JIC coilovers and dented hoods...
 

Well,

I really love the JIC-FLT2 coilovers. The only problem is that the rebound adjustment stalk is just alittle too high in the front.

It never dented my hood, but I would see it rub on my hood liner. Then today during a oil change (yes I usually change my own oil but since moving I don't have a garage :(), the mechanic let the hood "drop" close.

When I got home I noticed a small dent on the hood :( dammit!


To those with the new JIC just be careful and close the hood and then push it close. Maybe the next time I have it off there could be a way to put some padding or rubber just to space the coilover....

Ouch. If it is just a hair more room you need add a couple washers between the top of the strut mount and the shock tower. This will give you a little more space between the hood and the stem.

Yea...sucking. The washers are a great idea....now I just have to convince rx7gslse to scrape his knuckles again and help me remove the fronts!

Rishie,

I've noticed more and more complaints of this nature about the JIC FLT-A2s. Have you guys experienced any problems on any of your installs?

I have a picture taken from inside the engine bay (I have that dubious luxury, at the moment) of the clearance of my JICs to my hood. I'll dig it up when I get home tonight and see if I can't post it.

I noticed that they're very tall also, but planned on putting rubber caps on top of them to protect the hood However, absolutely no one touches my car, nor do I ever drop my hood closed.

BTW, while we're on the subject of the JICs... Rishie, do you know if there are replacement coils available in different spring rates, or if "standard" Eibach coils (for coil-overs) will work as replacements?

Jim,

if you still have your stock hood liner, and you put rubber caps on it; I think it will hit.

Like I said mine never dented the hood before, but I would see it rub the liner.

I think that the yahoo of a mechanic, when he slammed the hood, caused it to go down the extra 2-3mm to cause the dent...it really is small but dammit!

can you grind it with dremel to lower the
adjusment stalk?

reza

ummm....I guess....but it might look alil ghetto

When I orded mine from Rishie he told me that I could purchase different springs with different rates if I wanted to. So I think the answer to your question is yes you can purchase different springs at different rates. Whether you can use Eibach coils........I'm not sure if that would work or not. I would think it would be better to stick with JIC's coils. Just my opinion though.

About the dented hood problem. I also have the JIC Flt-A2's on my car. I noticed that the adjustment knob rubs on my liner. I also let my hood down, gently, until it latches and then push it down with my hand. So far no dents (knock on wood). I don't particularly care for the fact that there is a potential to dent my hood. However, I do really like the way the car handles now.

- Cody

OK, maybe it rubs on the liner (I haven't re-checked the clearance since I put a new liner on the hood, but it's untouched so far) but it sure looks like there's plenty of clearance on my car...

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/attach...postid=1682080

Jim like I said before mine didn't hit...but say you take into account the reduced clearance that you could get by compressing the rubber liner around the engine bay say from dropping the hood closed???!?!!

I think that's where it hits....its just really close

Nice pic BTW!!

Hurry up and finish that beast will ya ;)

Maybe my JICs are a bit different, but the adjustment post is nowhere near to the hood sheet metal. It's closer to a support rib on the underside of the hood, but it'd take a hefty slam to get it anywhere near the sheet metal, I'd think.

Maybe I'll have to take another picture now that the liner is installed and use a tape measure. :)

Thanks. Can't do much without an engine, though... not to mention a few other things left to take care of. :)

Jim, I'll try tomorrow to measure the distance from the top of the rebound adjustment knob to the base of the fender body,

at least that way...that may be the same...then the difference would have to be the fit of the hood and liner

I will look at the FD we're doing at the shop in the morning. Regardless I will relay this again to JIC.

Rishie

You can use ERS or any spring with the same diameter. In fact a friend of mine in Japan suggests that the Eibachs are superior to most spring manufacturers. They will take HKS springs off and use ERS.

