1988-1990 Front Civic Struts Work

[bobafett]

if we built a 1" (or whatever size you want to increase the height by) aluminum spacer that mounts to the rear tophat, and then we installed new studs so it was still able to poke through the holes in the accord body. the adjustability knobs usually stick up quite a bit, so if it were 1" lower it would probobaly still be adjustable, if not, it wouldn't be tough to make something that extends that knob. or use needle nose vise grips or something.

another possibility is that since the rears will have the adjustable lower mount as well, we may be able to spin them down to make the shock taller. this might be far too easy....

i think its time to give it a shot pretty soon!

[Legend_master]

if we built a 1" (or whatever size you want to increase the height by) aluminum spacer that mounts to the rear tophat, and then we installed new studs so it was still able to poke through the holes in the accord body. the adjustability knobs usually stick up quite a bit, so if it were 1" lower it would probobaly still be adjustable, if not, it wouldn't be tough to make something that extends that knob. or use needle nose vise grips or something.

another possibility is that since the rears will have the adjustable lower mount as well, we may be able to spin them down to make the shock taller. this might be far too easy....

i think its time to give it a shot pretty soon!

On the illuminas the piece that adjust is very small and removable. The rears should not have to be adjusted that much anyway. As for the rear adjusteable purch, it adjust from stock down so that would not help in our application. The spacer would need to be long, because the civic strut is dramatically shorter then the accord. All this is very possible, but some time and effort will need to be put into it.

[bobafett]

ok, i didnt realize the shocks effective length could only be shortened. also im not trying to acheive oem overall height. i just want to make sure that the minimum drop is more like 1.5" instead of 3.5" so it will just be a 1-2" spacer...

[Legend_master]

ok, i didnt realize the shocks effective length could only be shortened. also im not trying to acheive oem overall height. i just want to make sure that the minimum drop is more like 1.5" instead of 3.5" so it will just be a 1-2" spacer...

I am thinking about cutting the rod off some old struts and starting from there.

[SQ is the SQUAD]

I am thinking about cutting the rod off some old struts and starting from there.

damit, i just threw away like 5 shocks

[Legend_master]

damit, i just threw away like 5 shocks

I have a whole tote full of them, LOL

[Zufer]

why would you want to change the length of the strut rod... basically what chris and i came up with was a "wheel spacer" style spacer on the top hats so that the over length is closer to what we need. This won't give us more travel but we will be running stiff enough springs that there won't be much travel anyways.

[Legend_master]

why would you want to change the length of the strut rod... basically what chris and i came up with was a "wheel spacer" style spacer on the top hats so that the over length is closer to what we need. This won't give us more travel but we will be running stiff enough springs that there won't be much travel anyways.

I hadent thought of that yet, but it might not allow for enough hieght.

[Bones]

Just to make sure I got this part so far ...

For the front of an '89 Accord
Koni Sport (yellow, adjustable) strut for an '88 Civic mounted really low + Sprint 2.25" drop spring = approx 1.75" drop with adjustable ride quality?

Will the shaved top pinch fork mod give it another 1/4"?

If this would work for the front, I may have to piece together springs/struts from different years and manufacturers but it seems worth it to get lower without sacrificing ride or safety.

Revalved Bilsteins just seem too pricey for a non-adjustable shock.

Even buying 2 sets of springs from 2 different companies to get the rates ya need for front and rear seems cheaper than a set of the custom bilsteins.

[Zufer]

ok the thing that limits how far you can shorten the effective length of the struts i the left front axle... mine is too low and touches on hard right had turn... this is a new discovery to me which is why i am thinking full coilovers

[bobafett]

oh but we found out that axles are harder than struts!
there is a really really nice groove out of the bottom of his strut!

[Zufer]

oh and with my strut hitting my effective length is still longer than the stock accord shocks... not by much but about an 1/8"to a 1/4"

[Bones]

So it would work then? Cooooollll !!

Now to figure out a realistic solution for the back end.

[Zufer]

ek struts in the rear are awesome.... you just have to run slammed

[Bones]

That's the problem ... I dont wanna have to slam the back end.

I'd like to have just about 1/4" LESS drop in the rear than whatever I manage to get done for the front.


edit: I'd like to have a final result of approx;

2" drop in the front with 1.75" or 2" in the rear.

From what I have read, EK struts would drop the rear approx 3 or more inches. That would look pretty silly I think with a 2" drop in the front and 3 or more in the rear.

