Coilover Help JIC and Tein

[CASTRO]

yep, adjustments for the Tein and SF1s are for damper stiffness. The A1US, FLTA2 are also for damper stiffness, but you can adjust ride height separate from the spring pre-load (pre compression of the spring for extreme crisp response and reduced weight transfer)

From what I know ther dont make a pillowball mount for the Tein coilover application in our cars, people just use the stock upper mounts.

[WJN333]

Sorry I was unclear there, I just wanted to confirm that the FLTA2s are the only coilover setup (aside from the FLTA2RS) where the damping controlls are on the bottom (easily accessable). The rest have this control on the top in the rear?

I think that the Teins, SF1, or A1US would more than accomidate me. At the moment Im looking for the ability to adjust ride height and stiffness. I just don't like the idea of removing seats if I need to adjust stiffness in the rear.

Note: When I enter the make model and year on the JIC website, It does not show the SF1s as an option. Am I blind? LOL

[indiglosolara]

Sorry I was unclear there, I just wanted to confirm that the FLTA2s are the only coilover setup (aside from the FLTA2RS) where the damping controlls are on the bottom (easily accessable). The rest have this control on the top in the rear?

I think that the Teins, SF1, or A1US would more than accomidate me. At the moment Im looking for the ability to adjust ride height and stiffness. I just don't like the idea of removing seats if I need to adjust stiffness in the rear.

Note: When I enter the make model and year on the JIC website, It does not show the SF1s as an option. Am I blind? LOL

From when I talked to my friend that works at JIC. He only has one set of JIC SF1 left. They might have sold it and took it off the listing. He told me that since that model didn't sell very well for the Camry/Solara and they might not carry it in stock as it was a liquidation item.

I personally like the Tein's. I've rode in ppls cars witht he Tein SS and its very comfy. Also the tuning ability is very easy to use unlike the JIC's.

I also will be installing the Tein Coilovers in my xB. I was originally going with Tanabe Coilovers but the Max drop on those were 1.7" when I wanted to slam my car and Tein gave me the ability.

If you are going to be using your coilovers for more street and daily driving I don't recommend the JIC's. I rode in allot of cars with JIC's and the ride is very stiff. Allot of my friends from my club use JIC CO and they all had to spend allot of time to tune the damping to there liking.

If you are interested in the Tein's CO I would talk to Jeff aka Jackass. He has them on his Solara. I am sure a few other members on here have it as well and they can chim in.

[CASTRO]

Sorry I was unclear there, I just wanted to confirm that the FLTA2s are the only coilover setup (aside from the FLTA2RS) where the damping controlls are on the bottom (easily accessable). The rest have this control on the top in the rear?

I think that the Teins, SF1, or A1US would more than accomidate me. At the moment Im looking for the ability to adjust ride height and stiffness. I just don't like the idea of removing seats if I need to adjust stiffness in the rear.

Note: When I enter the make model and year on the JIC website, It does not show the SF1s as an option. Am I blind? LOL

Correct. Both the A2 and A2RS are the only ones from JIC that are damper adjustable from the bottom because of the inverted mono-tube nature. (like an Evo!) The twin-tube SF1 and A1US are normal damper setups so its natural for the damper adjustments to be on the top

[WJN333]

After reading through the responses it seems like I should go with the Teins. The vast majority of the time will be on the street and the Teins seem to offer everything I want. Full ride height adjustability (stock to too low to drive), adjustable stifness, ease of use, and comfort.

Anyone have recomendations on what stiffness I should try first on the Teins for street use? Somewhere between the boat ride of stock and felling when I run over a dime?

[CASTRO]

always the best thing to do is to start from the middle setting to get a feel. Then go on from there as you seem fit. I always recommend to go a little stiffer in the rear to get rid of that retarded fwd understeer we have.

[Akfahad]

I have the same dilemma, after going with the Eibach/Tokico setup (to save money), I should have just gotten coilovers to begin with...plus the fact the most of my struts are bad. Glad this post came up.....

[arch.HI]

I have my Tein's set at 4 clicks from softest. Comfortable enough for my tastes. They recomend starting at the softest setting and slowly adjusting to your desired stiffness.

I'm not sure you can get stock ride height. After eveything is settled I have the rear set near the top with about a two finger gap between the tire and the fender. Might be different on the Solara though.

[WJN333]

Someone here with the Tein Coilovers on their Solara let me know the height range limits?

Castro:
When keeping the rear stiffer, are you talking one click, several, or is there some other indicator I should be looking for to tell me the front to rear stiffness differential is optimal? How will the sway bar combinations play into the equation? I am putting the TRD RSB back on (hurry up UPS) and considering the Whiteline FSB (assuming I can find one when the time comes). Am I getting too OCD? LOL

[CASTRO]

I personally have both sway bars on my car. IMO, there is not choice sinec the TRD set on track and front whiteline are the stiffest combo's for our setup.

