GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk3 => Topic started by: jimmydub on 09 April 2013, 20:12
-
Hi all,
I'm planning on ordering a set of coilovers this week and just wondering if anyone here has experience with these:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170986741373?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170986741373?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649)
I know they are budget but my thinking is simple, i have no intention of putting my motor on a track and i also rarely throw her about. why coily's over springs then right? well, simply just for the option of readjustment should the need arise. also dependent on summer/winter wheel swaps.
any advice or alternatives would be really appreciated
cheers all!
-
Same as any other 'budget' coilovers, they'll be bouncy and harsh when wound right down but are an improvement over standard worn out shocks.
-
If you search on here there are hundreds of threads about budget coilovers.
-
JOM's are the same price and alot of people recommend them, in fact these are probably JOM's as they go under a variety of names but made by same people. Ive just had JOM's on and im more than happy with them
-
Same as any other 'budget' coilovers, they'll be bouncy and harsh when wound right down but are an improvement over standard worn out shocks.
thanks bud. this is the thing, anything is an improvement right?!
JOM's are the same price and alot of people recommend them, in fact these are probably JOM's as they go under a variety of names but made by same people. Ive just had JOM's on and im more than happy with them
thanks for the input mate. I'd guessed most of the budget's were much the same. i've done a lot of reading up on it all, and the general consensus is it's very much down to personal experience. like you said you're more than happy, as are others. and on the flip side some people hate them. it's a tough call, especially for myself as i have no experience.
that said, i have noticed a lot of positive feedback on FK AK Streets, which work out to be only an extra 70 quid over 'budget' coily's. is that extra a waste? as i suppose those FK's are still pretty much considered budgets as well.
another quick question for anyone who can help: would there be any problem fitting coily's from a 3 door to a 5? quite clearly spelling out my ignorance here! :rolleyes:
-
3 or 5 door makes no difference mate.
-
I have FK's on mine and i've also had a ride in a mk3 with JOM's on and i couldn't tell the difference.
-
More than likely all the sub £200 coilovers are made in the same place.
-
thanks for the input peoples. i must admit i am edging towards the joms now. seems to me from what everyone is saying that i won't know the difference between cheap and expensive.
ok maybe they don't have the same sort of lifespan but just have to keep eyes open for them pot holes right?! haha
-
I've just fitted joms to mine £155 delivered from eBay. Ride is ok so far...
Sub £200 sets are all pretty much the same though, just different color springs and stickers :)
-
Potholes will kill £155 joms or £800 bilsteins just the same...
-
Don't drive with your eyes shut then :cool:
-
Not so easy to spot them if your pushing on a bit down a dark windy road and its raining. :sad:
-
True true
-
Potholes will kill £155 joms or £800 bilsteins just the same...
I've just fitted joms to mine £155 delivered from eBay. Ride is ok so far...
Sub £200 sets are all pretty much the same though, just different color springs and stickers :)
so thats the general consensus on the SUB 200 mark, surely there can't be alot between them and say the 250/300 mark in comparison. end of the day, how inferior can these parts be to a 500 set or even a grand set? in reality they're all cheap aint they!
thanks again for the input everyone
budget are sounding better by the minute to be honest. worse case scenario, they get replaced on the next pay cheque right.
dunno about you boys neck of the woods but the potholes are f**kin hard to miss round my way theres that many of them! i must look like a right piss head to anyone behind me!
-
I've got TA Technics in my mk3, been in for last 4 years, not once they've given me a problem, my car is quite low too, but ride is bouncy and I run 38psi in my tyres lol
-
Hey jimmy the seller is round the corner to me, I know him fairly well, top bloke owns a shop, as it happens these are like everyone says much of a muchness, just thort it might be of a help to know what the seller is like just invade there are any issues
-
Mine are Prosport (identical to JOM) and i have the car dropped around 70mm it handles really well. They are hard and bouncy but thats what i wanted. (the missus goes nuts though)
-
Potholes will kill £155 joms or £800 bilsteins just the same...
I don't agree.
Quality dampers are made and finished to a better standard, have better seals and are generally valved better and offer better protection against bottoming out and blowing seals.
