JIC FLT-A2 rant

[Mole]

so rufus and i go down to Ziel Motor Sports the other day on seeing if we can have a solution to adjust the dampering. i know for a fact mine are frozen stiff so, other than that i can adjust them.

i find out the technicality of the product FLT-A2's inverted
monotube <== design and there is this 9mm nut holding the dial for damper setting in place. what do i find out? the normal craftsman 9mm open wrench is too fat. yes too fat. so i dremmel down the pos to make it fit into the nut turn away and so forth. oiling up the area real good with a lubricant should make things free range moving right? no... i had to take out the dial and use a T-bar hex key to move things. so throw the "each click is a setting," out the window.

not so bad does this seem? well i have 3 other struts left that needs the same thing done.

i started at 8:45am and finshed at 2pm. just for damper setting. amazing how things these days are so tedious.

my advice to you guys who have it GL on setting the damper/ride height/and spring firmness. and who might buy this product in the future is to not buy it. its just too advanced for the typical driver like you and me.

[Jackass-Jeff]

So as I stated

Tein > JIC

[Vampire]

I won't say more than this but it's a real shame that JIC uses such high quality materials and workmanship to be dragged in the mud by the US distributor who did a poor job of development. My SF-1 are sitting in a box and I could care less while I ride nicely on Teins.

[krawzyazn]

sf-1 is that the first set or what wanna sell it?

[CASTRO]

hmmm interesting. I have the FLT-A1US version and the adjustments are tiny nuts on the top. Some of mine are a little stuck and some are extremely loose to where the "clicking" can't really be felt/noticed. Is there any work around to this? Its strange that 2 of mine are loose while oter two are not. Oil maybe?

[Vampire]

It is the very first set that was used to prototype the Solara. I bought it slightly used and it ended up that the rear strut cartridges were not firm enough so they went bad due to the springs being too stiff for them (others saw this too and it knocked like crazy). I ended up having to buy a new set of rear strut cartridges and let me tell you the prices Zeil charges is outrageous. I really don't want to sell it to anyone because I think it's a piece of crap and I don't want anyone to have to deal with it. This particular model had coil touch noises even when the struts were replaced. BTW, I couldn't stand the strange colors so I stripped the Gold and painted them black. I also polished the front upper mounting plate. Looks good but still sucks.

sf-1 is that the first set or what wanna sell it?

[Mole]

ah! i know of that coil touch noise. i got around it by looming wire around the coil where it would hit against the strut.

the FLT-A2 is far more advanced than the FLT-A1US. perhaps i can help you out JTLCASTRO1. send me a picture of the troubled/frozen/unclickable dial. you might have to do what i did and take the dial out to see if the edges are rounded out or not. are you still able to turn clockwise until it stops turning?

the inverted monotube design is good for slammed cars as it has no "bottom out" area. however there should be something done about the dial.

So as I stated

Tein > JIC

the FLT-A2's is in a different league than Tein's SS.

[Vampire]

I was very tempted to put vinyl tubing or coil wrap on the springs but I decided not to bother. If Zeil can't R&D a so-called high end product that is supposed to perform like it should for top dollar then forget them. Do I even need to mention the lousy way the 505 SUS exhaust is plumbed? Hangs low and sticks out the back. Two people have burned their legs on my exhaust and it melted the rear body kit on someone's ride. I am not attacking anyone, just ranting and hoping that people realize that some so-called name brand is no reason to pay good money for junk. And I do agree 100% that JIC and Tein are not equal but they were never designed to be. In the end you look around and hopefully make an informed decision.

[Mole]

my 505 is actually shorter and hides approx 1 inch before the bumper ends.


i'd rather have a tip that sticks out 1 inch than is kept under the car by 1inch.

i admit that JIC hasn't been through enough on our cars, since we're the first gen to have products made for our platforms. oh well.

if you want to bag on how low an exhaust can get, i opt for the greddy evolution.

[Vampire]

Your JIC only stuck out 1 inch? Mine stuck out 2 1/2 inches! You're lucky, I could've lived with that. In fact I seriously considered having someone shorten it but no one could weld stainless well here. BTW, my Greddy always hung well. All you have to do is hand tighten the nuts, jack up the joint between the connecting pipe and rear section and then tighten all the bolts. For some reason if you don't do it that way it will hang low. The pipe sits only 1 inch below the rear center suspension mounting bracket. Very nicely tucked up there. BTW, I'm old What does bag mean? Is that like bitch about something. Yeah, Zeil does that to me. No harm intended.

my 505 is actually shorter and hides approx 1 inch before the bumper ends.


i'd rather have a tip that sticks out 1 inch than is kept under the car by 1inch.

i admit that JIC hasn't been through enough on our cars, since we're the first gen to have products made for our platforms. oh well.

if you want to bag on how low an exhaust can get, i opt for the greddy evolution.

[Mole]

ohh 2 inches??? that's pretty far.

mine does not stick out. it hides under the bumper resulting in a crispy burnt bumper and plastice mid-piece. trust me its like something ate a chunk out of the car.

[Mole]

ohh 2 inches??? that's pretty far.

mine does not stick out. it hides under the bumper resulting in a crispy burnt bumper and plastice mid-piece. trust me its like something ate a chunk out of the car.

[Vampire]

BTW, weren't you trying to sell yours? What were you going to go with? It seems our options are limited for a full catback.

ohh 2 inches??? that's pretty far.

mine does not stick out. it hides under the bumper resulting in a crispy burnt bumper and plastice mid-piece. trust me its like something ate a chunk out of the car.

[Mole]

i was planning to, however i decided to keep it.

last week i went to my muffler guy to re-make the mid-pipe with out the resonator. must i say i'm now 3 notches louder when i gas the car. scary stuff.

[ICrazyChrisI]

I was trying to sell mine.