Installed a set of D2 coilovers with Hawzke and for some reason I can't get the fronts to lower anymore than this. The bottom piece that you rotate to lower/raise the car is maxed out, hitting the bottom of the threads.


Rears look great and are exactly where I wanted them.

Is there a certain way I need to approach the fronts, as the instructions are telling me not to compress the springs.

 

hmmm. i have d2s on my 4th gen and i could get the tires on the front to tuck if i wanted to. My car isnt that low anymore but if i wanted to it could go down about 2 inches and be tucked on my fronts like you are on your rears. And yea don't compress your spings you will prolly blow the seals on the shocks. Wish i could help maybe everything just need to settle.

 

Just another pic...


It says in the instructions not to adjust the height by the top nut, by compressing the spring. So, am completely lost on how to lower another 1" or so.

 

Are you sure you do not have the rear set of coilovers on the front and visa versa? I have a friend who mixed them up and could completely bottom out the rear, but could barely eliminate the wheel gap on the fronts.

Verify you have the front coilovers on the front. And the rears on the rear.

 

When completely assembled, it's impossible to bolt up the front shocks to the rears (vice versa) because the coil overs up front are bolted in from the top with 3 bolts and 2 in the rear.

But yeah, I could completely dump the rears if I wanted to. Is it possible, that the springs and shocks are on the wrong top hats, or whatever the top portion of the coil overs are (the part where the threads stick through the trunk and engine bay)?

 

From the replys it sounds like it might be worth it to swap the shocks....

 

id like to see the full range of adjustment on the purple shaft that you have the arrow pointed to.
you say that its screwed all the way in?

 

Basically, I have it adjusted all the way for drop in height - so, it's threaded in as far as it will go. For instance, if you cut off a portion of the shock, I could move the sleeve up.

I'm beginning to think, perhaps I could swap sleeves from the back to the front?

 

I just called my friend to refresh my memory on what was wrong.

It wasnt the whole coilover that was wrong, because as you pointed out, the bolts are different. The SPRINGS were mixed up.

Id say check that out.

 

This is one of the coil overs in the front.


Coil over in the rear. Can't really tell from the angle of this one, but the springs in the front are much beefier than the springs in the back - shouldn't the beefier ones be in the front to begin with, as it's the heaviest part of the car?

 

On my skunk2 sleeve coilovers the front springs arent as tall as the rears when not under load. They appear to be the same diameter with a different number of coils and spring rates.

Im not sure about D2's but from the picture you posted of the front coilover i can see room for the spring perches to lower which would, id think, lower the car, no?

 

Yep, you got it... definitely about an inch of threads left to lower the car. However, the sleeve is maxed and wont spin anymore. This is pissing me off, haha.

Edit:
Just re-read your post. If I were to lower the spring perches, the spring would be rattling in there. However, if the REAR spring were to be swapped in place, you think it'd lower more?

 

The spring should not rattle in place when the car is on the ground and load is on the coilover. When the front of my car is in the air my springs do rattle around and appear to not fit because of how lowered i am. But once the car is on the ground the spring is compressed and held in place. I get no ill effects from the spring seeming loose when not under load. It works when under load, which is whats important.

 

Muuuuuuch better, the ricer in me is now satisfied.

Thanks for the help, Phildo916. Guess now I can post in the "What Have you done to your Prelude today?" thread.

 

So you just swapped the springs?

 

I just lowered the spring perches in the front, since the actual height adjustment sleeve was maxed out. I'm not sure if swapping springs from front to rear would have solved anything, since the springs up front are beefier with less coils.

 

Oh I see...never though of that

Glad you got it sorted out

 

hows the ride on those?

 

They're a lot better than the old setup, that's for sure. No-name lowering springs over stock shocks.


I don't do any type of racing and primarily bought them off Hawzke for the aesthetic drop. But overall, I feel the road a little more and the absorption of bumps is a lot less stressful - the original setup was harsh and I'd stress over the tiniest bump as the impact would just be awful. Pretty nice setup for the money I paid.

 

nice! yea im looking for something for dd and pretty nice drop, so its good to know...either d2 f2 or koni/gcs still deciding till i get the cash thanks for fast reply haha

 

how much lower did you go on the perches? im having the same prob with my d2's on my crx its really starting to annoy me now....> rear is slammed but the fronts look like i did nothing to them an the bottom piece is all the way up.... >=0

 

I'm beginning to think D2s are not the 1st choice in slamming a Honda, but I got mine for so cheap, I can deal with it. I actually ended up removing the middle locking ring and lowering the spring perch to sit on the lower sleeve. The spring is going to be loose when there isn't a load on the vehicle, but will re-seat when you lower the car back onto the ground - also, this isn't exactly recommended, as it's a good way to blow your shock, as you're pretty much riding on the spring now.

 

I have had three different suspension setups with the spring being a bit loose when there is no load on the suspension. One of which i drove like a banshee for 3 years (18-21yo) and i have never blown a shock. If your dampening rates can work with the spring rate efficiently youll be fine. At least that is my experience with what i consider quality components. Real world experience over hear-say IMO.

 

i figured lowering those perches couldn't be to good for the shocks...