RedHatch.eh

Okay, let's face it. The car is over 10 years old and it needs some work. I'm a perfectionist, but unfortunately I don't have enough money to go out and buy myself a brand new car. Furthermore, I love my hatch. It's the perfect car for what I do. This is my daily driver. I would like to build a nice Tom-like hatch, but I can't afford to build a high performace car right now. All I want is to bring the car back to like-new condition with.

So here's my question. I want to get the suspension work done right. Ideally, what I'd like to do is replace all the bushings first, replace the shocks and springs as I am sure they are tired by now. The front end is loose, so I figure the ball-joints are shot (don't know if upper or lower). Basically what I want to know is if I were to rebuild the whole suspension of this car, which parts should I replace, and which parts should I not replace?

Thanks in advance.

vtecvoodoo

Full Energy Suspension Kit is cheap, but the labor is a nightmare. If this is a second car and you can leave it on jackstands for a while you could go that route and take your time.

piscorpio

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vtecvoodoo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Full Energy Suspension Kit is cheap, but the labor is a nightmare. </TD></TR></TABLE>

He will need a shop to press some of the bushings out, correct? I suppose he could manage to burn a few out though too.

RedHatch.eh

Yea, I know about the bushings; but what about the other components? Isn't there anything else I should be replacing or looking at?

RedHatch.eh

Somebody's got to know something about suspension.

kommon_sense

You won't know what parts need replacing until you get in there. However bushings, shocks/struts are a very good place to start.

piscorpio

Chances are you will need new rear shock bolts, I would almost put money on them snapping. Other than all the bushings, I can't imagine what else you might need to do, asides from snapped/siezed bolts you might be unlucky enough to encounter.

RedHatch.eh

Thanks guys. While I'm working on suspension, I'll probably have a look at the wheel bearings and most definitely do some brake work.

fire7882

look into getting a brake swap from a newer integra. This would replace a lot of your bushings and your lower ball joints as well as wheel bearings. You would also be getting much better brakes and it most likely wouldn't cost more than getting new bussings, wheel bearings, and replacing you brakes.

SkyeC

I would look around for a 98+ GSR knuckle swap front/rear. Newer bushings, don't have that nightmare of an install that MOST people really do not want to deal with, etc. That's what I am going to end up doing sooner or later.

Or save a few more hundred and get a 00+ ITR changeover and do it that way.

Either way, newer bushings AND bigger newer brakes.

mantic6t9

I'm selling a set of neuspeed koni yellows and neuspeed race springs if you're interested..

EKhothatch

I'm just about through with my rebuild. I replaced my suspension and brakes, w/ upgraded stock and performance parts, but the only things I didn't change are the ball joints (except the top ball joint came with my skunk2 a-arms) and wheel bearings. I decided to leave them as they were cuz the car didn't have a ridiculous amount of miles and didnt' feel like going the through the pain of change them out at this point. I'll will find out if those parts should have been addressed or not when I'm actually done with the car.