FK coilovers (no go)

[sooty22]

I have been the owner of some fk highspotr coilovers fro just over a year now, i was happy with them and thought they were great when first fitted them.
However.... I was once shecking them and the threads to see if they were clean and i noticd they were corroading quite badly. the roads i live on are always dirty so i quite often check up and clean them.
I had noticed the front end had become very bouncy so i had a check a couple of weeks ago and this is what i had found!!

a burst shocker this is not just a small leak the whole thing looks like its exploded!

I looked at the driver side to and it was also leaking!
i got on the phone to the supliers and they confirmed they were out of warranty so i thought about another set and they said they could do me a great deal as they cant help with my broken coilovers.... I decided to go for the wietek gt set which i got at a great price they arrives on thursday and the quality is by far better then the fk set! i fitted them yesterday and here are some pics of the old been removed and an with the new

 

[sooty22]

more pics

rusty coils.....

 

[sooty22]

only a few pics of new coilovers fitted (it started raining)

i have found the ride is so much smoother, the front seems to drop so much! the rear doesnt go no where near as low as the front but i set the rear almost as low as it would go and just made the front match, i guess the springs may settle a little so it is slightly high at the front but wil see with time what happens. hope this is useful to anyone thinking about buying fk coilovers (or maybe i just had a bad set) and always remember most the time you get what you pay for!

 

[SHADY-NINJA]

ive read several complaints on SCN about quality issues with FK and that helped me form my decision to by Weitec hicon TX which is a model above yours.

 

[sooty22]

do you like yours? i think the ride is great! are yours the adjustable ones?

 

[Gooner_Mike]

Did you say they were only about a year old That is shocking quality...

 

[Damoegan]

$hit the bed, thats realy bad Chris. Is it only a 1 year warrenty with them? I got 2 years with my V-Maxx kit..

IIRC Ash has the same ones and his were is a bad state after only a few months.

 

[sooty22]

they are just out of warranty and yes you only get a year! not good but hey i have laernt from my mistake just thought i would put a thread on here just t give people an idea of what they are like!

 

[Ultra_Joel88]

"Koni make the dampers" my arse

 

[Aimez]

Okay you are the second person to put me off now! You say you get what you pay for I thought Weitecs were cheap and FK very expensive? Do they go as low as your FKs?

 

[sooty22]

no whee near as low at the back but i think the fronts wil go lower than the fk set, i had them set with about 30mm of threads showing when i fitted them dropped it off the jack took her for a spin and it was that low i couldnt see the tire at the top of the wheel arch! there was still another 30mm left to go! as for the rears they are almost as low as it wil go but i think they have a nice stance and any lower wil be silly....

 

[Aimez]

Yeh IMO tyres hidden in arches just looks silly and, the car is so high at the back so it will always be a problem thou.

 

[sooty22]

mine would go about another 10-15mm lower at the back and the fronts god they wil go about another 65-70 lower.
i have a good working order set of rear fk coilovers if anyone is interested

 

[Altech]

Bad news I've just fitted a set of FK Konigsport coilovers to my Ibiza

 

[Damoegan]

i have a good working order set of rear fk coilovers if anyone is interested

Damn you, why could this not of happened last month before I bought my coilovers....

So has one of the shocks actualy gone, Chris?

When I fitted mine I left about 35mm of threads left on the fronts and like you, when I droped it back on the floor I couldnt see the top of the tyre. I had the rears as low as they would go and they were a little too low for me.

This is what it looked like

I have now raised it 10mm all round and it looks and handles much better now

 

[air121005]

thats shocking quality

how much was this kit brand new, i guessing £450 'ish

TBH, regardless of cost, you'd expect a suspension setup to last more than 12 months:shrug!

 

[Nath.]

I'm sorry but this annoys me. lots of people on here reckon they know about suspension and yet they still refer to their dampers as bloody shocks. The spring absorbs the shocks/bumps and the damper damps the spring.

Check your tyres as with no fluid in the dampers you will have had the wheel skipping along the road and also loosing contact with the road, this can cause flat spots or uneven wear to the tyres. I bet also that your ABS has been working overtime of late too.

 

[fr-tdi]

i ran fk's for years on my lupo's - same kit on 4 different cars.

if you look after them they do theyre job.

copper grease, and seal them and you should have no worries.

a monthly strip down and clean doest go a miss either

 

[Ultra_Joel88]

I have a question regarding cleaning and greasing.

What is the best way to do it wash and clean coilovers without taking them off the car as thats too much hassle.

Normally I just remove the old grease below the adjuster with some Autoglym engine and machine cleaner, water and a soft toothbrush, but find it difficult to access the threads above the adjuster ring and underneath the spring.

Also even when adjusting it downwards, onto the newly cleaned and greased threads I hear like a crunching noise where there is obviously trapped dirt, despite spraying copirous amounts of WD40 into the adjuster ring.

Would the best way be to clean up the threads below the adjuster ring thoroughly, grease the threads up, then wind the adjuster ALL THE WAY down enduring a little bit of kellogs crunchy nut, over the new grease, then get in and clean and apply grease to all the threads now that the coil is stretched, then wind back to desired height and reapply below adjuster?

 

[fr-tdi]

i usually took them off.

i found Bilt hamber surfex @ 4:1 ratio would shift most of the crap clean threads with and old toothbrush and around seals with a detailing brush.

i always sealed the coils and bodys with sealant.
then copper greased the threads