Product Review - Fortune Auto 500 Series Coilovers

[sex14]

mine had a popping noise also. reason being. the collars that held up the spring it self were not tightened all the way and were loose. since that happened im assuming it screwed with the factory spring preload?

[iamtheyi]

Originally Posted by sex14

mine had a popping noise also. reason being. the collars that held up the spring it self were not tightened all the way and were loose. since that happened im assuming it screwed with the factory spring preload?

ah I see. I'll take a look first thing tomorrow morning.

[unreal-]

i believe i noted this about a page or two ago. Usually the popping is from

1. Loose top perches
2. The spring binding because of the rubber bushings they use. these bushings sit above and below the spring. They offer the nylon ones for about 25$ shipped for both sides.

Im receiving my bushings tomorrow and if it doesnt rain Wednesday, taking apart the coilovers to put em in, and while im there, remove a collar or two

[iamtheyi]

Originally Posted by unreal-

i believe i noted this about a page or two ago. Usually the popping is from

1. Loose top perches
2. The spring binding because of the rubber bushings they use. these bushings sit above and below the spring. They offer the nylon ones for about 25$ shipped for both sides.

Im receiving my bushings tomorrow and if it doesnt rain Wednesday, taking apart the coilovers to put em in, and while im there, remove a collar or two

so.. Not a big deal?

[unreal-]

Originally Posted by iamtheyi

so.. Not a big deal?

Technically no, but to be safe id go under there and make sure everything is tight perch wise, and the spring should be snug, with no up/down/side to side movement. Otherwise you might have iffy ride quality and funny noises when parking.

[iamtheyi]

lol I just did the preload again and it's still messed up.

What else? Top perch/collar being right under the camber plates?
If all else fails, I'll just have to go for those nylon bushings. Still think that's kind of messed up that they make you buy it to get rid of noise lol. Coils are still great quality stuff though.

[Lukasss]

Mine make a popping noise when im at full lock sometimes, its never givin me a problem.
Im sure its just the spring binding. No biggie, ive gotton it with any coilovers ive had. Even my Konis.

Regardless, i dont see myself getting any other coils, ever, in this price range. These are awesome for my daily S14
10;8 spring rate, and valved for 'street' use. Im low already, and still have plenty more to go down.

[Razi]

The popping noise in my car went away after I adjusted some preload out of the coils.

[iamtheyi]

Originally Posted by Lukasss

Mine make a popping noise when im at full lock sometimes, its never givin me a problem.
Im sure its just the spring binding. No biggie, ive gotton it with any coilovers ive had. Even my Konis.

Regardless, i dont see myself getting any other coils, ever, in this price range. These are awesome for my daily S14
10;8 spring rate, and valved for 'street' use. Im low already, and still have plenty more to go down.

Meh. Guess I'll just get used to it

Originally Posted by Razi

The popping noise in my car went away after I adjusted some preload out of the coils.

any less and my springs would be loose hahaha.

[Razi]

Spray some WD40 on it! :P
I did that as well.

[iamtheyi]

Originally Posted by Razi

Spray some WD40 on it! :P
I did that as well.

LOL! Might as well put some white lithium instead. Haha. I'll try that this week. If it stops raining in June... in California.... which is retarded as shit. Just started sanding my car for paint too :'(

[One_love_silvia]

shouldnt this be here: http://zilvia.net/f/reviews-forum/

??

[iamtheyi]

Originally Posted by One_love_silvia

shouldnt this be here: http://zilvia.net/f/reviews-forum/

??

uh... This has been going for 5 pages and mods haven't said anything so I'm pretty sure they're cool with it??

[Prime]

Originally Posted by iamtheyi

uh... This has been going for 5 pages and mods haven't said anything so I'm pretty sure they're cool with it??

Not only 5 pages, but 1.5+ years.

Little late to the party on that one.

[One_love_silvia]

i understand its old. but that doesn't change the fact it would serve its purpose better int he review thread. seeing as thats where ur sposed to go if ur looking for a review.

[unreal-]

Originally Posted by Lukasss

Im low already, and still have plenty more to go down.

Interesting.. how low are you? I have the 10/8 rates and my car, with 1.7* camber STILL had a 1.5 finger gap with the coils MAXXED in the front. Even popping a collar off i can just barely fit my hand around the tire, so still almost 1 finger gap. Getting some 7" ERS springs in the future and dropping it another 1/2"-3/4" in front and it will be perfect. The 10kg springs are 8" length fyi.

[95KA-Turbo]

Originally Posted by iamtheyi

lol I just did the preload again and it's still messed up.