I tried cheap coilovers in the past, and burt them.
My current Konis have been on for 12 years...and they are still perfect...despite hitting the odd pothole hard enough to bend a wheel.
-
I used 'Siverlines' on my 4dr mk3 and they ticked all the right boxes but like all coilovers had there do's donts and drawbacks.
Theyr made in the 'Jamex' factory appparntley, and are basically the same gear.
In my experience, they were the whole same deal as my weitec hicon-gt's, that I used on my passat B4 estate.
It seems to me theyr all much of a muchness.
A few years back! But at gwentVW the silverlines were 250 delivered including vat, and the wietecs were about 650-odd. i was very happy with both.
I thought both cars handeled more or less the same and hope you hav as much fun as I did.
Get stuck in lad, and get it slammed
-
Well it's taken me sometime to respond to you guys, i must apologise!
I have to say i'm real glad i started this thread, as it gathered a fair bit of attention and responses. I know it's been discussed before on here, time and time again, on many a separate thread, but i couldn't find much in the way of info to aid my decision. so thanks to everyone for your input.
So, In a nutshell, after careful consideration i went for the JOM's. I was never gonna spend more than a monkey on the set-up, and budgets are what they are...
much of a muchness.
It seems to me theyr all much of a muchness
thanks for the input lads. i got them off ebay in the end dogbot but any info on your pals shop wouldnt go amiss for future reference! where abouts are you based mate?
So its been laborious to say the least! its taken three weekends to get them just about right, and if im honest i probably wouldn't go down the coily route again! being a novice i went into it blind and in a way im kinda glad because its a good learning curve, but if id have known then what i know now i would have just gone for springs i reckon.
I went for the coilys pretty much because of the drop, and because they are adjustable; but i didn't do my research. i didn't think about the fact that you have to get the alignment sorted every time they are adjusted, and i aint in the habit of throwing money away like that! so the reality is they're gonna stay put until i put some new wheels on her!
I also wasn't expecting the ride to be quite so tough. I've actually now lifted her a bit so that i don't need to wear a kidney belt for my daily commute! saying that, i dont know if springs would have been any better.
alas, she's low and slow (http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=247720.0);
I'll add photos and go into more detail about the fitting nightmare i had on my build thread.
thanks again all for the input.
-
They are purely for stance/looks, they do nothing for the ride and handling but i'm keeping mine purely because i think the mk3 looks silly all 'up in the air'.
-
Potholes will kill £155 joms or £800 bilsteins just the same...
I don't agree.
Quality dampers are made and finished to a better standard, have better seals and are generally valved better and offer better protection against bottoming out and blowing seals.
I tried cheap coilovers in the past, and burt them.
My current Konis have been on for 12 years...and they are still perfect...despite hitting the odd pothole hard enough to bend a wheel.
Yeah you do get what you pay for i suppose, the trouble is that quality coilovers are likely to cost more than most peoples mk3's are worth at the moment and everybody loves cheap low's.
-
just a quick copy and paste from my build thread, just want to double my chances of getting some advise:
(http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q258/jimmerehab/VW/geometry_zps91553146.jpg)
As you can see I took her in for 'hawkeye' alignment.
they toed in both fronts. the rears are obviously fixed, so apparently they cant do anything about the misalignment there. the positive camber and negative caster up front they also can't do anything about apparently.
So this is where i really need some advise from the forum. before fitting the coilys i had no issue with alignment. now i have, shes tracking to the left, pretty bad too (imo). i watched the guy sit the wheel straight and toe both sides in, but shes still pulling to the left; exactly as was before i paid them £36 quid for the pleasure.
They told me there must be a underlying problem, but like i say, there was no problem before i fitted the coilys.
is there a way i can sort this myself?
should all the coily's be sitting at the same height?
if so, how do i get the most accurate measurement?
how can i make sure each corner is mirroring the opposite? again, how do i get the ride height measurement? as i know this will affect the steering as well.
if i could just correct this tracking problem i'd be happy as Larry. my mate reckons the only way to do it is take it in for full four wheel alignment, but if im gonna do that, i might as well have just paid someone to do the whole lot. and if i take her in now id feel like a proper cheat.
please, if anyone can lend some help or advise it would be hugely appreciated. I am a proper novice at this stuff, which probably shows, but its the only way im gonna learn.
thanks all
-
Potholes are more likely to burst a tyre or buckle a wheel before it does any damage to a decent set of shocks.
