Its me with the 97 dx. Suspension...what all do i need to do it right and about how much would it cost? Springs, coils, struts, coil over...what does this all mean and what of it do I need. I currently have rims...Alittle worried about rubbing, is it ever a problem?

 

Boy, these are some pretty vague questions. Okay, I'll try and contribute what I can:

You'll need to develop a driving style, and then let us know what you intend to do with the car mostly, and then we may be able to give some more narrowed-down suggestions.

The Civics we drive use a McPhereson style independent suspension, which is a strut with spring assembly at all four corners. The strut is a shaft filled with fluid, which limits the shock of bumps on the spring. The spring, which in this suspension, houses the strut, holds the load of the car, and assists in resisting shock. This is why a good combination of springrate and shock is very important for different driving styles. What many people use, for ease of maintenance, are standard lowering springs for modest performance applications.

Coils and coilovers are one in the same with springs. People on this site, and in many cases just refer to the other type of springs as coilovers. Adjustable coilovers are a certain type of spring, which sits on an adjustable plate. If used, they go in place of a normal spring. This allows the driver to manually adjust his/her car's ride height for different handling/aesthetic applications. Also, certain high-end struts can be purchased, which can be adjusted, not for ride height, but for adjustable shock absorbtion.

As for the wheels you have on your car, and your concerns with rubbing, We'd have to know what are the size of your wheels, and the size of your tires are. What is meant to assist in preventing rubbage is rolling/flaring fenders, getting thinner tires with some smaller diameter wheels. Rubbing shouldn't be too much of a problem if you don't lower the car too far. But if you become a fan of slamming, you'll just have to get used to it.

Anywho, I hope I've been a little help to you. There's also much more to suspension than springs and shocks, but you can read up more on that by checking out the Tires/Suspension section of the forum. Some of the information there will no doubt prove me wrong somewhere.

 

looks like you need to decide what you want, blackout is pretty knowleadgable.
you can either get a set of nonadjustable springs and a set of shocks.
Or a coil over shock combo, alot of people on honda-tech love the koni ground control combo.
if you dont want to spend that much you could get something like omni. i have had good expeirnces with them but not everyone will agree with me there so i also say read up some in Tires/Suspension and make your own desicion based on what you want to spend and what you find.
good luck!