I installed a set of JIC coilovers this weekend and wanted to post my thoughts. First the coilovers are easy to install , the build quality is excellent but tuning this style of suspension is not easy and a pain in the ass to tell you the truth. If you want to get the car corner balanced it will take a long time( and alot of money) to do for this reason.

You cannot adjust the ride height without taking the suspension apart!!!

To adjust the front ride height you must have the front end of of the ground with the top two nuts, (that hold the shocktowers), off. You must them lower the coilovers down about 2" so that you can twist the threaded body up or down to make any height adjustment. Then re-install

The rear is equally as difficult to adjust. You must take the bottom bolt out of the suspension and hope you have enough room to spin the bottom of the shock without having to take the entire coilover out to make an adjustment. them re-install As you can see this process of taking apart and putting back together an suspension to make small adjustments can get old real quick.

Once this process is done and set I liked the overall ride quality and how planted the rear end felt. Even under bumpy corners the car felt more setted and predictable. I have stock wheels and tires on the car currently. I only have the car lowered about 3/4". I also have the shocks set in the third position on the soft side

If you can get over the hassle of a proper corner weighted install. You should look into a set.

 

I thought you adjust the ride height by adjusting the spring perch? Is that not true? I am installing a set of those in the near future. Did you get your car corner-balanced?

 

Not true, it is just not obvious.

The height is easy to adjust. What you do is loosen the lower locking ring, spray the unit with a light lubricant (wd40), and use the locked upper set of rings to turn the body.

I, with bum advice from the distributor and the unusable Jap instructions thought the same as you but figured it out on the third adjustment. I sent Randy at Import Development a set of install instructions based upon my experience.

 

Interesting... I will look into that option tonight. I called Ziel and they told me to undo the shock towers up front and undo the lower rear bolts. How long did it take for the suspension to fully settle?

 

I know that is what they tell you but they are wrong. It adjusts ok without disconnecting the mounts.

It settles pretty quickly (<25 miles on the crappy roads around here) but it probably will need a final tweak. Mine did but it was no problem once I figured out how to do it. I will also caution you to verify you have NO preload on the springs.. it raises the spring rate and harshness.

 

Looking at the suspension pieces in person, I'm wondering if there might be a possible issue with rotating the body because you're rotating the shaft of the piston inside the interior of the shock. With the other method, at least you're not affecting the internals of the unit.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Elistan
[B]Looking at the suspension pieces in person, I'm wondering if there might be a possible issue with rotating the body because you're rotating the shaft of the piston inside the interior of the shock.

 

Couldn't you just loosen the center nut at the top of the shaft, so that the piston turns with the shock body?