Finally going to drop the car today.

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Well hopefully my spring compressor fits good and everything goes well.

I'm putting my modified damper forks on for the extra 1/2" drop in the front. It's only going to be dropped 1.5" in the front and 1" in the back so do you guys think I should get an alignment? I didn't think so but I'm not 100% sure.

I'll post on here if I have any problems. And pics if I find my damn camera my dogs hid somewhere in my house. Man, Beagles can be a major pain sometimes....

-Mike

[AZmike]

You could get by without an alignment, but it would not be a bad idea--especially if you have newer tires or have not had it aligned recently. What springs and dampers will you be using?

[87AccordLXsdn]

i've been told to get an allignment after every time you screw with the suspension, but i never did and everything seems fine so its your call i guess

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Alright I don't think I will get an alignment at least for awhile.

Alright problem time now:

My passenger side spline bolt on the lower control arm was stuck (knew it was going to be. driverside was ok though.)
I got it out with some cutting, heating, and using my air hammer. Well here's the kicker, the splines are smoothed down now. I put the driverside bolt in it and it just spun. Would it be ok to just get a new spline bolt and nut? Or do I need to replace that bushing with the spline insert? If it's going to f**k up my car then I would want to replace it but if it won't then I wont waste any time replacing it.

Good news I have the front struts and springs out just need to safely get the springs off. My spring compressor wouldn't fit on the front springs but the rear ones it will. I think I'm going to take them to a shop and have them just remove them and put the Tokico springs and struts on to save me a headache.

Going better than I expected, man I was really dreading doing this but it's not that hard if you have good tools.

-Mike

[bobafett]

air tools + spring compressor = 30 minutes of time saved easily :)

if u doubled the amount you were lowering the car i would say its perfect, but considering the height ur car HAS been, it will be happy to see 1.5/1.0 :D hhehe

it took me about 3 sets of spring compressors before i found one that worked, and even that set is akward on the front coils. :)

i recomend coilovers so that you can just spin the perches down and now worry about compressing the hell out of them when u work on suspension in the future! heheh

congrats on getting lowered though

[2drSE-i]

dude where the hell did you find tokico springs? ive been looking for those things everywhere!

[kotseko]

when I did mine, I didn't bother using a spring compressor. I guess this depends on the spring your installing. I read it somewhere from the board an old trick in taking the spring off. loosen the nut that holds the strut tower but before it comes off, wrap it with a towel or a shirt or something over it and step on the strut. The idea is to stop the nut from shooting off when it comes off. it's not that dangerous. the compression of the spring is not that strong to go thru the towel. And then the ghetto way to install, depending on your weight and spring, I just assembled the shock, spring and put on the tower and then use my hand and sat on it. Your going to need another pair of hands on this one to screw the nut while your compressing it. I did this on my neuspeed springs 1.5 and koni shocks and my body weight of 163lbs. The rear was really easy to install and did the same thing. Good luck!

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Argh!!!! F**king Honda!!!!!!!! Dealership

This is totally ridiculious! The earliest I can get that spline bolt and nut is March 12th. And the damn thing is over $13 for the bolt. I asked the guy about the bushing and he was like oh yes you need to replace that if it spins, it's not supposed to do that. I told him that maybe it doesnt matter. Wouldn't be the 1st thing Honda did that didn't need to be done. So this his hella ghey. Something that could have been done TODAY is going to have to take about 2 fricken weeks because of the Dealer.

This is why I hate Hondas so much, parts are so expensive and take forever to get. I will never forget that it took a month and a half to do a normal brake job on my 94 prelude b/c of the dealer. What a waste of time.

And I'm having a shop take the fronts apart and put the new stuff on. Oh well I'm going to start taking off the rears now. Damn dealership I hate you!!!!!


-Mike

[Mike's89AccordLX]

The reason I'm not dropping it more is b/c I can't afford to honestly. To do it the right way.

I bought the Tokico Blues and Tokico Springs over a year ago for $200 shipped so I think that was a pretty good deal. And by keeping it all the same brand I really don't have to worry about the springs being too stiff for the struts and stuff like that.

