TRE_

Woke up feelin hungover this morning but decided to finally throw my new HFP suspension on. Only ended up doing the front today because some **** came up but I will be installing the rear setup tomorrow and adding those install tips soon afterward.

Start off with a "review" after taking the car out for a spirited drive with the HFP FRONTS ONLY! :

<FONT SIZE="6">VV UPDATE FOR REAR susp down below VV</FONT>

PROS First and foremost, ride quality is JUST as good as the OEM equipment, which in my opinion is a major issue, especially in a brand new car. Obvious improvement in handling, even with just the front. As most of you know the handling capabilities of this car stock are pretty impressive... the HFP setup improves upon this in a great way. Dampers/Springs are covered under warranty and don't void anything. Quality Honda parts is always a plus IMO too!

CONS Minimal ride height difference. If you're wanting to lower your car any more than .8" the HFP suspension is defiantly not for you. I could tell that the wheel gap was decreased a little but not what I'm used to. Considering the roads and conditions I drive in sometimes I don't want something too low, looks better but more subseptiable to scraping, etc. Again, not trying to hack up my first new car. No adjust-ability with HFP suspension. I've had full body coilovers and eibach/koni setups in the past and having that adjustabiltiy is great, but not an option with HFP setup.

Impressions The HFP suspension upgrade is great for my preferences and the route I'm wanting to take with my Si. Very MILD setup, completely street-able, top-notch ride quality, and noticeable handling improvement. Its not super amazing but I'm satisfied with my investment... defiantly not for everyone though!

Simple DIY instructions I'd recommend grabbing the Honda instructions but heres a little help if anyone needs it. Overall its a very straightforward/easy install:

Jack up car, remove wheel(s). Always use a jackstand for added safety for yourself and your car!




With the wheel removed, loosen the 12mm bolt that holds the brake line to its corresponding bracket. Squeeze wheel speed sensor clip(green in this pic, gray on opposing side) and remove from bracket. Take care not to break this clip! Using a 17mm socket and 19mm open-end wrench break lose the two lower damper pinch bolts. Do not completely remove them yet.




Turn your car to ON, hit the wiper switch until the wipers are straight up and down then turn the ign. to off. This allows easier access to the upper damper bolts. Using a flathead screwdriver pop off the round access cover on the cowl and the lower panel. These come off super easy, no need to pry. Remove weatherstripping from lower panel cover and set both covers aside. Loosen and remove all three 14mm upper bolts... If you've got super big hands you may have some trouble with this.




Back to the hub area, finish loosening/removing the two lower pinch bolts. The hub should stay attached to the strut somewhat. USING CARE separate the damper assembly from the hub... be extra careful not to pull the hub towards yourself too much or else you run the risk of unseating the CV joints. Remove front damper assy.




In this picture you can see the obvious height difference in the HFP and OEM damper assy's. Being as the HFP is closer to the camera the scale is a bit exaggerated, but you get the idea.




Install the new damper Assembly into place and loosely tighten the 3 upper bolts with your hand.



Back down below(notice the JDM ROTORS), combine the damper to the hub, snap your wire clip back on to its bracket and torque the brake line bolt down. Align the holes on the damper with the holes in the hub bracket and put your two bolts back into place... install nuts and torque both bolts down.




Put your wheel back on, remove jackstand and slowly lower jack. Now that the damper has some weight on it you can finish torquing down the 3 upper bolts. Reinstall access panels and put weatherstripping back into place



Torque down your lugs and move on to the next side. Same exact process!



Rear install coming SOOON! I'll also be posting before and after shots to show ride height difference. Hopefully somebody finds this useful.


Modified by TRE_ at 6:48 AM 11/20/2006

accordselux

THis is great, i'll look forward to the before after shots. I want to have a little better performance while maintaining daily driver quality. I was going to wait for the H&R OE Sports but these look to be the way to go

Nighthawk R18

the dealer said it was a 2 inch drop. but the car i was asking about was an Lx with the HFP suspension package so maybe it differs. the kit we were talkin about came with. Springs, struts, camber kit, alignment, bushings/hardware, shim kit.

also included in the waranty


Labor 750 w/o wheels
950 w/ wheels

TRE_

Its not a 2" drop for the Si, or for any other model civics. I've heard anywhere from .8"-1.2", but definatley not 2". The HFP suspension setup for the Si comes with new dampers, springs and new hardware... same with the susp. for EX/LX/DX.

Was your dealer using aftermarket parts for the camber kit, bushings and shim kit?

They quoted you $750 installed for the suspension ? $950 installed WITH HFP wheels or what? Your post is confusing me... ?

Demonis

yeah that sounds cheap for wheels and suspension. I duno either way, sounds good but id rather go aftermarket. the only HFP things that I like for this car is the Aero kit and I'm contemplating the upcoming brake kit.

biglos

ok so the stock suspension on the si is not HFP???

Type X

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by biglos &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ok so the stock suspension on the si is not HFP???</TD></TR></TABLE>

No

biglos

Thx

Nighthawk R18

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TRE_ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

They quoted you $750 installed for the suspension ? $950 installed WITH HFP wheels or what? Your post is confusing me... ?</TD></TR></TABLE>

its 950 with any kind of aftermarket rims, not including the purchase of HFP rims.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TRE_ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Was your dealer using aftermarket parts for the camber kit, bushings and shim kit?

