Dancing Elf

So, I did this rear suspension install a year ago and I am just now getting around to posting it. This is more of a review than anything else and not really a how-to. Rear suspension installs of this type are relatively easy and I’m guessing most people on this forum have done some work in this area.
In 2009 I installed a set of Omni coil-overs in my ’92 Civic Hatch. Needless to say they didn’t last; at least the ones in the rear. After contacting Omni and having them tell me to go pound sand, I set about trying to find a shop that could rebuild them. Bottom line: nobody does. However, I did come across a post by H-T Member Andy of AMR Engineering. He said he could rebuild them, but he couldn’t guarantee the Omnis wouldn’t fail again.
At this point, I started taking a look at AMR’s product. Andy agreed to sell me an older AMR model set of the rear coil-overs I needed so that I wouldn’t have to purchase a complete set of four. The AMR coil-overs come with a lifetime warranty and can be rebuilt by almost any suspension shop if you are unable to return them to AMR.

In addition to the coil-overs, I replaced the rear upper CAs and the lower CAs. The existing uppers were Blox that I had installed with the Omnis. The rubber bushings in the UCAs were completely torn. And this was after less than three years of use. I came across some UCAs on Amazon branded VMS that came with polyurethane bushings. They were cheaper than purchasing the poly bushings by themselves and they appeared to be a reasonably well designed product so I took a chance.

I was still running the stock LCAs and knowing that down the road I would be adding a rear sway bar, I started looking at aluminum LCAs pre-drilled and threaded for end links. I looked at Function 7, but they were slightly out of my price range. I decided to go with Blackworks which were less expensive, but still came with a lifetime warranty and included poly bushings.

The Omni coilover is shown below. They rode nicely while that lasted, but with Omni’s lack of interest in supporting their product, I will never buy from them again. I should say that to my knowledge, Omni no longer produces coil-overs. I don’t feel this is a reason for them to no longer support their product, however. Especially a product that failed so quickly.

The Blox UCAs did not measure up to my expectations either. I had heard good things about Blox components and to be fair the UCAs that I’m running in the front are Blox and I’ve had no issue with them. But I am less likely to use their product on future projects. As you can see below, the bushings are completely torn.

Now that I’ve been riding on this new rear suspension for a year, I can vouch for all of these products. The AMR Coil-overs have been great and the adjustable dampening in nice to have. I don’t exactly use it on a regular basis because I use the car mostly for commuting, but I can say that these coil-overs are stiff enough to handle corners very efficiently and at the same time when set them to one on the dampening scale, they are a comfortable daily ride.

The VMS Upper Control Arms do what they’re designed to do and the lock nuts function adequately and don’t need to be constantly retightened due to vibration. The Lower Control Arms do their job and with the poly bushings, I’m sure they are contributing to the slightly stiffer ride. These LCAs will certainly be worth it once I install the rear sway bar.

All in all I’ve been happy with these products. It any of them experience catastrophic failure, I’ll update the post. But until then, I would say these products are worth the money.

Cynical 1

looks nice, but be prepared for disappointment with the bwr arms. right up there with blox or ebay brand. and yes, i have personal experience...

Dancing Elf

Cynical,

Thanks for the heads up. So far no issues, but I've only been running them a year. What were the issues or lack of performance you found with the BWRs?

Cynical 1

bushings severely deteriorating, especially with track use.

phunhaus

Your upper control arms are upside down.

redlinetuning

I have the blox rear lower control arms too, and had to replace the bushings after two years of sitting and 2 autocross sessions. Hard race bushings were put in so we'll see how they hold up. I replaced the blox upper control arms with skunk2 arms as well.

Andy@AMR

Hey thanks for the props, and coming by the shop. I was more than happy to get you rolling, and help you out. We've accumulated a lot of random parts both new, and used from various builds, and brands we've worked on. So it was a piece of cake to throw something together for yah that would get you rolling. Would love to get you a matching set of front dampers. I'm sure I've got some matching collars somewhere, and the parts to put a front pair together. If you ever decide to do that you know how to reach us. Thanks again!

If you ever need to replace any other parts we've got front, and rear camber kits in stock as well as Function 7 Lower Control Arms. See you around!