[Zufer]

i would check out integra struts or other accord struts.... i don't really know about not slamming i never really had that cross my mind. Oops!

[Bones]

Anyone know of an easily available strut (adjustable prefferably) from any make / model of car that will fit the 3g rear, that will accomodate 1.5" to 2" drop springs?

EK struts drop the rear toooo far from what I've read in other parts of this forum.

2" front drop with a 3+" drop in the rear would look a bit silly I think. Probably handle a bit oddly too I bet!


I'd like to drop about 2" or less all the way around for looks and handling improvements, but I dont want an unsafe car (got kids) and I'd MUCH preffer to stay away from having a bouncy ride from springs too strong for my shocks.

Revalved Bilsteins seem a bit too pricy (got kids) for my budget and they aint adjustable.

[Legend_master]

Anyone know of an easily available strut (adjustable prefferably) from any make / model of car that will fit the 3g rear, that will accomodate 1.5" to 2" drop springs?
EK struts drop the rear toooo far from what I've read in other parts of this forum.
2" front drop with a 3+" drop in the rear would look a bit silly I think. Probably handle a bit oddly to I bet!

Nope, we are still trying to make an extension to allow the EF struts to work.

[Bones]

RATS!

Ah well, I'll be keeping eyes peeled for a workable solution for the rear end.

I think the info about the '88 Civic struts as a viable alternative for the front should be added to the "Dampers (a.k.a. shocks)" sticky at the top of the forum though.

The only damper options listed in that sticky are the no longer available Koni Specials, Custom Bilstein HDs, Tokico's and KYBs.

[L3G10N]

well i know it's an old post.
But just to be clear!

Civic 88-91 Front strut
and
Civic 96-00 rear strut right?

Front will need the mods i saw and rear will fit right there.

right?

tnx

[Legend_master]

well i know it's an old post.
But just to be clear!
Civic 88-91 Front strut
and
Civic 96-00 rear strut right?
Front will need the mods i saw and rear will fit right there.
right?
tnx

For the rear to work properly, you need to slam the car. I dont know how low you plan on going, but I am in the development of making the rears work well for our application. I am thinking about using a few top hats and removing the bolts from two sets to allow me to stack them on top of each other (I might have to extend the bolts). As for the front they will bolt on without any mods, but it will raise the car about an inch and 1/2 and wear the strut out quickly. If you mod it as I did, the struts work great. Either way you have the years correct for the struts.

[L3G10N]

i am running right now blue tokico with neuspeed sport 1.5"

my plan is to get my car just as they were before with this drop. My car was custom modified to ride this height. I don't have anything about being lower than this but i don't want to destroy all this custom jobs and the shock itself.

what you did in the front was to lower the bottom plate or rise it? and to be at the same height as the neuspeed/tokico setup, i'll need to replace my neuspeed by some coil-over, right?

btw, tnx a lot taking this time to answer me!

[Legend_master]

i am running right now blue tokico with neuspeed sport 1.5"
my plan is to get my car just as they were before with this drop. My car was custom modified to ride this height. I don't have anything about being lower than this but i don't want to destroy all this custom jobs and the shock itself.
what you did in the front was to lower the bottom plate or rise it? and to be at the same height as the neuspeed/tokico setup, i'll need to replace my neuspeed by some coil-over, right?
btw, tnx a lot taking this time to answer me!

Here is a picture to help you with the fronts. These struts are for a 99 civic, but the concept is exactly the same. This was my first suspention attempt, and the struts ended up being to thick. That is why I went with the 89, because the slide into the accord strut with no modification.



Edit: with all the work you ahve put into your ride, I would definilty get coilovers.

[L3G10N]

tnx a lot. i definitly cannot ask better instruction for the front. and doing this mod will raise the car of around 1.5" ?? damn! they are real long!

So, i'll need to do this first and then, put some coil-over to sucessfully get the right height. This is still ok?

and for the rear, what need to be corrected?

tnx again and again!

[Legend_master]

tnx a lot. i definitly cannot ask better instruction for the front. and doing this mod will raise the car of around 1.5" ?? damn! they are real long!
So, i'll need to do this first and then, put some coil-over to sucessfully get the right height. This is still ok?
and for the rear, what need to be corrected?
tnx again and again!

Actually you misunderstood, if you just put these struts on you car without modding them, you will raise the car. If you do this mod the struts as I did you can set it at stock strut length or even lower. Just remeber that the lower you set the strut in the pirch the closer it gets to the axle.