</TD></TR></TABLE>

im not sure what brand they were using. i assumed it would be HFP. i just read off the paper they gave me when i asked for a quote. sorry for confusing post.

TRE_

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Nighthawk R18 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

im not sure what brand they were using. i assumed it would be HFP. i just read off the paper they gave me when i asked for a quote. sorry for confusing post.</TD></TR></TABLE>

HFP doesnt make any sort of shim/camber kits and they havent released any bushing sets thus far.

I really dont see the need for a camber kit with the HFP suspension. Considering how minimal the drop is overall suspension geometry is not dramatically effected... especially since the damper sets are designed vehicle/model specific. After I get the rear installed I'll be taking the car in just to check that toe/camber wasnt changed but from the look/feel of it i think itll be fine. I'll post up with this info after i take it to an alignment rack.

Nexx

Bookmarked!

TRE_

Update:

Springs have settled quite a bit more. Ride height is noticeably lower after 1-2 days of driving Love this setup!

Your MOm Bitch

Great review Nice ride are u a Master Tech yet? LoL
I want to Lower my Bro's Si but it looks complicated to me i don't know i guess im just Lazy Nice set up u got going

E-Money

iTrader: (1)

been looking into investing in this

TRE_

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Nica &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Great review Nice ride are u a Master Tech yet? LoL
I want to Lower my Bro's Si but it looks complicated to me i don't know i guess im just Lazy Nice set up u got going </TD></TR></TABLE>

lol master tech... i cant imagine turning wrenches all day... I'd much rather make money selling parts!

I was intimidated by the install at first but once I got going it seriously took me like 10-15 minutes per damper assy. lot easier than the f2's i put on my 94 teg 6 months ago...

Your MOm Bitch

LoL or Slang them jk

Nexx

Waiting for the finger gap test & picture comparison. Good job btw.

TRE_

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Nexx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Waiting for the finger gap test & picture comparison. Good job btw.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I didnt really do a "before" finger test... right after the install I drove on them a little and could get 3 fingers in there... now(after about 2-3days) I can get just about 2 fingers in. Mind you I have pretty damn tiny/thin fingers ( ), but as stated before the drop is not HUGE.
( running OE exalto HPT tires on 17" works )

blue rocket

pics of the drop!!! chop chop!

TRE_

sorry pete! i've been way too lazy as of late

TRE_

<FONT COLOR="red">Rear Suspension!</FONT>

Okay, this is a bit more of an under-taking that the fronts. Not super difficult but quite a bit more intensive.

My camera battery died so I neglected to take any pictures but I'll give a short overview of whats involved.

Jack up car, remove rear wheels, support with jackstands.

Using your floor jack, load the rear suspension by jacking up the knuckle where it connects to the rear portion of the trailing arm. With the rear suspension slightly loaded loosen and remove the lower damper flange bolt.(14mm)
Remove the brake line bracket - 12mm bolt and the wheel speed sensor 10 mm bolt- be sure the oring stays with the sensor and use car when handling the sensor. disconnect the clip that holds the wire to the bracket and move the wire out of the way.

Using a hex key and 14 wrench remove the two bolts from the stablizer link on the rear sway bar

Remove 14mm flange bolt that holds the knuckle to the upper arm of the suspension.

Remove the two 14 mm flange bolts that hold the front of the trailing arm to the body. these will require a good amount of muscle to break loose.

Moving to the trunk area, remove spare tire cover, needs to be unclipped near where seatbacks fold down. paritally remove weatherstripping from trunk area so you can remove plastic panel that is near trunk striker. unscrew 3 clips and remove christmas tree clip and move rear carpet out of the way to allow access to upper damper bolt.

Using a hex key and 14mm wrench un-do upper damper bolt.

slightly lower floor jack , compress damper by hand and remove damper. lower floor jack if need be and remove rear spring. note the orentation of lower spring seat and upper mounting rubber.

Install new spring with old upper mounting rubber and lower spring seat. make sure that spring is aligned with lower seat as it was before.

slightly load rear suspension again with floor jack. reinstall two front trailing arm flange bolts loosely

loosely install flange bolt that connects upper knuckle with upper control arm

Verify that new bushing is on upper portion of damper, put damper into place, lower/raise floor jack so that lower damper bolt can be loosely installed

re-install stablizer link

install old upper damper mounting bushing, washer and new self-locking nut

raise rear susp to load vehicle weight and finish torquing all bolts
re-install brake hose bolt. wheel speed sensor clip and sensor itself

trailing arm bolts: 79.6 lb-ft
flange bolt 79.6lb-ft
damper flange bolt 43 lb-ft
stab. link 29 lb-ft

reinstall rear trunk components, torque down wheels, double check all hoses

As mentioned before, get the honda instructions and read them over when doing this... didnt spend much time on this write up so i may have missed a couple small things along the way.

EmoHatch

Pictures of the gap!

TRE_

Tonight y0

Type X

Here are some pix i took of Polijana's Si with 17x7.5 Time attacks on HFP suspension



http://theh8r.com/Ed/ed.htm

MonkeyConQueso

Someone really like the tree?



Damn good shots, btw! I need to get it on with my camera and Civic sometime soon in the mountains before the nasty weather sets in.