Hello, I'm new to the board, here's my first question(s)

I installed new suspension on my 2k1 Integra GSR over the weekend (Tokico Illuminas and Landspeedracing coilovers) and everything went great. I have a couple questions though now that everything is done.

First, my stock dust covers did not fit on my new shocks/coilovers at all so I just left them off. I went to a few auto parts stores to get some dust boots to put on the shocks but nobody had them in stock. Most of the guys at the shops said to do without them and I wouldn't have any problems. Is it ok to just leave the shocks without any kind of dust boot/cover?

Secondly, I noticed a little gap when my car is jacked up between the top of the spring and the upper perch. It's kind of hard to explain, but if I jack my car up and the shocks extend to their full length, the spring doens't expand enough to fill the "gap". So I have a little space between teh top of the spring and the shock perch. It just makes it tricky when lowering the car down off the jack because I need to make sure the springs fit up correctly in the perch. Is this something I should expect with this suspension setup? Or is there a way to overcome this little dilemma somehow? Thanks for any help!

BTW, pics of my installation are here: http://jackmoves.com/glowecon/car/suspension_install/

Justin

 

First question: your fine.. don't worry about the dust boots.

Second: its normal.. just make sure the springs are seated properly when you lower the car and don't go over any "jumps" while your driving You could get what is called "helper springs" to take up the slack, but its not necessary.

HTH

 

You're allright, I wouldn't worry about anything.

I've been running Ground Controls in my CRX for nearly two years w/out dust covers and no ill effects.

What spring rates are you using?

 

Jeez you didn't support your car w/ the wheels did you??

Nice car, though. Looks like you got it set for optimum handling, i.e., not slammed. Makes me want coilovers, but I can't afford GC's w/ Koni Yellows. Guess I'll go with springs and Konis.

Anywho, I believe Energy Suspension sells universal dust boots, but I'm not sure, check out their website to find out. As for the springs, they do that because they are so short. This is true of all sleeve coilovers, except for Ground Control (the Eibach ERS spring is long enough to stay in place even at full suspension extension). This is why sleeve-type coilovers tend to be noisy. I wanted GC + Koni because of the way the sleeve attache to the Koni shock, but I just can't spend that much. Oh well, enjoy your suspension. Good pics BTW.

 

i didnt use the dustboots on my konis and i've had them for about a year and a half or 2 years... if you want you can enlarge the hole on the stock dust boots slightly to make them fit.. i think that was what was implied in the koni literature (its just pictures and very vague text...and alot was in a diff language)..

 

Jesse: The spring rates are 325 front and 225 for the rear.

Patrick: LOL, no I didn't use the wheels to support the car We had jack stands supporting it but just happened to put the wheels under the car to get them out of the way. If you can't afford the GC's you may want to take a look at the coilovers I have. They are $200 from http://www.landspeedracing.com and are pretty nice. I was set on GC's until my little brother told me about the LSR coilovers. In fact I originally wanted to go GC and Koni yellow too but it was a bit out of my budget. So I I just went a step down on the shocks and coilovers and bought the LSR coilovers and Tokico Illuminas. So far I love it and it's still a pretty high quality setup, I think.

Thanks for all the help.

Justin

 

justinCO: I saw that you measured the car stock to the top of the wheel well, I cannot read what the measurment was in the picture. What did it measure in the front and rear?

 

Ugh, I don't remember exactly, I should have written it down. The gap from the tire to the wheel well in front was like 2.5 inches or so, the rear was about 2", maybe a tad less. Those are just guestimates though...

Justin

 

Thanks anyways I guess I will just have to find a stock integra somewhere around town and measure myself, I just hope they dont think I am trying to steal their car or something Your car looks great lowered

 

Just make sure it's a newer car and the springs aren't sagging. The only sleeve coilover I would ever consider is GC, just because of the way they are made, using Eibach springs, and the only shocks I would use w/ GC would be Koni Adjustables, because of the way that they attach to the Koni shocks. Since I can't afford GC, my only other option for me is regular springs. I guess I'll cross my fingers and hope I get an even drop (the back of my car sits higher right now). I would like to get the GC's also just to show my hater friends that it's a good product, but oh well.