Unless you pay £500 or more for adjustables then you wont feel any difference in cheaper coilovers.
-
Potholes will kill £155 joms or £800 bilsteins just the same...
I don't agree.
Quality dampers are made and finished to a better standard, have better seals and are generally valved better and offer better protection against bottoming out and blowing seals.
I tried cheap coilovers in the past, and burt them.
My current Konis have been on for 12 years...and they are still perfect...despite hitting the odd pothole hard enough to bend a wheel.
Yeah you do get what you pay for i suppose, the trouble is that quality coilovers are likely to cost more than most peoples mk3's are worth at the moment and everybody loves cheap low's.
Very true. Best set up is going to cost you £700+. I plan to go Bistien B8's with H&R springs next. I think
as well you pay for what you get, and I only want the best for my Mk3 which is coming along nicely :cool:
-
Take it somewhere better to be aligned if they say they cant do anything for the camber, as it only involves undoing the two shock mounting bolts....
A difference in camber will cause pulling to one side but it doesn't look too great of a difference from that printout.
-
Take it somewhere better to be aligned if they say they cant do anything for the camber, as it only involves undoing the two shock mounting bolts....
A difference in camber will cause pulling to one side but it doesn't look too great of a difference from that printout.
thanks for the reply mate. i myself know how to adjust the camber but have no way to measure/gauge each wheel. surely they can trolley jack the front end, release those two mount bolts and then adjust the camber using the 'hawkeye' laser?
but as you said, they aint far out anyway. so why is she pulling to the left so much? ride height??? again, how do i measure the ride height? how do i know everythings in the right place? its clearly not quite as simple as matching the two coilys.
nightmare..............
-
Uneven coil over heights, uneven tyre pressures, out of shape tyre or wheel? Or simply a combination of slightly misaligned suspension components. For example if the ream beam or a stub axle is tweaked in one direction and the front end us tweaked in another it's destined to start crabbing down the road.
-
Uneven coil over heights, uneven tyre pressures, out of shape tyre or wheel?
coilys are the same height. (although a method for exact measurement would be a big help)
tyre pressures match and are correct.
tyre or wheel shape.... didnt have a problem until i fitted the coilys.
Or simply a combination of slightly misaligned suspension components. For example if the ream beam or a stub axle is tweaked in one direction and the front end us tweaked in another it's destined to start crabbing down the road.
again i had no problem until fitting the coilys. i havent touched the rear beam, and you can see what the read out is above for both ends. advise on diagnosing the problem would be a huge help
-
the camber in the road itself will make your call pull to the left. although not much, if you combine a little error in all the things mentioned plus the road, it can add up to be noticeable
-
In my experience you get what you pay for.I bought cheap one's and although they improved the handling and appearance i would never do it again.The ride is harsh,speed bumps,rough roads,manhole covers etc are a nightmare,it just makes driving the car an unpleasant experience.You are forever looking out for things that you do'nt want to hit !.
Iv'e recently sold my cheap one's and gone back to standard but i'm on the lookout for some better one's that have adjustable damping as the cheap ones are just too hard for my bones !.
If you are changing them yourself do'nt forget you will need to reset the camper on the fronts and if you have'nt got a windy gun it would be wise to go to a tyre centre and ask them to crack your top nuts loose on the fronts as they can be a nightmare and turn a simple job into a pain.
On the rears it's easier if you loosen the bottom bolts on both,then remove both top nuts and bushes completely and use two jacks at the same time to lift it up.This way you can remove the old one's easily.If you try to do one side at a time you will be fighting the other side when you try to get the strut out. :smiley:
-
thanks for the input but as i said, i've already fit the coilys. i'm just having issues with tracking now....