Thanks Rishie. Do you happen to know what the "standard" spring rates are for the JIC coilovers for a reference point?

i believe the JIC recommended spring rate is 12kg/mm front and 9 kg/mm rear on the FLTA2. i use 14 and 12 and was able to get the 14's via rishie.....and moved my front 12's to the back without difficulty.

regards
fabian

ps....when i installed the flta2's, i thought for sure they were gonna touch the hood. they haven't, but i suspect it's pretty close. i would avoid the washer spacer idea since that interface is where the "weight" of that corner transfers onto the chassis. by using washers you'd be lessening the surface area to the size of the three washers. probably ok on the street, but i wouldn't do that kinda thing on my track car.

quit using my car for your "Wacky experiements" rishie, geeez. :D

If you only knew what we do to the car when you're not around.

I can confirm that 12 kg/mm front and 9 kg/mm is what JIC is using right now. It even says it on the empty JIC box in my living room. ;)

- Cody

JIC owners:
A little off topic, but what has been your experience w/ the height adjustment? Are you able to adjust ride height without removing the shock from its lower mount to turn the threads?

I just double-checked and the adjustment posts on my coilovers are VERY close to the hood liner. I had no idea that the hoodliner sat so much lower in that area. If it didn't already have indents for the area over the shock, they'd be piercing it. What the hell? :)

I will still put rubber caps over them. I figure a "softer", more rounded surface is better than a hard edge. Hopefully it'll keep them from chewing up my brand new hood liner... if my car ever moves under its own power again... :)

Anyone know what that works out to in "normal" pound ratings? Max? :)

Is it as simple as 9 kg/mm = 228.6 kg/in. = 504 lbs./in.? That would mean the 12kg/mm springs were 304.8 kg/in. or 672 lbs./in.

672/504??? If that's true, then JESUS those are STIFF springs. I don't need that much spring, let alone WANT that much spring with 19s... :)

Max, what would you recommend for a street going car? I saw your post on the 450/350 combination in the M2 coilover thread.

Jim,

what kind of rubber caps are you talking about? Won't that decrease the clearance even more?

By a small margin. I have a big set of rubber caps and plugs that I bought from Eastwood company for capping off brake lines and stuff like that. A couple of them over the top of the adjustment posts would at least get rid of the sharp edges. I don't know if it would just make it more likely to damage the hood liner or not.

That is correct. They are 672/504 (in lbs/inch). Tripoint recommends 500-550 in the front and 300-350 in the rear for a GC kit on yellow Koni's.

Yes it is "stiff," but amazingly it doesn't feel that stiff. The ride is VERY responsive, but not harsh at all. I prefer my ride with the JIC's over my friends ride with the GC springs and he has double adjustable yellow Koni's. It really does sound counter intuitive but the ride is actually pretty nice. It isn't jolting or harsh it is however very firm. One would think that with spring rates that high it would jar your teeth out everytime you hit a bump, but it really doesn't. It is kind of puzzling, but I gave up on trying to figure out why and instead I'm enjoying my new suspension.

By the way Jim. I have a lot of respect for you and so if I manage to say something that you disagree with then by all means say so. I mean no disrespect. I'm just trying to let you know about my experiences so far.

- Cody

Jim,

I can vouch for that...it really doesn't feel that stiff, I had came from a stock touring suspension

Ya it's some weird phenomena. It's all about the damping. That's kinda what I was getting at when we initially started trying to educate people about these. It's really weird.

I mean my FC is great, but even better is the Protege5 that uses the same rates as the FC. THe Protege5 has incredible ride quality yet the responsiveness is amazing. But I fluctuate between 1 and 7 on both applications. I have yet to go over that. I know these have enough damping range to go from good ride to kidney shaking ride.

Later, Rishie

Thanks for that comparison to the Konis Cody.

ARD T2 does jic have shock dyno sheets available?

Instead of using washers between the top plate and the shock tower, you guys could have a thicker top plate made, or a spacer-plate made to fit over the existing plate.

A thicker plate or spacer plate would give you the extra space that you need on the adjuster knobs, but avoid the concerns that Fabian raised with the washers. And unless you're running out of threads on the shock body, you can compensate for the added ride height.

Damn, am I really that scary? Don't answer that. :)

That's not a bad idea. I might talk to my fabricator about this. He can have water cut spacers made pretty easily, if people are interested. No promises, but it's definitely within his capabilities.

I have ass shock dyno sheets. I don't know if JIC would release that information. I can always ask. I know companies release this information like Koni and so forth. I'd have to ask. If you require them I can put you into contact with them directly.

