I'm not new to the import/tuner world, I have owned a few vehicles before, but haven't come across this problem.

This is my first Honda, it's a 1996 Accord EX Coupe with the F22B1(which I plan on boosting). Anyways, I just purchased a set of Ground Control Coilovers that have Eibach Springs, and I also bought a set of KYB 8 way adjustable shocks. Now here is the deal, for some reason, there are 2 different spring lengths with these coilovers, when I had my previous car(a 97 Eclipse GST), I had the exact same setup and all the springs were same length. I am wondering which ones go in front, and which in rear? I would imagine that the longer springs go in the front of the vehicle since it is bearing the majority of the weight. Can anyone verify this?

I have searched high and low for answers to this, and the longer in the front seems to be the general agreement, just wondering if anyone can help verify. Thanks a bunch!

 

I drive a accord. The only thing I can think of is this..

My front end sits higher than my back. Idk if that's the same for you but it might be so that you can drop your front end to be the same hight as your back

 

On an OEM setup the rear strut springs are longer. Longer goes in back. Welcome to HT.

 

Thanks for the responses guys. I will try the longer ones in the rear, if that doesn't work then I will swap them and post here again to let people know.

 

Fixed. But good to know, I have yet to install my GC's, and this is useful info.

 

Anyone have any recommendation on a GOOD camber kit? I have decided to wait on installing the coilovers until I get the full camber kit, I would rather not blow through tires by not having it done properly.

 

Just make sure toe is in check, that will kill your tires, not camber. Ensure all ball joints and bushings arent worn, as well.

 

Yeh, I used to be a mechanic at a local shop here and I'm absolutely sure they will let me use their alignment rack, I was one of their only alignment techs when I worked there so I know all about that stuff.

 

Oh, I went to my local O'Reilly parts store, and they have camber kits available there that are MOOG. I know the brand MOOG and I have used that brand a lot. Only problem is that the front kit they have only provides a -1 to +1 degree adjustment on actual camber, if I remember right, that only equates to about a 1.2 - 1.5" drop in ride height. I think I'm looking for more along the lines of a 2 - 2.5" drop in ride height. I don't remember how to calculate how many degrees equal what the difference in height would be, does anyone else know?

 

I don't think there's any specific forumla for the Accord chassis, so now would be the perfect time to create one! ha!

Come to think of it, I'm not sure if anyone's made one for the Civic/Integras either. I have a book on general race/competition suspensions at home, I'm sure I could dig something up in that. On a wild guess, I'd say that for every 1" of lowering, -1 degree of camber is gained. Don't take that as law though, as it's all dependent on the suspension design.

This chassis isn't very well supported compared to the Civic's/Integra's, the only real ability to change camber from the top are either the adjustable ball joints, or the offset UCA mounts/bushings which push the UCA outward for +/- camber changes, which I've heard bad things about clearance-wise. I'd much rather do the adjustable upper ball joint than the offset UCA bushings/mounts. A proper sliding balljoint UCA needs to be designed. People have used EF adjustable UCA's in the past, but they're much too short and provide entirely too much negative camber for most applications, even adjusted fully to the positive camber side of the slider.

For the rear, I've heard that either using shims paired with longer bolts on the upper link, or an adjustable upper arm works. There could be some changes in rear toe without using an adjustable toe link, though, not really sure.

 

I am definitely going to pick up the offset balljoints for the front, and the actual adjustable upper arms for the rear. I will dig some more to see if there are any "better" offset balljoints for the front that will provide a little more that a 2 degree difference.

 

SPC Performance makes an offset balljoint for adjusting more than 3 degrees.
http://store.specprod.com/productdetail/M50/1/1/67340

Rear upper camber adjuster for vehicles lowered more than 1.5"
http://store.specprod.com/productdetail/M50/1/1/67265

Both are also available through tirerack.

I have no experience with SPC stuff, but if tirerack carries them, they're bound to be pretty good products.

There really needs to be a better solution for adjust the front camber, IMO.

 

I've got Ground Controls with Tokicko 8 way adjustable struts. The longer coil springs go in the rear and the shorter in front.

I've got Wicked Tuning camber arm/kits in the rear and SPC balljoint camber kits in the front.

 

..... aaaand?

 

I did the coilovers today. Had some issues with the rears honestly. I took off the interior parts to get at the top of the struts, and wow, the bolts and nuts on the INSIDE of the car were rusted beyond being able to use a normal tool on them. It's amazing that Honda's have this innevitable problem with condensation producing that much rust on the inside of the vehicle. Well, needless to say, I had to cut the nuts off, get new mounting plates and all new hardware for the top side of the struts. No problem. THEN, more of my bad luck started shining through when I was just about finished with the last one, it literally started raining, sleeting, and snowing all in one shot, yes, I am doing this in a driveway OUTSIDE. Probably should have thought that one through. Anyway, I said screw it, put everything away for the day/night, will finish it tomorrow since it's supposed to be sunny. I will post a couple pics of how the car looks after I get it back on the ground.