99SIFry

I have a question regarding my new suspension setup for my EM1. I chose to go with Koni Yellow Struts and the Eibach Pro Kit. The Konis are used, and Pro-Kit is brand new. The question is relating to the rear spring/strut assembly. The tops of the spring fit in the top hat securely and the bottom sits very nice as well, but when it is all together the spring can move freely in the assembly. It is like the strut is pushing up too much taking the pressure off the spring. Does this mean something is wrong internally with my strut? It is just odd. The fronts fit securely and I had to put pressure on them to assemble them.

Part Numbers I am working with:
Eibach Pro-Kit for EK Civic Rear: 4017.002
Koni Yellow For EK Civic Front Strut: 8041-1152 Sport

The video shows better what I am talking about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddK9uaMlQvc

civicjason

Its fine. if you want to make sure, measure the stroke and pm it to me and ill check and see if its correct
it looks like you have the spring seat clip on the bottom groove. Is the front on the bottom groove also?

99SIFry

Now that you mention it, it does look like there is another grove for that clip above the one it is in now. It happens to be right at the bottom of the spring too which would be perfect. Now I just feel like an idiot and need to figure out how to move it one grove up. Thanks for the reply.

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

There should be 3 slots on the rear of those shocks - middle is stock height, top is higher, bottom is lower. You're definitely on the bottom setting, which will make the car sit lower in the rear than it would with just the lowering springs. Try it, you may like it that way. The spring will not be a problem unless the suspension is at full droop, which pretty much never happens unless the rear is jacked up in the air.

ALSO you need to flip the top dished washer over, below the two jam nuts. You have it installed upside down in that video. The dish should be facing up.

JLCivixHBDX

http://www.superstreetonline.com/pro...k3/index2.html


and please install your bumpstop....pro kit is a soft spring...possibility of bottom out..

99SIFry

Thanks for the replies. This helped a lot and shined some light on my naiveness LOL. I think I am going to have to order some parts though since these struts were used and they were missing some. I am missing the dust sleeves. I will probably get some bump stops as well. I don't want to take apart the stock assemblies that are on the car now. I will keep those someplace safe in case i want to go back to stock. Any other advice you can give? I hope this thread is able to help others out there that may run into this problem.

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

Eh just get the dust covers off your stock stuff. It's no big deal. You just have to enlarge the hole in the top of the dust cover. But you could certainly put them back on the stock shocks if needed.

I think I tossed my original stock shocks a long time ago, seeing as how the Konis have been on this long. I surely won't be putting stock ones back on.

99SIFry

Yeah I probably will end up using some of the stock hardware. It is kind of nice that I bought the struts with the top hats and bushings ready for Konis. Kind of sucks though because some of the top hat threads are jacked. Also there are bump stops on all strut/spring assemblies. You may not have been able to see in the video but they are there, promise. LOL Well thanks for the help guys.

99SIFry

Also, are the front struts supposed to have the mounts for the brake lines? I just did the suspension on my teg with KYB AGX struts and they had mounts welded to the body of the strut. Are civics different?

TunerN00b

You are supposed to remove them from the stock shocks, and transfer over to the Koni shocks.

Or, use zip ties, which is what I did.

1.5Slowmatic

99% of people use zip ties.

99SIFry

Thanks guys. Took one of the rear strut/spring assemblies apart and moved the clip to the middle notch. The spring has some tension on it now which makes me feel better about putting it on the car. I just want to eliminate any chance of springs making wierd noises.
SI is sitting on stock suspension and sometimes if I hit those cracks that go all the way across the road, or pull into my driveway too fast, both front wheels travel through their suspension, I get a loud "dong" noise. Sounds like a binding spring that lets loose. I have done some reading and it might be related to the front sway bar end links. Any ideas HT???

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

You will not have any problems, especially if you have sway bars. As long as one tire is on the ground, there is NO possibility of the other tire on the other side getting to full droop. Both tires of one end of the car must be off the ground to get the suspension to full droop.

Trust me, tons of people run Koni + GC coilovers, which leaves 1-2" between the spring and top hat at full droop, without any problems.

99SIFry

Had an awesome first day of spring. Finally able to go outside and work on the car in a t-shirt and jeans with out snow on the ground. :p

Patrick, if you see this, I took your advice and left the rear Konis on the lowest setting. I am happy with the drop. Not ubber SLAMMMED, but nice and classy just the way I wanted. Seems like it may be dropped more in back though. Not bad though.

I was also excited to see a bracket for the front brake lines connected to the knuckle. Means there were no zip ties used. Ride quality is excellent. I would say just as good as pre-drop even.

Now for the Pics. Thanks and Enjoy H-T.
--BEFORE--

--AFTER--

--RANDOM SCENIC--

99SIFry

has started to settle some and the back is dropping way more. I think I am going to put the rears up a notch to even it out some.

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

Wait, I thought you said you put the rear circlips on the middle notch?

Did you loosen ALL suspension bolts that go through a rotating connection with a bushing, and then tighten them with the suspension loaded? If not, this is probably what you're seeing as "settling". The bushing inner sleeves are either slipping or the bushing is tearing.

This is an important step that hasn't really been stressed enough in most suspension how-to articles. Since you can't really get under the car while it's on the ground, take a jack and raise the suspension up until the corner of the car just barely comes off the jack stand. It won't be true ride height due to the sway bar and the jack position, but it will be pretty close. You need to loosen the bolts, jack the suspension up, then tighten all bolts to spec.

99SIFry

I did put one strut and spring together on the middle notch. I read the thread again before I decided to install, and changed my mind and put both circlips back to the lowest notch.
Thanks for the info about tightening the bolts under load. You are right, how that is rarely mentioned. I have read tons on this stuff and never seen that. Nice to know now AFTER I did the install. Makes sense to do that though.
When I take the rears off to raise it up, I will use this procedure.
I am aware of the negative camber issue that the si is known for. I have an Ingalls camber kit with poly bushings that has been on my car for like 2 years. I am going to try and do a rough adjust to get that a little closer to zero until I can get in for a proper alignment.

99SIFry

Had a beautiful day again today to work on the SI. Pulled the rear suspension and put the konis on the middle notch. Dramatically improved look and ride. Also tightened bolts under load this time. When I set it back down, it looked higher than stock. So went and drove around and it settled down to the perfect height. Was so happy, had to go clean her up real good and do a little photo shoot. Here are a couple pics. Let me know what you guys think. Remember this is my daily driven car and not a race car. Please keep your lame slam it comments to yourself.

.Manny.

iTrader: (1)

Beautiful stance! Everything will be perfect once you align it.

STOCK_SOHC_DX

Damn you bastards with paint jobs! haha, j/p looks good!

99SIFry

thanks guys. Alignment is next step.
BTW Paint is all natural from the factory. Just well taken care of. :p

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I went with the lowest perch height on the rear when I had H&R Sports, because the rear gap on the middle perch was about double what it was in front (on highest perch in front) and it looked dumb as hell.

Looks like the Pro-Kits are a little more even on the drop front-to-rear.

99SIFry

I am loving it. Dude seriously for a daily driver it is great. Ride is better than my 4 dr teggi with Pro-Kit and KYB AGX. Drop is about the same for both. Still need to get both aligned.

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I just have stock front springs and stock ITR rear springs now all on the lowest Koni perch and it's perfect for my needs. ITR rear sway bar helps, too.

99SIFry

sweet, I have a friend who has a mint ITR bar he wants to sell. Been thinking about getting it. Do I need to get an ASR subframe for that to work? Also are there adjustable perch settings on the front struts too? I dont remember seeing any. Just saw them on the back. OH well I really like where I am now.