[2drSE-i]

yea i know thats why i wanted those springs, cuz i dont want much of a drop and i dont really need a real stiff setup. i cant find tokico springs anywhere!

[halxi]

ok is it the front/rear lower bushing?

and if so, does it look like this?

(the top one)
http://users.4x4wh.com/4x4master/Drop17.jpg

that was the rear lower strut bushing, i got mine from napa for $12. We needed 2 (one for each side).

This is how we went about removing the outer metal ring which was rusted to my control arm/knuckle.
http://users.4x4wh.com/4x4master/Drop16.jpg

Im not sure if thats the bushing you're talking about... but i had the exact same problem, only with that bushing i just posted... good luck.

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Hit the nail on the head. That's the one I was talking about. Yeah I will definately have to use my recipricating saw to get it out.

[halxi]

just cut several lines into it around it (probably 5-6 seperate sections), then take a flat head screw driver and a hammer and chisel each section out.

We did my front suspension in 4 hours, goofin around (and i had civic struts for some fuckin reason :rant: ) so we had to disassemble alot more then we were hoping.

Took me/superaccord, and one of his friends 2.5 days to do the rear. It was a BITCH.

Started off just trying to cut it with a hack saw, said f that... went and got new bushings/bolts. The car in the junkyard that i got the bolts from, took us all of 15 min (no joke) to COMPLETELY remove the rear suspension. Its sad when the car in the 'yard is better then mine on the street.

Good luck to ya, if you need anymore info/tips let me know.


EDIT:

Oh yea, and be sure to put some sort of lubricant around the bushing when you're sliding it in, and if it gets cock-eyed, removed it and start over. Petrolium (Sp?) jelly would probably work, or some sort of lithium grease. Im sure you knew that, but just in case.

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Gotta quick question for anyone who might know, am I suppose to put the dust covers on my new shocks? When I bought them they didn't come with covers for the piston like the old ones have. I live in MN so road salt and gunk would make those not work so well. The front ones I could get off the old shocks but the rear ones have a metal circle welded onto the piston shaft, so I can't get the cover off with out cutting stuff. I'm really anxious to see the car when its done. The springs look way smaller than the old ones. And my old shocks were crap in the back. I could easily push them in and they wouldn't come back out on their own.


So what should I do about the dust cover situation on the rear shocks?

Thanks,
Mike

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Thanks for the info, I was able to get the rears off with no problems. I also used my spring compressor to get the springs off the old shocks safely.

I have some Synthetic Brake Grease that would work really well. (the black grease for you all that know what I'm talking about, $17 for a small container...)

[halxi]

bahaha, safely removing springs is boring... i stood on mine with one foot, stood on a pair of pliars with the other, and took a 10mm wrench and gradually worked the nut off until everything went BOING... lol

The dust covers SHOULDNT be welded on. Mine werent... unless youve had your rear struts replaced before. I live in colorado and i would DEFINATLY recomend putting them back on. Period.

Take a dremel, or even a punch and break them loose.

Heres a pic of my rear strut assembly:
http://users.4x4wh.com/4x4master/Drop22.jpg

Your best bet would be a dremel with a small grinding wheel on it, cut away the dust cover... Make sure its just not STUCK. Mine was stuck and we had to compress the piston til the dust cover hit (as far in as it will go) then bash the piston with a hammer. Should break it loose.

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Nope there's a metal piece above the cover preventing it to come off. I will grind away then :)

Nice Intrax springs how do you like them?

[halxi]

I love my springs. :eek5: lol

My front end bounces a little, but i was expecting that since they are aftermarket springs and such. They gave me a good 2" of drop in the front, and probably 1.7" in the rear. Partially because i had civic struts in the front, so it sat alot higher then it should of. I also like how solid they are, on my stock sized tires/wheels, going through the round abouts here in town. I went from tire squeal/understeer at 25mph on my blown stock suspension, to MILD tire squeal/MILD understeer at 45mph, just on suspension. I cant get going fast enough to get any understeer/tire squeal with my current setup. Overall, it holds tight through everything, and its not overly bouncy. I think the tokico's compliment the intrax springs very well.

