JIC Coilover Durability

[Duo]

Back in the dark ages when I was a Civic owner, I had TEIN HA coilovers.  Living in the midwest, they saw plenty of snow and salt.  Long story short, within a few months they were rusting and the perches were frozen in place.

Does anyone know if the JIC coilovers have this same problem?  Or do they use a material that is more resistant to corrosion?

I can't find any info on what they're made of and the Japanese site is mostly unreadable even when translated by AltaVista.  Can anyone shed some light on this?

Thanks!

[West]

No need to translate, they have a US site.

http://www.jic-magic.com

They are made of Duralumin A6061 so they would be pretty resistent to rust.

[Duo]

Thanks West.  I was hoping this thread would just find it's way off the page.  Last time I checked, the US site wasn't up.  I checked it again right after I made this post and whaddya know...it's there.

Thanks for the info though!

[adey]

I've handled JIC magic coilovers first hand, installing them and just fondling them in general (:love:)... my impression of them is very good. they are definately some very, VERY high quality pieces, unlike the TEIN HA (which I've also installed and fondled).
The JICs, for one, come in one box about 1/4 the size of all the boxes that TEIN send you, because the JICs are pre-assembled while the TEINs are not. The only thing you need to do is make sure that the heights are all the same, and to make sure the camber on the front are set to the same setting.

Looking at the finish of the coilovers and the welds, the JICs are easily distinguishable; they are zinc-plated (I think that's it... you know, the goldish colored plating) in some areas, and in others they are (look) anodized in gold/orange. The springs are a SEXXXXYYY purple, and the spring perches/adjusting rings are anodized red.

On the other hand, the Tein HAs are PAINTED green (that chips off and scrapes to reveal bare metal), the welds on the TEIN look comparatively messy, and the general consensus is that TEINS are good value-for money (sorry, I should say the TEIN HE's are good value... HAs don't seem cheap when you compare them to even the JICs or especially not the HEs -- what I mean is HAs are $150 less than HEs, but HEs are stiffer, have adjustablility w/out affecting stroke, and come with pillow ball mounts) but are not an all-round "good" product.
Teins certainly are not as high quality as JIC units.

On the other hand, JICs may look like teins when compared to HKS, APEX'i and ZEAL stuff... but I wouldn't know, as I've never seen these first hand. <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sly.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':sly:'>

[Duo]

adey~ thanks for the reply. &nbsp;I completely agree with you about the TEINs. &nbsp;I remember getting them and thinking 'hell, I could make prettier welds than this and I've never even seen a welder.' &nbsp;However, my TEIN HAs came assembled in one box...even if they were made for a JDM Integra Type-R and had to be sent back for new ones. &nbsp;It took almost 7 months to get the right ones from the day I ordered them! &nbsp;But that was back before they had a US office.

[adey]

did your TEINs come with a pillow ball mount?
The HAs are, IMO waaay overpriced. You can get the Apex'i world sports for the same price (less!<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'> and I'm sure they're higher quality.

Bottom line: get the JICs. <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sly.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':sly:'> Unless you're also looking at HKS, APEX'i, Zeal, GP SPorts, etc.

[Duo]

Adey~ &nbsp;No, my TEINs didn't come with mounts. &nbsp;I didn't want to spend the extra money. &nbsp;At the time, the HAs for a Civic cost $1,600. &nbsp;That was before the big price drop. &nbsp;I feel sick about spending that much money on what I consider now to be an inferior product.

The only other coilovers I'm considering are the Cuscos, but I'd rather not buy a product that requires maintanence from a Japan only company again. &nbsp;There was absolutely ZERO customer service from TEIN back in the day.

[orange-grey]

damn, what a bunch of snobs. <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/crazy.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':crazy:'> I paid around $1450 for my HA's with camber plates and rear upper mounts. The only thing comparable price-wise by JIC are the SF1's, which aren't damping adjustable. The SA1's are, but they retail for $1700. The HE's aren't damping adjustable either, which is why they're cheaper, and are pretty brutal on the street from what I hear. The HA's are plenty hard for anything I can imagine, and I've found that I'm actually fastest on most solo2 courses with them set on full soft. Unless you are running slicks on a road course, or are a hardcore drifter, I can't imagine needing any more. The only thing I don't like about them is that you can't adjust the height at the knuckle flange, but unless you want the totally slammed lowrider look that doesn't really matter.

As far as quality goes, they do the job and haven't broken. Pretty welds and pre-assembly are nice, but I'd rather pocket the cash difference. I'm not sure about rust since I'm in California, so I'll let someone else handle that.

[adey]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (orange-grey @ Oct. 02 2002,9:30)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">damn, what a bunch of snobs. <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/crazy.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':crazy:'> I paid around $1450 for my HA's with camber plates and rear upper mounts.</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
... I hate to tell you this, but I didn't pay much more than you for my JIC magic FLT-A2s (not more than 100 more than you). &nbsp;<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'> &nbsp;Where and when did you buy your HAs? &nbsp;For S13 or S14?

[HippoSleek]

Something that I think always gets lost in this discussion is that the closer you get to buying a race suspension, the less you should be concerned about durability.

Odds are, if you are paying over $2000 for a suspension (springs and dampers), it has a race only design and you should expect to rebuild it after 1-2 seasons of racing, TOPS. &nbsp;That would be maybe 2000 miles! &nbsp;(considering 8 races per season plus qualifying). &nbsp;That's what the parts were designed for - not daily use for tens of thousands of miles without attention.

I find it interesting that people can accept that when a motor is fully built, it only lasts a brief time (i.e., one season or X number of passes) - but don't accept that a racing suspension has a similarly short time.

Sorry - I know it didn't really help - but I'm just saying don't expect a race set up to be very durable in the long run.

[Olay180]

I know this is a little off topic from the original post but I just got my HA's for my s13 with front pillowball mounts. I paid 1270 shipped. I havent installed them yet. Well anyways I live in Michigan but I sure as hell dont plan to drive my car in the winter, but with all this back and forth about teins, should I get the feeling that I got ripped off?<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'>?