Hey guys I'm looking for some help.

I just got a 90 Civic Wagon for use as my daily driver, and it came with full threaded body first-gen F2 coil-overs already on it. Ride height wise, it's great, but ride quality wise it's stiff on full stiff, and bouncy on full soft - there's not much smoothing it out.

I understand that these are more track-oriented coil-overs, and maybe what I'm asking is impossible, but I'm looking to have a smoother ride at the expense of handling. My old DD EF had KYB GR2 shocks with Tein S-Tech lowering springs and that to me is 100% perfect for daily use.

I believe the car currently has 11K front, 6K rear springs, according to the previous owner.

For one I have no clue what that means in terms of lbs. ratings. I'm used to spouting off "425F/550R" rates for my 92 hatch, which is hella stiff.

Secondly I'd be looking to buy some Eibach ERS coil-over springs to soften the ride, but I've no clue on rates.

If someone could please help me convert the 11K/6K crap to lbs. that'd be a start, and furthermore possibly help steer me in the right direction as to what rates I could run on the softest side with these F2s.

The problem is since it's a wagon replacement shocks and lowering springs are much harder to find. Many places say "use EF hatchback parts" but there is a big difference in stock ride height from the wagon to EF hatch/sedan. The suspension geometry is much different. If I could find wagon-specific shocks like KYB GR-2s and Tein S-Techs I'd just go that route and sell these nice F2s to someone looking for stiffness.

Oh and for refernce the car weighs roughly 2,500-2,600lbs.

A pic for fun:

 

Tom, to convert the metric kg-mm spring rates to imperial lbs-in, just multiply by 56 (an approximate value but it's close enough).

For example, 11 kg-mm is roughly equal to 616 lbs-in, and 6 kg-mm is roughly 336 lbs-in.

2WD or 4WD wagon? Is the rear lower shock mount an eye or a fork?

 

1990 2WD wagon, so it has the forks on the rear.

I believe these F2s were for an EF hatch/sedan, which for threaded body coil-overs is not bad since I have a ton of ride height adjustability by adjuting the shock body length.

Damn 636 is way too stiff IMO.

The seller gave me an extra set of springs for the F2s - they are 10K/6K - I'm thinking about putting the extra rear 6K springs up front and see how that works.

If the front end doesn't bottom out or ride crappy then I could simply buy one set of 180/200lbs. Eibach ERS spings and toss those in the rear.

Do you have any idea of what Tein S-Tech spring rates are for an EF? I'd like something comparable, but maybe even on full soft the F2 dampeners would over dampen the soft rate springs...

???

 

thats funny how you think its to stiff for daily and i have the f2 for my daily eg and i think they are a lil soft but hey thats me

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by projectr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">thats funny how you think its to stiff for daily and i have the f2 for my daily eg and i think they are a lil soft but hey thats me </TD></TR></TABLE>

Well I've got 425F/550R rates on my EG with Konis on full stiff backed off a 1/4 turn, and the F2s are about as stiff - seriously.

If the fronts are 605lb. or so then I know I'm not imagining that the ride is pretty stiff.

The rear of my EG is crazy stiff on purpose as it is intended to rotate for auto-x, which it does well.

The whole point of having this wagon for me is having a comfy daily driver. With these stiff rates I can see my baby's spine being compressed if we happen upon bumpy roads.

 

Please dont forget that the "stiffness" also depends on how your shock is valved as well. Most ppl do not take that into account.

 

I'd look for the eibach coilover setup with the progressive springs, or the koni setup.


you just aren't going to get a nice ride out of linear springs on a linear valved shock