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I went with what I specified in the first post. Only deference was the spring height. I went with 8" front and back. Eibach doesn't make a 9" spring in the rate I wanted. If I were to do it over again I would probably go with 7" rears and 10" front. That would put the adjustment in the middle of the sleeves front and back at the ride height I sitting at now.
Ok cool and good to know. The drop isn't that bad and truthfully looks similar to other suv's, or more like the new CRV. GL with the new house and life dude.
For the record - I replaced all the shocks and springs and struts on my RD1 over the past 3 days or so.
The CRV specific shocks and Accord (90-97) Coil over sleeves went in even easier than the stock setup came out.
I've adjusted the coil overs about 3 times already. I'm still not IN LOVE with the ride but its definitely better than stock. And it looks awesome.
Chris is/was absolutely right about the higher spring rates, at least up front.
I think if I ever have the extra money I'll consider changing my fronts to KONI orange, as I have them in my EJ and like them alot.
2 Pieces of advice to anyone searching
1. If you really want to make it easy - get all new suspension mounts and bushings from wherever - Autozone has them for 20 a piece. I got new ones for the front, but tried to reuse the rears and I have something going on back there. I'll probably take the rears out and get the new suspension mounts the next day I don't have to work a double.
2. I had a hard time getting the nut on the top of the rear struts all the way down. I think The best way to do this would be with a compressor...
Last edited by KPDSM; 05-11-2015 at 02:20 PM.
Reason: I'm an idiot and forgot #2
Drove to work and around town this morning - think I'm going with a 7" 550# spring up front. No complaints about the rear. Just make sure you tighten that top nut TIGHT before you put them in.
The spring perch on the CRV specific shocks must be at a different height than the integra ones I'm using, because 7" spring would be too short for my set up. I would recommend 10" up front with the integra shocks. Well, unless you're really trying to slam it. I have 8" springs up front and my coils are adjusted nearly to the top.
Originally Posted by KPDSM
Drove to work and around town this morning - think I'm going with a 7" 550# spring up front. No complaints about the rear. Just make sure you tighten that top nut TIGHT before you put them in.
I was riding great for a bit -
and then hit a MASSIVE hole I couldn't dodge and wedged the control arm(passenger). I moved to civic front shocks - and until control arm problems it drove SO great.
I am/was pretty low and having no problem but I'm going to have to raise it up. I've seen a couple videos of people cutting that control arm on the end so it doesn't get wedged - idk about all that but if that's what it comes to...also considering changing to those ingalls arms but I have another car that will be on the road this week.
I haven't changed the front springs yet. I plan to take that control arm out, re install everything as long as the shock up front is still good (got a warranty so its all good) then raise to be about the same height as your ride.
When it was low it handled GREAT as well. The ride was a bit bouncy but nothing to complain about.
I'll keep you posted man, anything new coming for your v anytime soon??
Originally Posted by CRchris
The spring perch on the CRV specific shocks must be at a different height than the integra ones I'm using, because 7" spring would be too short for my set up. I would recommend 10" up front with the integra shocks. Well, unless you're really trying to slam it. I have 8" springs up front and my coils are adjusted nearly to the top.
So what you bought for the suspension in the original post is everything that is listed?
I'm riding on tanabe sustec pro's for a 98 accord. I'm not LOW LOW, butthe ride is pretty harsh and I'm getting tired of the hard ride. I'm thinking about piecing the suspension together so i can have a more comfortable ride.
From what I hear, it's not if the control arm gets stuck, it's when. I've been lucky so far. I've planned on grinding down the end but haven't got around to it. I should probably do it sooner than later, because it sounds like a serious pain in the *** to get it unstuck. I have my bike to fall back on if the V becomes immobilized. I drive the same roads daily and usually take the wife's car on the weekends so I know the spots in the road to avoid. I've hit some decent sized dips in the road without problem, so I'm hoping I'll be ok since I'm not slammed.
No new updates yet. I'm getting settled in my new house. Hopefully I'll have my garage organized in the next couple weeks so I can finish my center console.
Originally Posted by KPDSM
I was riding great for a bit -
and then hit a MASSIVE hole I couldn't dodge and wedged the control arm(passenger). I moved to civic front shocks - and until control arm problems it drove SO great.
I am/was pretty low and having no problem but I'm going to have to raise it up. I've seen a couple videos of people cutting that control arm on the end so it doesn't get wedged - idk about all that but if that's what it comes to...also considering changing to those ingalls arms but I have another car that will be on the road this week.
I haven't changed the front springs yet. I plan to take that control arm out, re install everything as long as the shock up front is still good (got a warranty so its all good) then raise to be about the same height as your ride.
When it was low it handled GREAT as well. The ride was a bit bouncy but nothing to complain about.
