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FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 10:05 am
by Ettie70
Hi Guys,

Tried looking for a thread like this on here but couldn't find anything.

Anyway who has experience with the FK streetline series? What was your experience regarding performance, ride comfort and quality?

I know it's not a Koni or Bilstein and are like 3 times cheaper, but I have heard good things about them so far from the 2 guys I have spoken to that have them fitted. Just don't want something like JOM that bounce etc (well that's what I heard).

I was priced R15000 for Bilsteins, R16500 for Koni and R4950 for FK streetlines :crazy: Cant help to doubt.. Is it worth it to pay R10K more for a Bilstein or Koni setup, that's actually what I want to justify. I'm not going to track this car or take it to the strip, as it's a Jetta 6 TDI, so I'm aiming for going lower but still maintain as much comfort as possible with NO bouncing ride.

I do have experience with Koni Coilovers in one of my previous car, all I can say is wow it was awesome and probably cant expect to get he same with FK's... but how close are they? That's the question...

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance :wink:

Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 10:23 am
by Donnie Darko
I have been running FKs on my Roc for two month i think. Ride is awesome :cool: Especially for the price they are well worth it.
I have felt then in polos and they feel harder though.

IMHO they are worth every cent :grin:

Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 10:29 am
by Ettie70
Donnie Darko wrote:I have been running FKs on my Roc for two month i think. Ride is awesome :cool: Especially for the price they are well worth it.
I have felt then in polos and they feel harder though.

IMHO they are worth every cent :grin:
Thanks Donnie - good to hear - so they are not bouncy?

Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 10:35 am
by Le Clue
I've had Bilsteins, they are brilliant, I've had JOM and they were crap. I now have Fk's and they are feeling much more expensive than what they are. No funny noises, very good ride.. no complaints at all.

Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 10:35 am
by marzbars
And where does one get FK? Guld Auto only?

Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 10:36 am
by Hoosier Daddy
Ride on my Polo with helpers and adjusters still in was really good as well :) Will buy them again

Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 10:42 am
by Le Clue
marzbars wrote:And where does one get FK? Guld Auto only?
Zubair van Wheels & More :cool:

Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 10:47 am
by RPGTI
Ok I have them on my polo (about 5 months now) this is what I have learned...

Ride quality -

They will be firmer and bouncy even on roads you "thought" were smooth, they do give you good grip, I would say better than oem except they do hop slightly on a bumpy bend which is expected from a firmer setup but to be fair the oem springs and dampers did it and were even worse. Funny enough I don't know if it's just coincidence but braking feels better as well but to be fair I had changed the pads so maybe they just wore in better at that stage hence me saying coincidence.

The height -

They go pretty low good drop granted you have droplinks - usually supplied in the kit. Personally I didn't buy them to go very low I bought them to be able to adjust them if needs be (taking alot of passengers/luggage/dirt roads or roads I know it could scrape) as well as to even out the drop as sometimes coil springs drop the front more than the rear or visa versa and I wanted them even.

Build quality -

They built well apart from poorly placed holders for the wheel speed sensor cable and brake line holder but that's minor. Threads are good, ally used is good they can take a beating considering they still going strong on these roads. I have held these and JOM's and not to knock the brand the FK's are built slightly better but how they look means nothing its how well they built the internals of the damper but as for the FK's they decent.

Problems -

My front left clunks when turning at a stand still or at slow speeds and I tired everything (wasn't droplinks,wasn't top shock mountings) turned out to be the main spring binding with the helper spring and I didn't want to remove the helpers so I cable tied the main spring to the helper to stop them shifting and everything is 100% no noise now. Other than that they have been awesome so far.



If you can afford dampening adjustable coilovers go for them you will be very pleased that you are able to set them softer on these roads. It's quite abit more bouncy than a oem setup and honestly I almost took them off within the first week due to this but you get used to it eventually and I don't mind much now but some days you just want it to glide over the roads like the oem setup did and if you have dampening adjust you can set it softer and you will be happy. Prepair for some sort of noises in the suspension though. Lastly the problems all go away when you see how awesome the car looks when it's lowered.

Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 10:52 am
by Hoosier Daddy
RPGTI wrote: My front left clunks when turning at a stand still or at slow speeds and I tired everything (wasn't droplinks,wasn't top shock mountings) turned out to be the main spring binding with the helper spring and I didn't want to remove the helpers so I cable tied the main spring to the helper to stop them shifting and everything is 100% no noise now. Other than that they have been awesome so far.
That's the only issue and that's a nice fix.

Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 10:52 am
by marzbars
PFTTT, bounce.

Come feel my 60mm Koenics with stock shocks.
Driving over a cigarette bud in the Jetta would induce labour in a non pregnant woman.
#turndownforwhat

Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 10:53 am
by Hoosier Daddy
marzbars wrote:PFTTT, bounce.

Come feel my 60mm Koenics with stock shocks.
Driving over a cigarette bud in the Jetta would induce labour in a non pregnant woman.
#turndownforwhat
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Quote for the sig! Hate hash tagging though

Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 10:55 am
by RPGTI
Hoosier Daddy wrote:
RPGTI wrote: My front left clunks when turning at a stand still or at slow speeds and I tired everything (wasn't droplinks,wasn't top shock mountings) turned out to be the main spring binding with the helper spring and I didn't want to remove the helpers so I cable tied the main spring to the helper to stop them shifting and everything is 100% no noise now. Other than that they have been awesome so far.
That's the only issue and that's a nice fix.

Lol I thought it was the main spring and helper spring all moving together but getting stuck then releasing but this confirms that its the main spring flexing, getting stuck on the plastic spacer and then the helper moving causing the clunk. One would think the cable ties will break but they not getting flexed at all they just stopping the main spring from turning on the plastic spacer and same for the helper spring.

Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 11:01 am
by Ettie70
Le Clue wrote:I've had Bilsteins, they are brilliant, I've had JOM and they were crap. I now have Fk's and they are feeling much more expensive than what they are. No funny noises, very good ride.. no complaints at all.
Good to know this from someone with experience - thanks bud
RPGTI wrote:Ok I have them on my polo (about 5 months now) this is what I have learned...

Ride quality -

They will be firmer and bouncy even on roads you "thought" were smooth, they do give you good grip, I would say better than oem except they do hop slightly on a bumpy bend which is expected from a firmer setup but to be fair the oem springs and dampers did it and were even worse. Funny enough I don't know if it's just coincidence but braking feels better as well but to be fair I had changed the pads so maybe they just wore in better at that stage hence me saying coincidence.

The height -

They go pretty low good drop granted you have droplinks - usually supplied in the kit. Personally I didn't buy them to go very low I bought them to be able to adjust them if needs be (taking alot of passengers/luggage/dirt roads or roads I know it could scrape) as well as to even out the drop as sometimes coil springs drop the front more than the rear or visa versa and I wanted them even.

Build quality -

They built well apart from poorly placed holders for the wheel speed sensor cable and brake line holder but that's minor. Threads are good, ally used is good they can take a beating considering they still going strong on these roads. I have held these and JOM's and not to knock the brand the FK's are built slightly better but how they look means nothing its how well they built the internals of the damper but as for the FK's they decent.

Problems -

My front left clunks when turning at a stand still or at slow speeds and I tired everything (wasn't droplinks,wasn't top shock mountings) turned out to be the main spring binding with the helper spring and I didn't want to remove the helpers so I cable tied the main spring to the helper to stop them shifting and everything is 100% no noise now. Other than that they have been awesome so far.



If you can afford dampening adjustable coilovers go for them you will be very pleased that you are able to set them softer on these roads. It's quite abit more bouncy than a oem setup and honestly I almost took them off within the first week due to this but you get used to it eventually and I don't mind much now but some days you just want it to glide over the roads like the oem setup did and if you have dampening adjust you can set it softer and you will be happy. Prepair for some sort of noises in the suspension though. Lastly the problems all go away when you see how awesome the car looks when it's lowered.
Thanks for taking the effort in basically writing an essay to explain youre experience - much appreciated :thumbup:
marzbars wrote:PFTTT, bounce.

