Tootsie7944

Hey guys - I know there is a 80 page thread on this....and I was up till 3 am last night clicking through it. Good stuff, a lot of nice looking CRV's, but what I was specifically looking for wasn't in there (unless I missed it....my eyes were glazing over).

Been on HT for a long time b/c of my Integra Type R. Just got done restoring that car actually.

Anyway, my CRV is a black 1998, auto, AWD. It has almost 270,000 miles on it. That all being said, I just bought a brand new driveshaft and new exhaust, timing belt, aux belts, driveshaft, new exhaust, front LCA's & bushings/hardware, trunk stay, all my radiator/water hoses and clamps, front wiper motor and all new wiper blades, the lower 2 fuel tank bars that rust I'm replacing and the roof molding...and a few other odds and ends to clean it up.

Question -

What I want. I would like to do a 1.5" lift in the front and a 2" lift in the rear (get rid of sag). I plan on using the stock wheels and running 215/75/15 BFG All-Terrain T/A KO2's. I do NOT want to go the billet spacer route . I would very much prefer to run new struts and springs, up the spring rates especially in the rear and also for towing (going to install a Class III). I don't want to deal with alignment issues or CV joint angle issues. That's why I'm not trying to get too aggressive here. With a nice 1.5/2" lift front/rear and larger tires, it'll give me about 2.5" of additional ground clearance and that's all I really need. I'm not off roading this thing. It's for snow storms...after the 30" we just got in Maryland, a little more ground clearance would be nice.

Colorado Mountain Rally is non-responsive and I can't deal with a company like that when I have questions on their parts. And then the Old Man Emu and Dobinsons systems don't have the rear offset I am looking for or increased spring rates. So I need help.

I was thinking about maybe Bilstein shocks, but not sure which ones (size/part #) to get for the CRV. And then since I want to run a bit stiffer springs in the front and then a fair amount stiffer in the back and provide extra lift to reduce the sag, I had no idea what I was even looking for.

What spring rates could I step up to? I think I saw OEM rates are like 450 front and 350 rear (I'm rounding). So maybe I'd go up to 550 front and 500 rear? But I have NO perspective on rates and how it'll effect daily driving...don't want it crazy harsh...just want it prepared for all my friends in the back and in the trunk and maybe towing 2500 lbs one day.

Thanks for the help guys. Thought this group would appreciate some CRV love.

Tootsie7944

Any advice? I shortened up my story so that it was easier to get to the main questions.

TravisRSX

I have been looking for the same info and have been having a hard time.

A lot of people use the spacer but I, like you, dont want to go that route. I saw a couple threads about guys using the Bilstein HD shocks and using the OME springs. There's almost no info on spring rates as well.

Hopefully someone can point us in the right direction

NZ-DB8R

I have about the lift you are after on 15x7" +50et wheels and 215/75r15 A/T tyres.

I have Bilstein shocks and Cobra springs Honda CRV | Cobra Springs | Performance Car Springs Made in New Zealand

I dont know the part number for shocks, they were second hand.
But to alter the lift you can change where the spring perch sits as they are on a circlip. You simply machine in aditional grooves to give the circlip more places to sit.

The ride is pretty much like factory, nice and soft and comfortable.

doubleoughtcrv

I am using just the normal kybs. Bilsteins would be nice but that's 400+ vs 230 right now and I'm already dropping 1k+ to redo everything! All new suspension components.

Anyway I plan on using ebay adjuster sleeves & q1a long travel springs, about 45 per spring, 10" long up front, 12" rear 2.5" diameter. I'm also deciding on spring rates currently. My delima is the same, I want stiffer to avoid all that body roll, especially when lifted & avoid rear sag. Yet I don't want stupid stiff, jarring over every little bump.

NZ-DB8R

Body roll is minimal on the cobra, they are progressive for comfort. Give a decent lift.

I also have a ultra racing 19mm rear sway bar which helps road manners

doubleoughtcrv

What spring rates & coil length are you using?