What else? Top perch/collar being right under the camber plates?
If all else fails, I'll just have to go for those nylon bushings. Still think that's kind of messed up that they make you buy it to get rid of noise lol. Coils are still great quality stuff though.

I can't make any promises, but if you talk to the vendor you bought them from they might be willing to help you out with them. I was under the impression they were supposed to come with those nylon rings now, but I could be wrong.

[da_crew10]

Like the last guy said. I almost fly out of my seat in the highway on some bumps or dips. Any idear what it might be?

[Lukasss]

Originally Posted by unreal-

Interesting.. how low are you? I have the 10/8 rates and my car, with 1.7* camber STILL had a 1.5 finger gap with the coils MAXXED in the front. Even popping a collar off i can just barely fit my hand around the tire, so still almost 1 finger gap. Getting some 7" ERS springs in the future and dropping it another 1/2"-3/4" in front and it will be perfect. The 10kg springs are 8" length fyi.

My frame is about 2.5 inches off the ground.
I flipped the spindles in the front. It reduces a lot of camber, ad allows for a lot more low.
I plan on upgrading to the swifts eventually.

[Lukasss]

Originally Posted by da_crew10

Like the last guy said. I almost fly out of my seat in the highway on some bumps or dips. Any idear what it might be?

You should adjust the stiffness in the rear then.
When i was desperate to get my car lower i put the rears on straight out of the box.
take the time to adjust, and your ride will be golden.

[harangatang]

Got my new FA in last night, but they didn't send me the correct springs, so now I have to wait haha.
I'll be posting my own review in here of them shortly! Super pumped to get these babies on my car.

[iamtheyi]

Originally Posted by da_crew10

Like the last guy said. I almost fly out of my seat in the highway on some bumps or dips. Any idear what it might be?

uh.. soften the damping? what are your spring rates? TOO much preload can do that.

[95KA-Turbo]

Too much preload or too stiff of dampening is a possibility. What kind of bumps are we talking here? If you have large dips or bumps you will definitely feel it. I can't drive on the interstate around here because the bumps and dips are so big things would get ripped off my car.

[da_crew10]

I have the fronts preloaded and stiffened to 15 clicks and the rears are at 10 clicks. The fronts feel perfect . The rear i ddnt really know How to preload really. If u want it low in the rear won't the spring be sitting freely since the lower u go in the back the harder it is to preload the spring?

[bigs]

Originally Posted by da_crew10

I have the fronts preloaded and stiffened to 15 clicks and the rears are at 10 clicks. The fronts feel perfect . The rear i ddnt really know How to preload really. If u want it low in the rear won't the spring be sitting freely since the lower u go in the back the harder it is to preload the spring?

Why are you preloading your springs?

[zooopreme]

Originally Posted by da_crew10

I have the fronts preloaded and stiffened to 15 clicks and the rears are at 10 clicks. The fronts feel perfect . The rear i ddnt really know How to preload really. If u want it low in the rear won't the spring be sitting freely since the lower u go in the back the harder it is to preload the spring?

I have 8K/6K spring rates

I may just copy your front settings. I added some preload after I contacted Terry about the loud pop noise I was hearing while parking my car.

As for the rears (from full hard soften it up about 6 clicks) so if 40 is full hard, it's at about 34 and I really enjoy my rears. But my fronts are definitely bouncy so I may try a softer setting.

[yingiang]

Do not preload your coils

[zooopreme]

Originally Posted by yingiang

Do not preload your coils

Some of us have had problems with the popping sound coming from the front coilovers. Adding a tiny bit of preload corrects the popping sound.

[yingiang]

Originally Posted by zooopreme

Some of us have had problems with the popping sound coming from the front coilovers. Adding a tiny bit of preload corrects the popping sound.

The reason why it pops is because they are preloaded.

I learned this from my experience of preloading coils. I had clunking and popping sounds so I asked PBM what's the deal and they told me DO NOT preload but to move the spring flush to the top plate, spin the locking collars snug to the bottom of the spring and tighten them there. The spring should not spin freely but you should be able to move/spin the spring if you tried turning it with your hand.

All clunking and popping noises disappeared after I did this and ride got considerably better.

[zooopreme]

Not to take away from what you already know about coilovers and what you've experienced but by adding a couple of spins (adding preload) it completely got rid of the popping sounds to my coilovers. I was actually trying to dig up the email that I got from Chris at Fortune Auto to show you that one of their reps recommended adding maybe 2-5mm of preload.

EDIT: found the email, my initial message is the bottom part and Chris' response was the top

I firmly believe that adding a little preload to my FA coilovers solved my popping problem. I have not heard a sound since I fixed it back in April.