Suspenison Set up Help

[314lxiSleeper]

hey guys whats going on im looking to upgrade my stock suspension . I want to do a Full change from my struts n springs to the bushings . Anyone has any suggestions for me i want to have a tight more sporty feel to it . Thanks for the help

:rockon:

[Demon1024]

hey your reasonably close to me! ALRIGHT central America!
Try using the search or looking in the suspension section. i'm totally cluless on this tho, i think i've heard neuspeed, tokio (tokeo tocieo idk) just search around.

[Tdurr]

^^ true story.

Nopi.com for ideas. They have most of the aviable brands of parts on the site, then just check ebay/here/craigslist for the parts.

Blistion shock(i spelled that all wrong) are the way to go. I have tokicos on my car, firmer then stock but cant have super stiff springs on it or lower more then 2inch if you want to keep the warrenty.
U most deff want a rear sway bar, Acura Vigor has the biggest one that bolts right up(bigger then the ST bar if im not mistaken)

GL wit ur set up!

[markmdz89hatch]

k first, welcome to the board. Second, thanks for asking the right questions before just spending a bucket of money.

The answer to your question entirely depends on what outcome you're looking for. You mentioned you're looking for a more tight sporty feel. Are you set on lowering your car, or are you comfortable with the current ride height? Do you plan on keeping stock wheels/tires or upgrading to a larger wheel? If so, what size wheel do you want?

Is the car a daily driver? Do you drive a bunch?

As for the bushings, replacing those, along with all ball-joints (front lower, upper control arms front and back, and tie-rod ends) is a great start. As for which bushings to use, again, I'll hold off on any recommendation until I find out what you're looking to do with this beast.

Based on your avatar, it looks like that's an lxi hatch. Can you confirm? This matters too because the DX and LX-i have a different sway bar setup from factory.

[314lxiSleeper]

thanks for the help mark , i wanna lower my car and put some 15's or 16's on it , i do drive a lot but not hat much just to school and work really . I have a lxi hatch . any suggestions on what to buy an what to change first . ive already changed the tire rod ends on both sides .

[314lxiSleeper]

hey dark racer what year acura vigor has a rear sway bar that will fit my car ???

[ghettogeddy]

hey dark racer what year acura vigor has a rear sway bar that will fit my car ???
90-92 i believe
helpful thread so you know that searching helps
http://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=66405&highlight=vigor+bar

[markmdz89hatch]

hey hey, sorry I missed this one.

K, so if you like the idea of 15's or 16's, just understand that you'll lose a little of that soft feel you have now. Lower pro tires are going to provide a more harsh ride. I highly doubt you'll care though because most all newer cars have less rubber, and still ride comfy enough. Not to mention 15's or 16's look perfect on the 3G.

You're on the right road with already replacing the tie-rod ends. Next I would consider making sure you're lower front ball-joints are good, and if not, replace those. Next, go to the upper control arms up front, and out back. Those both have ball-joints, which take a beating, and have a large range of movement, so they're most prone to failure. If you're going to replace the one's out back (and I suggest doing so), spend the extra few $$ and get adjustable rear uppers, so you can have the camber corrected once you lower the car.

Going back up front, make sure you're radius rod arm bushings are good, and replace if they look cracked or worn. Then look to the lower control arm bushings. If they're shot, swap those out too.

Now, the reason I asked about how often you drive, etc, has a lot to do with what compound you choose for bushing material. Rubber is what you have now, and I suggest you stick with it. If you drive the car daily, but not a ton and it sits a decent amount, I would avoid Polyurethane because although it's stiffer, it is notorious for getting squeeky, and has a tendency to flat-spot, which is no fun.

also, given that you have an LX-i, you already have the beefier front anti-sway bar, and have a rear as well. Those you can replace with the cheapo energy suspension bushings that Autozone has all the time, and usually sells them with the full end-links. Don't use the new thru-bolt they supply, but the red poly button bushings they include will work well. They get little to no movement or rotation, so poly is no big deal there. Otherwise, hit up www.hondaautomotiveparts.com and order the oem replacement bushings.

Now on to springs/struts. A decent economy drop would be to cut the springs (don't use a torch, use a dremmel or angle-grinder with a metal cutting wheel). Count the right amount of coils needed to cut to make for a 1.5 inch drop (I would highly suggest not going any lower than a 1.5" drop on a cut spring), then cut. Do so slowly and carefully to avoid getting the spring too hot as this will make the steel more brittle. Then put in a set of GR-2's, Toki's or Bill HD's and you'll be happy as a pig in shit.

Please please please do not listen to any claims of using any aftermarket springs on any strut other than Koni's, revalved Koni's or revalved Bill HD's. Any other strut, and I promise you'll blow the strut, and be out some money, and more importantly it's not safe at all. PM me if you want me to explain this more about that, as I'd be more then happy to do so.

Just a note on the idea of cutting the springs. This has to be done very carefully, and you cannot cut much, as by cutting the outer coils off (the more closely wound coils) you're cutting some of the stiffness out of the coil, and cutting down the suspension travel. You do run a greater risk of bottoming out the strut, but that's a fact of any lowering job unless you get a lowering spindle. This whole idea of a top-hat mod, I have yet to figure out any way that it'll actually benefit you if you use struts made for the 3G. PM for more on that too if you want.

One note on the nature of a FWD car (which the 3G obv. is): Most any FWD car has a tendency to understeer, which is in effect a push. What will make any FWD car feel much tighter without the need to lower, or go nuts upgrading struts, etc, is to get it to want to oversteer more (pull). The most important factor to accomplish this is to tighten the snot out of the ass end. Pick yourself up a rear SusTech or Addco anti-sway bar, or even downgrade the front bar to a DX/LX bar, and keep playing around with those combo's to get the best fit for you.

Good luck, and let us know what you end up doing, and how it works out for you.

edit: holy shitballs, I didn't realize this was such a long post. Oh well, hope it helps you out.

[314lxiSleeper]

thanks for the help ill be checking into all of that