NZ-DB8R

They are progressive so no set spring rate, no idea on the length.
Just ordered lift springs, much the same as OME springs etc

I have fiddled with the spring perch height so they arnt giving as much lift as they would on OEM struts as the lower soring perch on my bilstein is set lower than OEM (i.e. if I used OEM springs it would be lowered slightly currently)
This was personal preference, if wanted I could raise the spring perch back up and lift it more

doubleoughtcrv

There's still a set rate lol. I get progressive springs. But they still start at xx rate and progress to xx rate.
However it sounds like your running just a coil spring not a homemade coilover setup which is what we are talking about,

I saw on the fb page the guys recommend 400-450 front & 275-350 rear. I'm thinking I'll look at 425/350 honestly.
Most post I was seeing on instgram and everything, guys stating 400+ rear labels felt like a dump truck. Up front some guys are even going up to 600+ rate and says its fine. But most posts seem to all say the same about the rear, don't go to stiff.

flowjdm

i had a set of 550 and it was way to stiff for my city driving ended up ordering another softer set , im currently on kyb with ebay adjustable coil sleeve with qa1 spring, when you move the collar up on the rear it preload more for better towing

JoshTheJerk

On the rd1 enthusiasts page on fb there is a files section with a ton of info as well. As far as colorado mountain those guys suck at communication. I got their strut spacers almost 6 months after i ordered them. I got one email during that time despite emailing them almost a dozen times. Then one more email saying they were being shipped out even though I had gotten them 2 days prior.

Tootsie7944

So, I've gotten a few emails back from the Colorado Mountain engineer. They are saying that OEM spring rates are 159# and 283#, rear and front respectively.

A couple of things before you read below. CMR website claims the cargo kit can increase the front spring rates to 125% of OEM, and the rear spring rates an option of 170% of OEM or 250% of OEM. The actual rates they gave me in their email response I've included below do not gel with the math and % increases....I don't know why, just passing information on. Ignoring math, here are the spring rates:

Their 2" coilover lift increases the spring rates to 250# and 300# in the rear and front, respectively.

Their 1" (adjustable up or down) cargo kit can adjust the rear springs to either 250# or 350# (per the engineer). So that's your 170% or 250% increase...but ignore the math over OEM, b/c I don't understand how they came up with those percentages. Then you can also opt to increase the front to 125% of OEM. So not sure if that's the 300# rate as in their 2" lift kit, or (backing into their math) it would be around 315# in the front.

I thought about buying their 1" adjustable cargo kit and opting for the 125% front increase and their 250% in the rear. Since that's adjustable up OR down, I could always buy their 2" block lift kit. That way, I could have the stiffest rear springs (and stiffer front springs) and just lower down my adjustable coilovers to avoid having a 3" lift (combine it would be a 3" lift, but I could adjust back down to a 2" lift)...hence preserving some of the angle on my axles/ball joints. The cost of doing this would be about $900 for all the suspension stuff and ignores cost of tires/wheels.

OR one could just buy the 2" lift kit and settle for slightly stiffer springs in the front and 170% stiffer (their math) springs in the rear, while also giving the additional spring/strut travel for off road capabilities that you wouldn't get from block/spacer lifts or their cargo lift. The cost of doing this would be $1400.

Obviously, running the OME (Old Man Emu) lift kit that gives 1.75" lift front and rear is $325, and does not eliminate the rear sag. The OME kit does have stiffer spring rates - I called and found out that the front springs (2797) are 340# springs and the rear springs (2798) are 210 #'s. According to them, the OEM spring rates are 300# front and 180# rear. In my experience with OME, given the front and rear are lifted the same and that the rear spring rates are only a mild increase, you will still have some sag. One option if you want to run OME and eliminate the rear sag is to just cut/machine yourself some .5" aluminum spacers for the rear struts. A guy I met this past weekend did that. Looks pretty good. He actually just got some cheap 2-bolt exhaust flanges and machined them down to work.

Thoughts?