The Car: 1991 Honda Civic Hatchback, 1.5L (215K miles...I know, I need to swap) 4spd. trans

The hookup: 17x7 sportmax rims, 205 40H/17 Fuzion tires, skunk2 racing coilovers in rear (adjusted JUST ABOVE lowest setting) with KYB AGX Struts in rear (usually on setting "4"), stock suspension in front, but heat treated 2" drop.

The weight: Front fenders converted to fiberglass, and plastic under-garments removed. Spare tire removed from rear...basically stripped behind the two rear seats.

OTHER INFO: The right rear side has been changed out with some other car's rear end. Uncertain out of what, but it was a direct fitment. DRUM BRAKE SETUP!

The problem: Ok so it happened tonight, and happened two nights ago. I've been driving fast and I'd enter a turn and everything hooks up fine with little body roll. I'm not hitting the brake when this happens (the first time I just coasted in and out of the turn and the second time I was gasing througout the turn, hard in the enter/exit, and mildly in between) but the rear end keeps slipping out. Any ideas as to what?

Guesses: (1) Front suspension being stock off-sets it. (2) strut/tower bars needed. (3) My struts are set one setting too hard.

Other than that...I'm SOL. Any ideas of how to lose this problem? Or any solutions?

 

this happen to me with old setup,
rear to stiff, no body roll, is good but bad, no body roll mean no wheight transsfer(side to side),
wich mean when u enter the turn ur rear really stiff and it has been caried by the fron wheight transfer, causing your end to break loose, (-- kinda hard to understand, i know sorry)
(this was my problam)
now, yours maybe differant.
I would get better anti sway bar, go to setting 2-3 (drive on 2 see how it acts u don't like go to 3) upper lower strut tower bars, better tires.

hope that help you.

 

From what I understand the rear lower sway bar hits stuff in the road and is no good for a car.

FUTURE PLANS ALREADY: Front: Upper DC Sports (?) strut/tower bar, Lower Suspension Techniques sway bar. Oh yeah, and finish off the front with the KYB/Sk2 setup. Rear: Upper DC Sports (?) strut/tower bar and stepping to BFGoodrich G-force tires.

As for the settings, I was running 3 but still had a little bit of tire/fender rub. I need to roll them a little bit to get them out of the way....

 

I was thinking the same thing... Rear is too stiff. I used to have my rear agx's set at three. I installed prothane trailing arm bushings and didn't like the handling because it was too stiff. I set them at two and have been happy.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kenjief8 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I would get better anti sway bar, go to setting 2-3 (drive on 2 see how it acts u don't like go to 3) upper lower strut tower bars, better tires.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Front sway bar right? I've never seen a 4th gen hatch with a rear sway bar.

See what happens on 2 and 3. Do you have correct tire pressure on all corners?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JokerTypeR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">From what I understand the rear lower sway bar hits stuff in the road and is no good for a car.</TD></TR></TABLE>

what? You'd hit many other things before the sway bar.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by eda6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

what? You'd hit many other things before the sway bar.</TD></TR></TABLE>

As stated, this is what I heard. *shrugs* May go ahead for the anti-sway anyways. Yes, tire pressure is good...I think it is just too stiff. Maybe I'll piece it out, life the rear end back up just a tad (or roll the fenders) and set it back to 2...maybe bump to 3. We'll see in time...

 

Yeah, you're on the right track with it being too stiff. You've got stock spring rates in the front and race spring rates in the rear. I'm not sure exactly what you expected to happen, but that's something I would to if I wanted to make a car rotate all the time on purpose. The rears could also be reaching the bump stops with the springs set that low, causing an almost infinite spring rate. The stock shocks in the front aren't helping either, but I don't think the shocks are the only things to be looking at here. Before you start adding strut tower braces and sway bars, get a matching suspension front and rear.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by drdisco69 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yeah, you're on the right track with it being too stiff. You've got stock spring rates in the front and race spring rates in the rear. I'm not sure exactly what you expected to happen, but that's something I would to if I wanted to make a car rotate all the time on purpose. The rears could also be reaching the bump stops with the springs set that low, causing an almost infinite spring rate. The stock shocks in the front aren't helping either, but I don't think the shocks are the only things to be looking at here. Before you start adding strut tower braces and sway bars, get a matching suspension front and rear.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Smartass, LoL. Yeah, I plan to do the suspension swap in the front. I already have the coilovers, just didn't have the cash for KYB's in the front, so I got stuck waiting. It looked funny so I heated the front to lower it. I thought it'd be kinda pointless to part it out, put on the springs, put it together, then part it again, put struts in...you get the picture. Just makin' sure this was definitly the issue. Struts/sways will maybe come in time. How much difference do these actually make on these cars anyways? Alot, a little, or none...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JokerTypeR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">(the first time I just coasted in and out of the turn and the second time I was gasing througout the turn, hard in the enter/exit, and mildly in between) but the rear end keeps slipping out. Any ideas as to what?</TD></TR></TABLE>
You're lifting.

