Coilovers? Are the cheapies worth it?

Hi all
Just trying to get my old driver back on the road, throwing a little funding at it to get it roadworthy. I want a set of coilovers if poss or a suspension kit that sits the car pretty low.
Has anyone bought any of the cheap coilovers available on ebay? I think the brand is hottuning or something, I dont need anything flash with it being a small engined car, mainly for looks.

Thanks for any time and input on this topic

Gavs

Ask Lawsy.

Tian

i have a set of these on my mk3 !!! terrible ride but go pretty low if thats wat you want . wen i say terrible i mean its like driving with concrete tyres and no suspension atall    

that's what happens when you go awfully low anyway, regardless of cheap/dear/springs+shocks/coilovers

mk1_mason said

i have a set of these on my mk3 !!! terrible ride but go pretty low if thats wat you want . wen i say terrible i mean its like driving with concrete tyres and no suspension atall    

I might have to give em a go, as I said at the moment just getting the car up to MOT standard! Just the tip of the iceberg! I would have preferred an H&R cup kit like I have on my Ibiza 20vT, I got them to replace some spax coilovers I had but they were not much cop. I fitted the H&R's and they were just as low and had a better ride and no creaking!

Tian said

Ask Lawsy.

Tian

Bad experience? lol

zippy said

Tian said

Ask Lawsy.

Tian

Bad experience? lol

i think he's happy with them fitted them about 3 weeks ago though

sounds promising! Cheers

yea do it !! cant really knock them for the price you going to pay !! worth a shot ..

noticed Janspeed ones for 215 quid too? Maybe worth a go being an age old established firm....

i put a set of these on my mk1 one about 3 weeks ago and all i can say is that they're way better that the supersports that i used to bounce about on and they were twice the price! the ride is pretty firm with near enough zero body roll, but still forgiving enough on the pot hole ridden roads in my town.

90mm drop on 13" classics with 175/50/13 conti's

id recomend them to anyone wanting dub scrubbing on a budget.

bengus23 said

i put a set of these on my mk1 one about 3 weeks ago and all i can say is that they're way better that the supersports that i used to bounce about on and they were twice the price! the ride is pretty firm with near enough zero body roll, but still forgiving enough on the pot hole ridden roads in my town.

90mm drop on 13" classics with 175/50/13 conti's

id recomend them to anyone wanting dub scrubbing on a budget.

Stick up a link so we know exactly the make and spec you got fitted. I've got Supersports fitted to my car and have to say I'm happy for the price apart from one of the shocks leaking for the second time, that could just be my bad luck though.

Tian

i got a set of coilies for ?200 of ebay and if its just for looks like you say you really cant go wrong with them just make sure you cake them in some kind of protective coating as there prone to corroding gotta expect that tho with them being so cheap!

with any coilover i'd expect corrosion on our roads.
they have 3 choices when making them
1. paint
2. chrome or other elctro-plating
3. aluminium

paint will come off the first time you wind the lower seats up
chrome or other plating will corrode with time thanks to our lovly weather and the salt on our roads
aluminium whilst not coroding as such will oxidise and iff the lower seats are ali too they will also corrode and stick to the stanchion.

i've seen 500 quid coilies die because of lack of maintance and a coat off something on the thread.
best i've heard sofar is bike chain wax but i would also consider waxoyl.

any coating will need topping up ever few weeks/months and should be part of any routine service on the car.

only difference betweeen these ebay cheap coilovers and jamex and the likes is
1, price this is a big difference
2, materials used (not so big a difference as china has most of it these days)
3, seals (not a major difference as has been noted by tian)
4, after market service (there not in the country at the end of the day ou can't just nip in with a problem)
5, longevity (yet to be proofed)

there can be no difference in springs as they still support the car.
mindless rant over i apologies for it.

I was looking at some coilovers on a stall (cant remember which) at ultimate dubs, they looked the same as the ebay ones but they were ?270.
I asked the guy what the difference was in the ebay ones was and he said ''eeeerrr eeerr because they are from abroard sometimes its dificult to send the back under waranty but thats about it!!!''

So I went and bought the some off the bay for ?150! Got them yesterday will fit them at the weekend and let you know what their like!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/COIL-OVER-COILOVER-VW-GOLF-MK1-ADJUSTABLE-SUSPENSION

The price on these on ebay seems to vary, a mate picked a set up for 160notes whereas i paid around ?180 and ive seen them priced at ?220 as well.

As for corrosion protection, i set them up and then caned them with waxoil spray paying extra attention to the adjuster cups giving them a good soak in the hope that the wax would work its way right into the threads.  fingers crossed that'll be enough.!

Main physical difference between cheap and costly ones is the thickness of the plating used as corrosion resistance. Eventually this will be chipped and scratched, and/or wear due to being wound up and down. But I think the expensive coilovers will last much longer than cheap copy items.

Its a shame Lawsy's sold up, otherwise he could have given a long term test of his cheap coilovers. I have Weitec coilovers, coming up to 2 years now, and they're still performing faultlessly with minimal corrosion (I sprayed them in thick grease to protect them). All coilovers benefit from this, not just cheap or expensive ones, though.

I know they are probably not going to be as good as more expensive ones but I only wanted a cheap and cheerful set

Heres my logic:

I priced up standard springs and dampers from gsf and it came to arround ?120 plus vat, my coilovers were ?150 so i thought it was worth a go!

In 3/4 years if they do leak I can just buy another set with the money I have saved in compaison to a ?300 set!

Still I suppose I just have to get them fitted now!!

I see where you're coming from - suspension wears out anyway. Fair enough if its:

?200 set lasts 2 years
?500 set lasts 5 years

but then if you're unable to afford the downtime while your car has work done on it, or need to pay a garage/mechanic to do the work for you, its better to go for a longer-lasting option. So it depends on other factors too…

paul_c said

I see where you're coming from - suspension wears out anyway. Fair enough if its:

?200 set lasts 2 years
?500 set lasts 5 years

but then if you're unable to afford the downtime while your car has work done on it, or need to pay a garage/mechanic to do the work for you, its better to go for a longer-lasting option. So it depends on other factors too…

Thats true, I never tought of fitment costs as I do all the work on mycar meself.

Plus i didnt have ?500 for a set of coilovers - this was really my main selling point on the cheepies!

Plus my cab is currently sat on its bumpstops so im just looking forward to not slipping a disk on every pebble in the road!