Come feel my 60mm Koenics with stock shocks.
Driving over a cigarette bud in the Jetta would induce labour in a non pregnant woman.
#turndownforwhat
Bwahahaha you made my day - thanks for the laugh :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 11:07 am
by Ettie70
RPGTI wrote: If you can afford dampening adjustable coilovers go for them you will be very pleased that you are able to set them softer on these roads. It's quite abit more bouncy than a oem setup and honestly I almost took them off within the first week due to this but you get used to it eventually and I don't mind much now but some days you just want it to glide over the roads like the oem setup did and if you have dampening adjust you can set it softer and you will be happy. Prepair for some sort of noises in the suspension though. Lastly the problems all go away when you see how awesome the car looks when it's lowered.
I was thinking in getting them, they fairly cheap, if I'm not happy I can keep an lookout for a second set of Konis or Bilstein :thumbup:

Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 11:08 am
by Killerwatt
I havnt owned a set of fk coilover but i'll give my 2c.
The fk streetline coilovers are very similar in design to the jom coilover. They are not a true monotube coilover like the Bilsteins, hnr, koni or bc coilovers. Rather they have a insert with goes into the shock body. The name brand coilovers are dynod to make sure the valving is correct and within spec, il bet the fks are not.
I've had a set of Joms, now i have the BC's. No compare between the two. If you just want comfort and are willing to sacrifice a bit in cornering, then you can spec a softer spring rate.
Not badmouthing FK just an observation of whats on paper.

Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 11:11 am
by Ettie70
Killerwatt wrote:I havnt owned a set of fk coilover but i'll give my 2c.
The fk streetline coilovers are very similar in design to the jom coilover. They are not a true monotube coilover like the Bilsteins, hnr, koni or bc coilovers. Rather they have a insert with goes into the shock body. The name brand coilovers are dynod to make sure the valving is correct and within spec, il bet the fks are not.
I've had a set of Joms, now i have the BC's. No compare between the two. If you just want comfort and are willing to sacrifice a bit in cornering, then you can spec a softer spring rate.
Not badmouthing FK just an observation of whats on paper.
Thanks for the input - what you are saying is very true and should be considered. Thanks

Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 11:58 am
by Donnie Darko
Ettie70 wrote:
Donnie Darko wrote:I have been running FKs on my Roc for two month i think. Ride is awesome :cool: Especially for the price they are well worth it.
I have felt then in polos and they feel harder though.

IMHO they are worth every cent :grin:
Thanks Donnie - good to hear - so they are not bouncy?

Not really. Over seriously crap roads they are hard.

Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 12:03 pm
by Ettie70
Donnie Darko wrote:
Ettie70 wrote:
Donnie Darko wrote:I have been running FKs on my Roc for two month i think. Ride is awesome :cool: Especially for the price they are well worth it.
I have felt then in polos and they feel harder though.

IMHO they are worth every cent :grin:
Thanks Donnie - good to hear - so they are not bouncy?

Not really. Over seriously crap roads they are hard.
That one can expect but it's on of those things going the coilover route

Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 7:55 pm
by TURBULENCE
Who stocks the FK coilovers in Joburg?


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Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 8:09 pm
by Donnie Darko
TURBULENCE wrote:Who stocks the FK coilovers in Joburg?


Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
Zubair from wheels and more 083 265 6668

Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 8:12 pm
by TURBULENCE
Thanks Donnie. Please may I have his contact details.


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Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 8:15 pm
by Donnie Darko
TURBULENCE wrote:Thanks Donnie. Please may I have his contact details.


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I did post it. 083 265 6668

Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 8:19 pm
by TURBULENCE
Lol I was blind there :lol: Thanks again.


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Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 8:20 pm
by Donnie Darko
TURBULENCE wrote:Lol I was blind there :lol: Thanks again.


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No prob bud :lol:

Re: FK Coilovers reviews??

Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2023 1:28 am
by jssnakey
hi
I have a 1.6L golf 4 and I'm looking to get budget coilovers for it. I want to lower it but also keep it somewhat comfortable.
should I go for JOM, ARC or FK? I've heard many different opinions so I'd like to make sure I buy the right thing