Anyone ever tried using the Civic forks on the 5th gen Prelude? The forks on the Civic look to be shorter than the Preludes..Could be an effective drop method..

 

Civic fork

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...ZWDVW

 

Prelude fork

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...QrdZ1

 

Are they the same size as far as where the damper mounts up to?

 

They look like forged pieces so you probably have some good strength with the material grain but in any case the webs might have thinner sections and may not be able to safely support the heavier front end of a Prelude.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by godslayer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">They look like forged pieces so you probably have some good strength with the material grain but in any case the webs might have thinner sections and may not be able to safely support the heavier front end of a Prelude.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Forged? Looks like cast to me?

You'll need actual measurements to be sure. Would they even clear the axles?

 

From a clearance standpoint I think it should be fine..What concerns me is the civic ones may not be able to support the weight of the lude..

 

You can use the Civic forks fine on a Prelude. That's what I'm using now on my Koni 2812s.

A couple of things to note:
There is less material between the top of the fork and the pinch bolt. Depending on the type of shock you have, you could have difficulty getting the pinch bolt all the way through.

The fork tangs are about 0.030" (or 0.040", I can't remember) closer together. It's enough that you can't easily get the fork on by hand. Since my lower control arms use spherical bearings, I just machined new bushing adapters, but you can't do this with stock bushings.

I have run one event with this setup, and I've had no problems with clearance or strength. However the Civic fork does get fairly close to the driveshaft. In fact, the Civic forks look a tad beefier than the Prelude forks!!

I can post some pictures this weekend if anyone is interested.

One last note, IIRC, the Civic forks are about 10mm shorter, so that'll lower around 15mm at the wheel.

 

AWESOME!!!!!

 

that's cool. a cheap guys alternative to cutting springs. I wouldn never cut springs, but if they are beefier you say and have a 15mm drop, that's worth trying it out. for a roughly 5/8" drop

 

You guys read all of my post right? It's not a bolt in modification.

 

or cheap for that matter....getting your bushings, then getting the new forks, and the tech time....sigh, just for an aditional 5/8 of an inch, is it really necessary?

Now Billy, you say they are more heavy duty....what would this benneft?

 

couldn't you just mill the tangs .03"? it's not that much do worry about losing i wouldn't think

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by shutta &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">couldn't you just mill the tangs .03"? it's not that much do worry about losing i wouldn't think</TD></TR></TABLE>

If you have a mill or a machine shop that will do the work for you, sure. For me, it was easier to machine some new bushings. If you have access to a mill, why wouldn't you just mill the top of the Prelude fork to make it shorter? That would be a cheaper route since you won't have to buy a set of Civic forks.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by madcatz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Now Billy, you say they are more heavy duty....what would this benneft?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Probably nothing.


Modified by 117 at 5:40 AM 12/19/2006

 

reminds me of the old school suspension technique drop forks

 

is there any benefit at all? besides a 5/8th inch drop?

 

No.

 

hell couldn't you just use a die grinder or belt sander?

 

If you didn't care about keeping the mating surfaces parallel, sure!

I might be interested in selling my Civic forks, if someone is interested in buying them. I bought them brand new.

 

If the forks work then couldn't you in theory swap the entire Civic front suspension on the lude? I.E-Civic coilovers w/ civic forks? Billy I am assuming you used the 96+ Civic forks right? Do you have any pics?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by darkspector2.0 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">is there any benefit at all? besides a 5/8th inch drop?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Actually the benefit is lowering your car and not effecting your suspension geometry.

 

Using a shorter shock would do the same thing as using shorter forks, it doesn't really matter where you make the assembly shorter as long as you have enough compression and droop travel, you should be okay.

I used the forks from a 92-95 Civic. I have no idea if the 96+ forks are the same. You could compare PNs to see.

As for using Civic shocks, yes you can do that that, but the upper mounts are different, so you can't use Civic specific upper mounts, and if you use an OTS Civic shock, the valving will not be appropriate for a Prelude.