this....they did recently change the dampning so it would not be as stiff, as far as the build quality if you think that they are poor quality you probally think that Cusco sucks also then. The same co makes them with the specs being for the US (JIC). We have never had a prob with them and we install quite a bit. The only thing that has happened is a customer tried installing them himself and one of his less than mechanically experieced friends thought that sticking a screwdriver up the rear tube would adjust it....all he did was release the gas...I had it rebuilt with in a day with JIC parts.

Originally posted by SXPi
Maybe I can shead some light on this....they did recently change the dampning so it would not be as stiff

I remember reading a thread about the JIC where the complaints were that they were very bouncy at lower speeds. There were some suggestions as to how this can be remedied (no extra turn to preload the spring, dialing in full hard and then full soft, etc, etc). JIC also mentioned the introduction of helper or progressive rate springs.

So, in the end JIC just changed the strut valving to be less stiff for the less-than-perfect US roads? What about spring rates? How "soft" would full soft be now?

We have had nothing but stellar results with the JIC's to date..very nice build quality, and quiet pillow balls (something that cannot be said for all coilovers, regardless of maker). Each one we have done was using the default spring rates they provide.

To the guy who used them in NYC, no coilover will be good under those conditions. But, around our shop, which are typical LI roads (some new and smooth, some rough), they performed enviably. So much so that I am getting a set for the Galant instead of the Tein HA's I had originally planned on.

Loads of features..comparable to the Tein RA, but around $450.00 cheaper.

As for customer support, I guess it all depends who you buy them from...as a dealer, there were some supply issues at the beginning, but things have been fine lately.

Rally Ho - who did you buy yours from?

I got em from roadraceengineering.com. I emailed you about them when I was shopping around. They were the JDM versions.

<--aka RidinLow :)

Hmmm, I was interested in the Leda suspension, but now I'm liking these a little more.

maybe its just hawaii get crappy batches because like shin said i know all 3 guys that have had problems at first when shin rs's jic blew he called them and jic tried to tell him he installed them wrong!!!!!!!! there was also another guy here that the whole bottom of the strut blew out!!! if that doesnt say crappy build quality i dont know what does
i was actually going to get a set when shin first got his the ride was great i like it stiff =) but after the horror i changed ny mind

I've never heard anything bad about JIC's before and that includes the drifters around Japan who abuse the hell out of their cars. I've got a set waiting to go on my RS when I get back. I need to get with Adam about the pillow ball mounts though.

Good luck with your JIC's. If not for those, I'd really recomend using tein's. They have a strong US backing, and from all the people who I have helped with thiers and all the people who I know who have them in thier cars, they've had no problems at all with them.

Now maybe we in hawaii have some kind of "special" problem with our JIC's, but I find it funny that the guy who sold me mine and distributes JIC's had his blow out on his own personal car... Now from what I heard, JIC has turned over a new leaf, and is not charging him for shipping or the replacement of the blown out struts, but that's the crap that they tried with me (after admitting that they had defects) And in my book, that's just wrong...

I say just don't buy them. Until recently in the past year, I never heard of them. But we all know how long Cusco or Tein has been around in the u.s. market. After seeing first hand the defects, I won't buy them personally.

-scu

JIC has been around a while. Just because it hasn't been sold in the US doesn't mean its not a good company. I'm sure there are alot of companies over here in Japan that people in the US have never heard of. Hell I remember when people in the Subaru crowd first started talking about TEIN. Also everyone I know who has owned a TEIN suspension has had to have them rebuilt or replaced.

JIC FLT-A2's here on my 98 RS. Replaced the DMS 50's that were on the car.

The car rides about the same as it did with the 50's, but I REALLY like the fact that the FLT-A2's allow you to set the spring pre-load with the perch adjustment, then allow you to set ride height with the bottom sleeve.

I do get a little bit of porpoising on some stretches of freeway here in San Diego that are the grooved concrete, but that's due to the way they were poured. They have very short "waves", so the suspension loads and unloads slightly when it traverses the peaks and troughs of these "waves", inducing the porpoising motion.

On normal stretches of asphalt or flat concrete, the ride is smooth.