Front to rear balance to me is when the rear is raised up high enough so that from the outside it looks to be even with the front. A common thing on normal spring/struts is that the rear always looks "sagging" because they want to promote understeer and keep people safe. By having them looking equal is to get closer to a neutral handling balance. On my car, the front is maybe 1/4inch lower than the rear to further reduce understeer.

For rear stiffness I have my dampers set to Front:6 clicks from softest and Rear:8 clicks from softest. Both settings are from a total adjustment range of 16 on my setup. For Tein and the JIC SF-1 you cannot adjust spring pre-load, only height. Meaning, the lower you go, the most likely you will be prone to "bottom out" on the suspension by having the top of the damper hit the suspension mount and run out of travel.

On the JIC FLT-A1US, FLT-A2/RS then spring pre-load/travel is a different adjustment from ride height. What that means is that you can have complete suspension travel even while fully slammed or higher than stock ride height... it doesnt matter. The nice thing about pre-loading a spring is you can compensate for "settling". By pre-loading a spring in advance, you get rid of the initial compression the car goes through while: braking (gets rid of nose dive), accelerating (rear squat), and a lot of body roll with results from weight transitions. Please do not get spring-preload confused with damper stiffness, it is more like getting rid of the initial slack or freeplay from the springs.

Pre-load can also help by acting like an increased spring rate. Even though they are coilovers, I can bet that all the coilover/spring+shock applications you can buy for these cars are all setup with a stiffer front end. An example is the JIC-FLTA1US with 7kg-Front and 5kg-Rear. Tein or even the A2, the story is the same. Companies like to preserve the handling characteristics of every car and just enhance it. They dialed in a bit of understeer by having a stiffer front end through spring rates. Though through coilovers the front to rear rate difference is less when compared to springs used in spring/shock combos. You can raise the rear pre-load to compensate for the difference in the A1US/A2, but still keep it at whatever ride height you chooose.

Keep in mind that even the stance of your car, eX: lower front and higher rear will help to balance out the car even more by having the steering quicker to react and the rear easier to step out (which is nice on the track and can be corrected by simply accelerating and having the front tires pull you forward)

PHEW! thats a lot of typing. Hope that what I've learned about suspension through personal track time and different setups helps with any questions.

[Jackass-Jeff]

The Tein ride height is definitely adjustable to near stock, BUT it will preload the springs, causing a slightly harsh (read Bouncy) ride.

The best setting for the Tein would be at their recommended height, which actually isn't too bad (depends on your tire/wheels though, with stock it's pretty good).

The dampening adjustment (Front) is located on the top of the strut tower. Easily adjusted. You can set it pretty soft to get a near stock ride feel. Of course, you can also go the other extreme and get a great track tune (if you REALLY want to track it, get JIC instead!!!!! Tein is better for daily driving usage). The REAR adjustment is a PITA. You have to remove the deck to make adjustments. Of 1-16 (1 being softest), I'm running a 8 Front and 11 Rear, fyi.

The height adjustment is based off the lower spring seat (the 'rings', as you've called then). Setting it to the proper height will allow the spring rate to be correct. Setting it lower than that is possible, but it'll be a VERY bumpy ride. Setting it higher (ie near stock) will cause preload on the spring, making them feel stiffer and causing a bouncy ride since the springs want to return to their non-load status.

I can get both Tein and JIC, so let me know

[Jackass-Jeff]

After reading through the responses it seems like I should go with the Teins. The vast majority of the time will be on the street and the Teins seem to offer everything I want. Full ride height adjustability (stock to too low to drive), adjustable stifness, ease of use, and comfort.

Anyone have recomendations on what stiffness I should try first on the Teins for street use? Somewhere between the boat ride of stock and felling when I run over a dime?

BTW, let me know when you're in town. I can take you for a ride to see how it is w/ the Tein. It's probably the better choice of the 3 (Tein SS vs JIC FLT-A1 vs JIC FLT-A1) since you said it's mainly for normal street usage.

Here is an example of when I was riding LOWER than the recommended height on 225/40R18 tires (18 x 8.0 wheel) Approx a 1.5 finger gap

Diameter approx 1.52cm smaller than a 20560R16, 1.03cm smaller than a 20565R15.



Now I'm riding on stock 20560R16 tires with the correct height (slightly high I think, so it has some bouncy-ness). No pictures, but it's about a 1.5-2 finger gap now.

[CASTRO]

I agree with Jeff. The Teins are the best for the street. JICs are just way too harsh, unless you like it that way. I personally dont mind.

Seems like most people like the neutral/oversteer feel by setting the rear stiffer. Since now I know that the Teins are top adjustable like the FLT-A1US, Heres a tip from an old member:

BlackSheep-we both got our A1US's as soon as they were released and he figured out a quick and painless way to adjust dampers in the rear. He drilled small holes in the rear deck enough so he can use the hex tool looking thing to adjust it w/o taking the car apart. On a camry like mine, its much easier as the rear seat shoulder pads come off with 1 bolt and I can adjust away.

[WJN333]

Thats all I have for questions.

Thanks for all the help guys, very much appreciated!