If you decide your tokico springs arent low enough, definatly go with intrax.

My gf lives on a gravel road, and even with all the washboards and such i dont have any clearence/bouncing problems. Car holds tight, and the only thing i drag are my mudflaps. But they sit about 1" off the ground so.

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Well I got the dust covers off and on the new shocks. It sucks I have to wait so long for that bolt b/c I could be done already.

[halxi]

go to the local junkyard with a ratchet and a 17mm socket, find an 86-89 accord with rear suspension intact.

Pull the bolts, throw em in your pocket, and leave.

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Nah it's the wishbone spline bolt I need for the front. Well I painted my brakes and some other stuff so it doesn't look crappy when I have my rims on the car.

I also installed my Golden Eagle Adjustable Cam Gear last night as well. So I'm trying to make the best of having the car on jack stands and finishing some old projects. Now I just need to figure out what to set the cam gear at for my cars modifications.

-Mike

[wprocomp]

yes you need to reuse the dustcovers mike or else it will shorten the life of the strut,also a spring compressor isnt really needed just put the spring in a vise,put a rag around the spring,and slowly take off the spring seat nut its easy thats what I do,as far as getting them back on,depending on wether or not you are using new strut mount bushings or not just have someone press down on them while you screw on the nut,if you use polyurithane mounts like I did you will have to use a spring compressor cause they are usually alot thicker

[Strugglebucket]

the way i did it was to tie a rag around the studs on the top hat and then through a coil on the spring. then i put it on the ground and held it with my foot while i loosened the nut with a long ratchet.

when the nut comes loose the strut will fly out the back so point it at something like an old pillow against a wall.

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Well I finished it this morning. And it looks cool. I don't know why I waited so long to do this. That extra 1/2" in the front looks great. The fronts just a little bit shorter than the rear and it looks nice.

I have no idea where my digital camera is so can't get any pics unfortunately. When I find it I will take some though. I also made some lips for the bumpers last night.

The rear one is from a mazda 626 and the front one is well ghetto fabulous. Landscaping stuff. Looks hot from a distance but up close it's kinda not so much :) It won't be on very long once I find my modified CRX lip. When I moved into my new house last may I forgot what boxes I put a lot of my car parts in so its somewhere that's all I know.

I know the springs have to settle and will probably be even a little shorter but did they make any funny noises when you first put them on and drove it? It sounds like a ping when I go over a big bump. Not a loud noise but just enough to hear it with the stereo off.

-Mike

I highly recomend lowering your car though! Looks a lot better dropped even a little. I wouldn't mind getting some coilovers now though.

[Ruggy23]

I will be dropping mine in a couple of weeks. 2.25" Rear and 2.5" Front. Spring Tech springs and KYB GR2s.
ill 205 40 R17 tires have good steering clearance?

I saw on another post where JFreddy had a caption under his pic that read.....
"KYB shocks all around, Tom's Motorsports Coilovers dropped 2.75" in front and 2.5" in back I think." Looked pretty nice. But what about clearance?
http://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50172

RUGGY23

[halxi]

i dont recall any wierd noises, at all.

It might be the bushings, put some poly bushing lube on them and see if that helps any, if not, it might just be how the spring is sitting on the perch, moving around (metal against metal sqeak)

[86AccordLxi]

I will be dropping mine in a couple of weeks. 2.25" Rear and 2.5" Front. Spring Tech springs and KYB GR2s.
ill 205 40 R17 tires have good steering clearance?
I saw on another post where JFreddy had a caption under his pic that read.....
"KYB shocks all around, Tom's Motorsports Coilovers dropped 2.75" in front and 2.5" in back I think." Looked pretty nice. But what about clearance?
http://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50172
RUGGY23

GR2's are just stock replacements...be prepared to replace those within the next year as they probably won't hold up to a 2"+ drop.

Alex

[SQ is the SQUAD]

this is my tociko/ suspension technique spring combo. i ended up cutting a few rings off the front and 1 ring off the back. rides pretty good.

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/1654/droped17ix.jpg

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/5893/droped37yk.jpg

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/3285/droped53aq.jpg

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/3188/droped40kp.jpg