Edit:
I must forcefully agree with Z1 and N/A about the build quality of the JIC suspension parts. I'd compare these in every aspect with the best of the best from Cusco, FLATT, Tein, SYMS or HKS. They are, ounce for ounce, every bit as well engineered and built as any of the others, and their pricing makes them a bargain in comparison.

We've only had to replace one person's coilover, but that is because it was damaged when someone attempted to adjust it by piercing a seal and releasing the nitrogen charge in the strut, mistaking it for an adjustment point.

We are running a group buy on these if anyone is interested. I'm not sure If I am allowed to cross post, but it seemed relevant and I see that a couple of people are considering.

I have personally heard nothing but favorable reviews of the JIC hardware. They are a bit stiffer than some, but overall the quality and durability are up there with just about anything below $2500.

Please check out this thread if you think you might be interested: http://www.i-club.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1637

Ok, I'm gonna go out on a limb and make a couple of assumptions and hypothysize about the failure of the "Hawain" JIC's.

Could the failures be caused by air freighting the coilovers?

Extreme cold will cause the aluminum to contract, the degree of contraction is relative to the mass of the object.

Ambient pressure drop results in an increase in "apparent internal pressure". The increase would be realive to the pressure drop, if the cargo hold were not pressurized it would be rather substantial.

Could the combination of these two forces be enough to un-seat an "O"-ring?

I dunno..
later,
Andy

They were shipped by freight. On a big slow boat...

My JIC's are in 8/6 setup. My original ideas about these were correct. Though extremley stiff at first..after 600 miles of driving they have broken in. Very good handling and feel in a autocross / drag strip situation. Just a little too stiff for these New England areas with crappy roads.
I am looking forward to my 7/5 kg springs for a slightly "softer" ride. otherwise i feel this was a good choice.

What is the consensus of the dampening settings for front and back? Full stiff? 10 clicks front and back?

please post your feedback

hey,
i love my JIC's! i currently have the 7/5 setup, and they aren't that bad at all. the key is that they retain all of their travell no matter what height you set them at. that means that they will absorb a large bump the same way as they absorb a small one. i know this sounds simple, but that is one of the reasons why "lowering springs" are harsh. they absorb small bumps like stock, but they limit the shock's "up-travel", so anything larger than a 2"bump will go straight through the car. personally i think that is worse because you can get used to how the car rides with the JIC's, but just springs will surprise you.
also, we've done a lot of installs of these coilovers, and we haven't had any problems with their build quality.
just my $.02,
-james

To all you Hawaii guys...who was your dealer?

The purpose of establishing a dealer relationship with JIC is so the dealer can address and alleviate your problems, and handle waranty claims. Any shop that lets its customers deal with the manufacturer on a warranty claim is sending them into the wolves....that is why there are authorized dealers to begin with.

Does your retailer deal with JIC USA, or JIC in Japan?

Adam
Z-1 Performance
www.z1auto.com

Apparently JIC of Japan is having a hard time shipping my 7/5 springs over.
I heard that i could use the 7/5kg rate springs from Cusco on these shocks...could any one confirm if this would work?

i'm not sure about this, but, you could probably use the eibach springs from Ground Control. through them, you could order whatever spring rate and length you want.

-james

Originally posted by fastnoypi
Apparently JIC of Japan is having a hard time shipping my 7/5 springs over.
I heard that i could use the 7/5kg rate springs from Cusco on these shocks...could any one confirm if this would work?

When changing the springs you need to understand that the coil-overs were valved for a specific spring rate. It may make the ride better, but the handling will not be as good as, say, a strut that is valved for a 7/5.

All commercially avaliable coil-overs, reguardless of brand, are valved for a compromise between performance, and streetablility. Yes it's entirely possible to run stiffer springs with the coilovers you have now, but the valving will only be able to compensate up to a certain spring rate, after which the coilover damping adjustment will be usless, so don't go mental with the rates and if all possible, see if you can find out from the manufacture how much spring the coilover can take.

You can also screw up your ride real easy by changing to wrong spring rates, so be careful. ;)

-scu