dumb Keola, that's really bad if your tires are hitting the wheelwells. I would highly recommend you do something to change it, and not just an alignment. It sounds like you have lowered the car too much. As far as I know, people have been able to run a one-finger gap because of the stiffer springs and the reduced suspension travel. I am running a two-finger gap front and rear, and so tires hitting the wheelwell aren't an issue. Once you have the height set to a safe level then get the alignment (not the other way around).
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JIC FLTA2 - who has clunking?
- Thread starter ounkny
- Start date
duMb KeoLa
Member
the car is pretty low and i got it repaired..they said the camber was bad but now its good...i love these things...corners are awesome and ride is not that bad....
I am taking my car to a second garage in the next week or two for warranty service regarding the 1. rear clunking problem and 2. stuck front right damper adjuster.
I've been doing a lot of highway driving lately, which is the kind of driving I believe these units are best suited for. Of course, the handling is pretty out of this world. But I was having trouble with both bounciness (underdamping) and bumpiness (overdamping). Let me explain.
I used settings of 6F 6R for the highway, and I got to ride in both the front seats and rear seats of my car. What I noticed is that both are pretty bouncy over highway expansion joints and surface imperfections. But the bounciness was much more pronounced when sitting in the rear. So I changed the settings to 6F 7R, which tamed the rear's bounciness. However, with a setting of 7R, hitting those same expansion joints is pretty unsettling and the ride quality is rather poor. In other words, it is hard to find this sweet spot between bounciness and bumpiness.
What I have come to learn is that for city driving, it helps to have softer damper settings (I like 4F 5R), and for highway driving it is better to have stiffer damper settings (I like 6F 7R). Without these stiffer settings, the car will be too bouncy on the highway. Anyone else have advice on damper settings?
I've been doing a lot of highway driving lately, which is the kind of driving I believe these units are best suited for. Of course, the handling is pretty out of this world. But I was having trouble with both bounciness (underdamping) and bumpiness (overdamping). Let me explain.
I used settings of 6F 6R for the highway, and I got to ride in both the front seats and rear seats of my car. What I noticed is that both are pretty bouncy over highway expansion joints and surface imperfections. But the bounciness was much more pronounced when sitting in the rear. So I changed the settings to 6F 7R, which tamed the rear's bounciness. However, with a setting of 7R, hitting those same expansion joints is pretty unsettling and the ride quality is rather poor. In other words, it is hard to find this sweet spot between bounciness and bumpiness.
What I have come to learn is that for city driving, it helps to have softer damper settings (I like 4F 5R), and for highway driving it is better to have stiffer damper settings (I like 6F 7R). Without these stiffer settings, the car will be too bouncy on the highway. Anyone else have advice on damper settings?
duMb KeoLa
Member
you know what...ive had mine on for about a month now and now the clunking is REALLY BAD!!! i dont know what it is...but it sounds like theres something loose back there or something, like it rattles around when you hit bumps, sounds really bad and irritating, i hate it...
any suggestions?
any suggestions?
Familia323
_______________
so what was the word on this?
Familia323
_______________
I see.. good luck.... Now heres a question for you. If you could do this whole thing over again would you get the A1s instead? Ive been reading up on these coilovers and it sounds like the A1s are a little less adjstable, but way more streetable? Any thoughts?
Familia, my quick answer is yes. It is clear that the A1 is more street-oriented and the A2 is track-oriented. The A1 has softer spring rates and even though it's less adjustable it should be fine for everyday use.
However, this problem I've experienced has nothing to do with product selection. The problem concerns product quality. I just wonder how many other people have the same problem (clunk) since so many others have chimed in saying they also hear clunks.
It's really unfortunate because the FLTA2 is supposed to be the best suspension that exists for our cars. It would be a shame for us to not buy them because of poor quality control. If mine is not the only case of this happening, then I would really recommend against buying these dampers. If, however, mine was an isolated incident, then of course that does not say much about JIC quality overall.
However, this problem I've experienced has nothing to do with product selection. The problem concerns product quality. I just wonder how many other people have the same problem (clunk) since so many others have chimed in saying they also hear clunks.
It's really unfortunate because the FLTA2 is supposed to be the best suspension that exists for our cars. It would be a shame for us to not buy them because of poor quality control. If mine is not the only case of this happening, then I would really recommend against buying these dampers. If, however, mine was an isolated incident, then of course that does not say much about JIC quality overall.
I should add that this myth that all pillowballs clunk was not confirmed by JIC (in other words, it's completely false). They said they have had problems with certain models clunking, but it is not normal and they have worked to solve those problems.
So maybe some pillowballs do clunk (i have heard stories of cheaper ones having these problems), but according to JIC they're not. The dealer that removed my rear coilovers for warranty service also said that they shouldn't clunk, and they have installed many many sets of JIC coilovers.
So maybe some pillowballs do clunk (i have heard stories of cheaper ones having these problems), but according to JIC they're not. The dealer that removed my rear coilovers for warranty service also said that they shouldn't clunk, and they have installed many many sets of JIC coilovers.