I and most of these guys can only tell you exactly that, how they compare to other suspensions they've been in.

I'm still awaiting to see what we can do on the manufacturing side to alleviate this problem. A remedy will be reached I'm sure. I'm sure it's easy too but has to go to the source in Japan.

G'nite, Rishie

I might be interested in this if JIC doesn't come up with a solution.

- Cody

hey rishie.....don't hold your breath waiting on JIC to do anything.

fabian

Rishie, has there been any word on this? I've got a freshly painted hood and a brand new hood liner, and I'm not about to screw either up with a shock that's poorly designed, if you know what I mean. :)

I have a dozen other things to worry about before looking into having spacers made, but I'll see what I can do. If JIC is unable/unwilling to remedy the problem, that may be the next best/only solution.

Thanks!

I will second that. I was about to order a set of JIC's when this thread came out. Now I am wary for the same reasons. How frequent is hood touching from the adjuster. Is it just in a few cases or is the adjuster badly designed? Can the adjuster not be lowered relative to the top-mount on these units?
I want a set of coilovers that fit well and function well, I don't want to start having to modify mounts etc when spending this much cash.
Thanks

I'm not as worried about my hood. My adjusters are basically brand new, and if they weren't, I would have replaced them. In other words, if your 4 hood adjusters aren't worn out, you're probably not going to have a problem with denting the hood. Then again, I don't drop my hood to close it either. :)

I bought the JICs for the double adjustement (height separate of spring preload), never once thinking that there might be a problem with them. The rear shocks are fine, since they're under the plastic covers, but I thought the front adjustment posts looked a little tall. It wasn't until I installed my new hood liner and then saw this thread that I realized how close they come to the liner.

A spacer shouldn't be difficult to engineer, but I don't have any CAD software. Anyone know of a cheap Windows-based package that's easy to use? I don't think I'd get enough use out of a more expensive package to justify the price, but if anyone has any really good software they use, I'd like to hear about that, too.

Do you really need the software? Why not remove an existing plate and trace it on some paper?

Actually, it seems to me that you could make a thicker replacement plate instead of a spacer. That way you end up with a one-piece solution.

Because I haven't looked at the shocks since I put them on the car, and I didn't know the plate was removable? :)

I removed one of the plates on the front shocks, and I don't think it's going to be a big deal to engineer a replacement "spacer" plate, with the possible exception of duplicating or maintaining the stock hardware.

I think the three allen screws that hold the plate to the shock body can stay, but I don't know if there's enough length on the "studs" that bolt to the car body to add 3/16-1/4" of plate thickness and still have enough to bolt to when installed, especially with a washer or shock tower brace added. I'll have to see if I can track down some new hardware.

Would anyone be interested if I were to have these made in bulk?

it did not dent my hood.

I don't believe they will dent the hood of anyone who doesn't have worn hood adjusters and doesn't drop or slam their hood, but it will still eventually tear holes in the hood liner, more than likely.

fix JIC coilovers
 

Hey guys


I heard about what is going on, and I talked to my boss.

and we will like to take care of this.

If you guys can call me and fax a receipt to me I will send you all a spacer.

That goes inbettwen the uppermount of the coilover and FD bracket.

It's just that on the FD's there is very little space of clerence bettwen the adjuster and the hood.

so will we take care of this

I will always take care of my FD customers ;)


Thanks,

Kris
JIC MAGIC
(562) 803-6122

There you go jimlab-- one less piece of software to buy ;)

Nice to see that JIC cares!

Re: fix JIC coilovers
 

I am interested in getting one of these spacers. I bought my coilovers from Rishie, but I can't seem to find a receipt anywhere. Would it be of any use to have Rishie vouch for me?

- Cody

yes I will.

rishies a cool guy, have him call me.

I will vouch for all our customers. I am the one who notified JIC about remedying this problem ASAP. I've been getting a lot of people asking about dented hoods so i felt this should be remedied NOW. lol.

Thanks to Kris and Kevin at JIC for making this happen quickly. I just talked to them about it yesterday. lol.

Thanks, Rishie

Re: fix JIC coilovers
 

Truly professional and classy. I will be a JIC customer in the future.