. . . with a very rear-biased setup. Could be bottoming out in the rear as well.

If you don't know how to drive on such a setup, which you obviously don't, then there are 2 options:

1) learn how to drive, or
2) set the car up properly for your skill level

When will these kids ever learn to have more patience and do it right the first time, instead of jumping in way over their heads before they are ready?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by drdisco69 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You've got stock spring rates in the front and race spring rates in the rear.</TD></TR></TABLE>

he doesn't even have stock rates in the front: he used a torch to heat the springs and make them shorter. god only knows what the fool has for spring rate in the front.

never, ever, ever heat springs to lower a car. cut off dead coils, yes. but using a torch to force the springs to sag is insanely bad.

 

i'm going to vote for the too stiff in the rear + lifting set up... i'm running 550lbs rear springs in the car and if i lift i drift, if not spin depending on the speed of the corner... this is all track driving mind you... i'm fortunate enough to car pool to work every day and a CRX doesnt = HOV3.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Targa250R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
You're lifting.

. . . with a very rear-biased setup. Could be bottoming out in the rear as well.

If you don't know how to drive on such a setup, which you obviously don't, then there are 2 options:

1) learn how to drive, or
2) set the car up properly for your skill level

When will these kids ever learn to have more patience and do it right the first time, instead of jumping in way over their heads before they are ready?</TD></TR></TABLE>
1) I can drive, let's not get cocky, I take no claims at being "excellent" but I have done my fair-share of time practicing. But at the same time, I'm not used to having a setup like this. My first was a caravan, my second was a dodge ram. This is my first car.
2) I played with it stock til I got to know it. Then I went to set up a full-race setup as far as suspension goes, then brakes, then go with the engine. Then I planned on taking it off the streets for the track-only purpose. It's just that I get a little roudy sometimes. But NEVER have I lost it. And when it has gotten sideways I have had experience to straighten it back out. Which I've done successfully in several practice runs in an open parking lot.

Overall, I don't plan to learn to drive tihs because this isn't the setup I wanna run. But i have to deal until money comes to get the rest of the parts.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jhota &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

he doesn't even have stock rates in the front: he used a torch to heat the springs and make them shorter. god only knows what the fool has for spring rate in the front.

never, ever, ever heat springs to lower a car. cut off dead coils, yes. but using a torch to force the springs to sag is insanely bad.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Torching? Yes, they were torched. It was supposed to be used only for like...a week. Then, as stated, money went bad. I did it so that I could see what the front would look like once lowered. This would be a (guessing) $10 modification. So if I didn't like it, it could easily go and be replaced. Foolish or smart for not wasting money?

 

dude, you shouldn't have done it for a day.

it's difficult to express how insanely bad torched springs are.

you've changed the tensile strength of the steel, but who knows how much? you have no way to know what the current rates of the front springs are, or even how close they are to each other.

i've seen torched springs break - and it really effs things up when they do, not to mention the safety issue there. i've seen them break after a day, much less a week.

it's just a really bad idea.

 

rear is probably too stiff

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jhota &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">dude, you shouldn't have done it for a day.

it's difficult to express how insanely bad torched springs are.

you've changed the tensile strength of the steel, but who knows how much? you have no way to know what the current rates of the front springs are, or even how close they are to each other.

i've seen torched springs break - and it really effs things up when they do, not to mention the safety issue there. i've seen them break after a day, much less a week.

it's just a really bad idea.

</TD></TR></TABLE>
Yeah, I understand your warnings. I THOUGHT I'd known the limitations to how bad things could be before the torching was done. Afterwards I heard otherwise. But, it's too late to fix, and they've been fine. Would I advise someone else doing it? Hell no, the metal becomes brittle. It was a mistake that so far hasn't been costly, and i"ve been lucky. I can't wait to get the new coilovers/struts in the front though...