VTEConly

I 've been having a lot of suspension and some geometry/alignment problems lately and need someone that really knows about Honda/Acura suspensions.

I have come to realize that it's really hard to find a shop with people that know much about suspensions and won't rip you off.

This local (in NY) tire/shock/brake shop installed my new 22mm Comptech sway bar upside down 2 weeks ago. I had to point it out to them when they called me into the shop and told me they muffler wouldn't go back into place! I have lost total faith in local shops. They 're all idiots and don't hardly do any aftermarket installs.
I used to go Rampage (my favorite & out of business) Racing and DRT but I want to go somewhere closer and North Jersey/Bergen county is not too far for me. It'd be at least 30min. closer for me than Queens. I know these shops in Queens are pretty reasonable and not expensive, but I 'd be willing to pay a little bit more for good work and good people.

My problem is that I hit a big pot hole over a year ago with the front right side of the car and immediately my steering wheel was crooked and the car handled weird and was not too stable on the highway. It also affected me in auto-x racing. A wheel alignment check showed that the front caster is off by 1.1 degrees! Meaning the front right wheel is behind the left wheel which is also evident in the engine bay when you look at the top adjusting screws of the Konis. They 're not in the same position after the pot hole incident..

A frame & axle specialist shop I took it too last Sept. wanted to replace the right front LCA plus the hub (wheel bearing, etc. included) which came out to quiet a few bucks. The thing is they weren't sure which one was damaged and what really made me run out of there was that they said at the end, "if that doesn't fix it" we 'll have to look at the upper arm"!! Sounded like these people wanted to replace everything in the book and take me for everything I had so I left and continued Auto-xing without taking any action and finished out the season with 21 events on the bad caster.
This year after another 10-11 auto-x events I 've noticed handling has been deteriorating fast and I 've been rolling over the front tires more and more and on the last even last Sunday I was rolling over the V700s by about 1" even at 41psi. Now don't start preaching about auto-x driving habits which is the main reason I didn't post this in the auto-x/racing forum. I 've been doing it for over 3yrs and I know when my times are getting consistenly worse because of the car. I know my car and I know it has some major problems right now.
I also have a small "grinding" noise coming from the front, under very hard cornering only (again only noticeable in auto-x, not street). There is also a "thump" when I take a sharp left very fast but this time it's noticeable on the street as well. This thump was introduced after the installation of the 22mm sway bar 3 weeks ago which replaced a Neuspeed 19mm bar which I must say I really loved having and miss it. Sounded like the muffler was loose banging into the arm or shock. Took it to another shop and it was determined that it wasn't the muffler, but it was a mystery to them where the noise was coming from! So having said that, I need to visit a shop where they have people with experience and know what they 're doing because there 's a variety of problems in both the front and rear of the car.
I think the idiots that installed the rear sway bar, overtorqued the LCA bolts and may have damaged the right LCA (frame) bushing but it almost sounds like something is popping in and out of place like a spring or a shock or shock bushing or something.. not sure. The front may be a cracked sway bar bushing or a variety of things on the left side since there 's extra forces exerted on the side when turning. There 's also the front right side which hit the pothole and that is probably a bent LCA. So the problems are numerous and seem to be too complex for most local so called "mechanics" that excel in changing your oil and rotating your tires.

My plan is to order some new GC coilovers (and throw out the 3yr old H&R OE Sports) to go with my existing Konis. I figure while many suspension components are down from the car, they can be inspected, as well as the ones that remain on the car (trailing arm bushings & others, etc.) I was also thinking of ordering new front & rear control arm bushings because after 3yrs of auto-xing and 50-60 events, there has to be some moderate damage to some of them. If anyone here has been auto-xing their car more than 3yrs I 'd like to hear from them how their suspension is holding up.

So what do you guys think of SPI and the Bullish Racing shops? Are there any better ones in North Jersey? I really need a shop that works on Hondas a lot and can swap out these parts practically blind folded like they seem to do at DRT and Rampage.. They should be able to do some logical troubleshooting and tell if a bushing is cracked, or something is bent and find problems. Am I asking for too much? Why do these people seem very hard to find? All I keep hearing around here, is "wi 'll swap a few things out, and see if your problem goes away.." No, I want them to swap out only what's bad, not to gamble with my car and wallet.. They sound like those mechanics back in the 70's & 80's (I 'm 36 so I 've been around for a little while) that wanted to replace the alternator, voltage regulator, plugs, wires, distrib. cap/rotor, just because the car was hesitating a little or stalled.. and hand you a $450 bill.
Thanks for any help or advice you can offer in pointing me to the right shop & people!

Harry

VTEConly

I forgot Kaztech in Hackensack. Anyone been there?