I've been wanting to mod my sedan's illuminas as in this thread (fork mod), and had the chance while installing my front lca poly bushings.

Obviously EF shocks are shorter than EG/EK's, so the 2" tube they suggest will drop your shock more than an inch in the fork. That said, a 2" tube per shock will net ~1.5" drop in the fork, <U>which gets your fenders 2 inches lower</U> - with the same amount of travel before hitting the bumpstops. I may take pictures, which will show the rear with ~1" between tire/fender, and the front with the tire 0.5" into the fender (previously same height of rear). Rides exactly the same, besides the extreme drop (fixing that tomorrow) allowing the mudflaps to scrape on most bumps.

extra info:

Anyways, I did measurements for those who are interested. The max my front suspention can move (sedan w/ingals camber kit) is ~10" from hub centerline to the fender (external wheel arch). That means the shortest the shock can get is 18" from where the tophat's studs start to the lca mounting point. Fully extended, the illuminas w/fork are 22", with 2.5" of shock travel (plus ~1.5" of uncut bump stop). I'd say the 1.5" drop in the fork is the most you'll want to do, but right now it's less than an inch from the axle shaft/joint. I'd suggest a 0.5-1" extended tophat with a 2.5-3" tube used as a shock mount spacer, assuming an uncut bumpstop is used. Your milage will vary.

 

 

Front used to be the same as the rear, only thing done was to drop the shock lower in the fork.



Snow sucks

 

damn...thats an awsome little write up there.

 

umm.. Ground control makes extended top hats...

 

yes GC does make the top hats, but a diy'er with a lil welding experience can make similar setups for around 20$ or less.

Even still he is talking about lowering the forks in the front, not the top hats. Adding the top hats will not lower the ride height at all, it will only increase suspension travel.

What i am curious to try or hear experiences about is creating a new lower shock fork that allows the entire shock assembly to sit lower. I could easily model one with software and cnc it, but i am curious if anyone just cut and welded the lower forks and if that will be rigid enough to withstand daily driving?

 

yeah, we're not talking about the top hats.


suspension techniques made a shortened fork. and it wasnt good enough to withstand daily driving.... which is why they no longer sell em.


i say just drop the shock in the fork. thats the better way.

 

im not quite getting what you mean, lowering your ride height by dropping the shock lower in the fork.

Im all for slammage, somebody please explain

 

did you even click on the link?
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=469485

look at part 2.

 

yea, if you would like to continue to participate in this thread please read the referened thread from start to finish so we are all on the same page

tyson - i run omni coilovers, so i am not really able to "drop" the shock the front fork. I think the next step for me is to try extended top hats and lower the upper perch. My only concern is that the oem top hat might not work w/the omni springs, and i cant weld new "top hat extenders" on to the aluminum omni top hats. So i dunno

 

dude, you know the whole design of omni shocks is supposed to accomplish exactly what the fork mod is and be adjustable. BUT IT BOTTOMS OUT! at nearly stock height no less. (as you and many others have pointed out and complained.) its freaking useless.

anyway.... using an extended top hat (GC or DIY) with those coilovers is not going to work to accomplish more SHOCK travel because the OD of the shock is too big to fit INSIDE the extended top hat. all it becomes is a droop limiter.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">dude, you know the whole design of omni shocks is supposed to accomplish exactly what the fork mod is and be adjustable. BUT IT BOTTOMS OUT! at nearly stock height no less. (as you and many others have pointed out and complained.) its freaking useless.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
right, totally understand that. That is why the body is threaded and the bottom perch is adjustable.

As far as the extended hats are concerned, the shock body is too large go thru the extended hats like you said. So i guess i am kinda screwed My only thought is that i could extend the top hats but no more than the length of the bumpstops otherwise the shock body would actually bottom out on the hats

 

well, not really. depends on the bumpstop you use and how long it is.

think about it, the last thing you want is to have the shock bottom out on the top hat. so if the bumpstop is recessed in the top hat, what good is that? youd have to only make it deep enough to hold the COMPRESSED length of the bumpstop, plus an extra margin of safety.

really, its kinda pointless.

actually, i dont know for sure if the omni shock is larger than the top hat would allow. why dont you check that for sure. i have a GC top hat i can measure for you if you measure the diameter of the shock. but im assuming its larger.

 

Nice work!

That's an excellent suspension modification. The front of your car is SLAMMED now! LoL.

I love the look of EF sedans when they are slammed. It will be nice to be that low but still have some suspension travel.

Just out of curiosity, how long did it take you to do this?

 

Wouldn't the axle hit the shock when u drop the shock over the fork when going over bumps?

 

you can drop it about an inch before that will occur. but its a definate concern, and you MUST make sure it doesnt happen. thats why you make a spacer.

 

Actually, you can drop the shock body about 1.75" before it will make contact with the axel. As for when the suspention compresses, it depends. On setups with equal-length driveshafts (B's and ZC's), the LCA and driveshaft move at almost the same angles. The angles never change enough to make contact, since they start out nearly parallel anyways. On regular D's, the driver's side axle would touch before the other side, since the axle is 2-3x longer. In the end, the shock is so close to the outter 'fulcrum' that the distance between axle and shock changes very little durring compression.

I can't really say how long it took. All together, it took me 10 hours of dragging my feet tuesday, and 4 hours the next day. Removal, cutting, fitment, painting and rebolting just the shocks was probably 4 hours. Most of the time was spent getting the expensive Torch blades to deal with that goddamn seized inner lca bolt/bushing - it burnt through 5 of those blades. I also installed the final ES bushings in that LCA, and regreased the ES sway bar bushings.


<U>For the record, on this EF, I used sch40 1.5" black pipe (gas pipe) cut to 2" long. I recommend 2.5" long, which I also have.</U> It's like $2.47/foot at Home Cheapo, so get a 2", 2.5", and 3" sets just in case. The 1 5/8" fence poll also works (just barely presses on), but is sold in 6' lengths. Good for an extra ounce saved.

 

Before (theirs):


After (theirs):

 

Or...You can just get the 88 accord front shocks...

No cutting involved, and about 1.5"-2" shorter, with just as much travel.

 

id rather have a performance shock.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">id rather have a performance shock.</TD></TR></TABLE>

...Koni used to make an 88 app, but I didn't see it on their site. damn.

I am personally using 88 accord bilsteins up front with konis out back, and skunk2 coils. I love it.


Modified by Bryson at 1:03 AM 12/2/2005

 

wait to use the 88 accord front shocks do you need the accord forks as well?? what about the springs, top hats, etc? thanks.

 

I am wondering how this combo will work on an EF sedan as well. HR race springs with Tokico Whites and GC tophat extensions. I thought about putting them on my CRX but I already have GC Coilovers with KYB AGX's. No tophats on that one though.

Anyone have HR race with Tokico whites? How does that combo ride?

I thought about doing the lower shock mod too but I don't wanna screw my shocks up