I'll keep you posted man, anything new coming for your v anytime soon??
Yep, what's in the original post is all I bought with some minor tweaks to the spring sizes which I posted in this thread. Good luck.
Originally Posted by GsrEj8
So what you bought for the suspension in the original post is everything that is listed?
I'm riding on tanabe sustec pro's for a 98 accord. I'm not LOW LOW, butthe ride is pretty harsh and I'm getting tired of the hard ride. I'm thinking about piecing the suspension together so i can have a more comfortable ride.
I'm back on crv fronts/rears and accord c/o springs adjusted above halfway. I've also shaved the control arm down - it's not a big deal at all, and would be even easier if you take the control arm out. I've been shaving mine down with it in whenever I get some time. I'll be shaving it down more next time I have a few minutes...would like to go a bit lower.
My rears are about a 4 finger gap and fronts are about a 5 finger gap...at this height there are NO ISSUES (and Ive hit some huge holes, the roads here are bad) other than I needed two washers on the top of the backs.
The ride is a little rougher than I'd like but I attribute that to the 45 series tire and 17 inch wheels. Whenever I have the extra money I will find some 16s that I like and put a 55 or 60 series tire.
All money and attention is currently on my civic but I'll be back modding the truck as soon as I get cams and gears.
Are you guys using extended tophats? Might help with the short springs. I guess these are the issues you have when lowering a ride that was never meant to be lowered, HAH! But it does look better though.
Is there really any vehicle that was actually intended to be lowered after it left the factory?
It more follows the line of "do it right or have problems while trying to get by". Given, I haven't used factory struts to lower a CRV before(always full coil-overs), but I have always had 17" rims with 45 series tires and have had many cars that have road much worse.
On other platforms using the extended top hats helped a noticeable amount and it stopped the shocks from blowing. The CRV is a rather front heavy pig...
Is there really any vehicle that was actually intended to be lowered after it left the factory?
It more follows the line of "do it right or have problems while trying to get by". Given, I haven't used factory struts to lower a CRV before(always full coil-overs), but I have always had 17" rims with 45 series tires and have had many cars that have road much worse.
On other platforms using the extended top hats helped a noticeable amount and it stopped the shocks from blowing. The CRV is a rather front heavy pig...
The CRV was definitely never meant to be lowered. Looks nice and all but.... shaving away at the wheel well and also the upper control arm...wouldn't that make the upper control arm lose its rigidness and become weak?
i dont know why do people shave the UCAs...you dont really need to, you just need to cut the outer skin and hammer the **** out of where it hits or get stuck
Hate to say I told you so but... I would have to assume that most people that say they never had issues either don't drive much at all or haven't actually lowered a CRV that way yet. Time to do it right this time and luckily you didn't end up losing control on the expressway.
I was planning on doing the timing belt tomorrow anyway so what's a little extra work. Any chance I'll be able to pop them back out or will I have to disassemble? I never really had any false hope that they wouldn't get stuck, I was just hoping I would get around to fixing the fender well before it happened. 75mph plus sudden road construction equals bad news for the upper control arm.
Honestly it depends... I have had people tell me they got them unstuck with a pry bar and others that had to cut them out. Jack it up, take the tire off, and inspect it. I would try a prybar first.
Definitely going to go at it with a 6 foot pry bar first. Both front tires have nasty grooves in them from grinding on something. Good thing they were in need of replacing anyway.
"You can't keep blaming yourself. Just blame yourself once, and move on"
Homer J. Simpson
Damn thats crazy. I guess if and when I do get my 1st gen I'll only lower it by judging the travel of the control arm. Or maybe one of you chaps know what's the limit before the upper arm hits the wheel well?
Not so sure there is a limit. Too many variables. I've read online before of people with stock suspension getting stuck. Under extreme circumstances of course. Best thing to do is to fix the issue at the same time you lower. I didn't have the money for ingalls control arms, and I didn't prioritize my time to diy fix. I have a bad habit of not learning from other's mistakes. Maybe someone will learn from mine.
When mine got stuck (MN pot holes galore!!) I didn't want to damage anything so I opted to take off the upper control arms. Of course to keep anything from flying, I kept the suspension compressed by using a jack.
We were able to grind down the lip in the fender well and pop them out. Then we grinded the lip all the way down and took a little off the end of the control arm to be sure it doesn't happen again.
I grinded my control arm down a fair amount but didn't touch the ridge. I don't think I'm low enough right now to have a problem either way, but I would like to go lower. The next chance I get to the shop I'll get it on the lift up and see if I need to do more...glad to hear you got the issue resolved.
04-09-2015, 03:58 PM
Re: 99 CRV Slow Motion Build