AFaceInTheCrowd
Member
- :
- 2010 Subaru Legacy GT
"loosen top nut first. the use an impact wrench at partial power to tighten the nut. you can't use a wrench cuz then the whole shaft will spin. so you gotta use an impact wrench. " - friend with suby w/flt-a2
Interesting advice, similar to what Rishie (ARD MP5) said. Seems to work for some people, and not for others.
The garage that diagnosed the problem did something really cool... had one technician drive the car while another was watching the top of the rear coilover. They didn't observe anything out of the ordinary, i.e. there was no problem was the torque setting on the upper nut.
That is why they sent the units back to JIC. Of course, checking the nut on the top is the first thing we should do. And yes, turning it by hand doesn't work, as I've found out the hard way.
The garage that diagnosed the problem did something really cool... had one technician drive the car while another was watching the top of the rear coilover. They didn't observe anything out of the ordinary, i.e. there was no problem was the torque setting on the upper nut.
That is why they sent the units back to JIC. Of course, checking the nut on the top is the first thing we should do. And yes, turning it by hand doesn't work, as I've found out the hard way.
problem found
According to the rep at JIC, this is what was wrong with my rear dampers:
"Both of the gas pressure was not right, we recharged them."
He also mentioned that there was some rust on the shaft of the dampers. One of them was bad enough that he replaced the damper. This concerns me a little, because I've only had those dampers on since mid-November of 2003. That seems like an awful short time for those things to rust up. Others have reported no problems over a period of 2-3 years with regular cleaning. It seems as though these coilovers will require more maintenance than ordinary dampers.
There seem to be two sides to this rust issue. One is the quality of the coating of the units. Rishie has posted before that their rustproof coating is as good as that used by Tein. I don't know what to believe now. Two is the environment in which these dampers are used. I live in Chicago and there is a lot of salt, rain and snow. Maybe that is what is causing the difference between the Cali users and the Mid-west/Northeast users' perceptions of rust.
According to the rep at JIC, this is what was wrong with my rear dampers:
"Both of the gas pressure was not right, we recharged them."
He also mentioned that there was some rust on the shaft of the dampers. One of them was bad enough that he replaced the damper. This concerns me a little, because I've only had those dampers on since mid-November of 2003. That seems like an awful short time for those things to rust up. Others have reported no problems over a period of 2-3 years with regular cleaning. It seems as though these coilovers will require more maintenance than ordinary dampers.
There seem to be two sides to this rust issue. One is the quality of the coating of the units. Rishie has posted before that their rustproof coating is as good as that used by Tein. I don't know what to believe now. Two is the environment in which these dampers are used. I live in Chicago and there is a lot of salt, rain and snow. Maybe that is what is causing the difference between the Cali users and the Mid-west/Northeast users' perceptions of rust.
The coilovers have been shipped back and they should be back in my car by the end of the week, probably on Friday. I am excited to get them back and I'm eager to see how they perform when they are in normal, working order.
My contact at JIC is a guy named Ben. He has been excellent at helping me make the best of a bad situation. They do answer the phone there and they will talk you through your problems. I still don't understand why coilovers that cost close to $2000 do not contain installation, maintenance, or warranty instructions.
The downtime for my car (meaning the car wasn't 100%), was about 1 month while troubleshooting and 1 month while the coilovers were in transit and fixed. But that is what you have to do with these kinds of parts. Please note that JIC is not like Monroe Shocks where you can just go to the local dealer and they'll swap them out. If you think you have a problem, unfortunately you'll have to be patient.
I will post an update after the rear coilovers are back in my car. Hope this helps, TDK.
My contact at JIC is a guy named Ben. He has been excellent at helping me make the best of a bad situation. They do answer the phone there and they will talk you through your problems. I still don't understand why coilovers that cost close to $2000 do not contain installation, maintenance, or warranty instructions.
The downtime for my car (meaning the car wasn't 100%), was about 1 month while troubleshooting and 1 month while the coilovers were in transit and fixed. But that is what you have to do with these kinds of parts. Please note that JIC is not like Monroe Shocks where you can just go to the local dealer and they'll swap them out. If you think you have a problem, unfortunately you'll have to be patient.
I will post an update after the rear coilovers are back in my car. Hope this helps, TDK.
I have a replacement suspension (not coilovers) that should be arriving in a few days. In other words, I've given up on troubleshooting the JICs, and JIC has not found an acceptable solution to this particular problem. The JICs are going to be returned since they don't work properly.
The most recent line from JIC about this problem is that the Protege is too light in the rear, which causes the pillowball mounts to clunk. Is this true? I'm not sure. But what I do know is that it's really stupid to design a suspension car without taking this into account. Many other cars, like Civics, have the same approximate weight distribution and if all coilovers made these horrible clunking/banging sounds no one would buy them. My opinion is that this is either a design or a quality control issue.
Hopefully one day someone will find out why some people have the clunk/banging noise and others do not.
The most recent line from JIC about this problem is that the Protege is too light in the rear, which causes the pillowball mounts to clunk. Is this true? I'm not sure. But what I do know is that it's really stupid to design a suspension car without taking this into account. Many other cars, like Civics, have the same approximate weight distribution and if all coilovers made these horrible clunking/banging sounds no one would buy them. My opinion is that this is either a design or a quality control issue.
Hopefully one day someone will find out why some people have the clunk/banging noise and others do not.
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