I need to replace my OEM springs and shocks. The springs are broken and the shocks are worn and tired, obviously with 210k miles that's more than expected. I'm surprised they lasted this long. Gotta love Honda quality and engineering!

But what to do about the mounts?

Replace the whole mount at all 4 corners?
Reuse some or all of the 210k original mount?
Buy the complete Moog OE replacement mounts?
Honda doesn't sell the mounts as whole units, I'd need to buy individual pieces, but that can get expensive quite quickly.


Any suggestions?

 

buy tein pillowball mounts 300.00 for all four, or you could get the skunk2 shocks, they come with the shock, coil, and topmounts. for about 700.00 if you look around. Maybe you could just replace the bushing with OEM or energy suspension ones GL





Modified by acmoc at 10:24 PM 6/27/2008

 

Thanks for the quick response.

But $300 for new shock mounts, on top of what I was already laying out, was a little more than I was willing to spend on a 20 year old car, with 211k. Considering that it's already going to cost me over $1000, just for the new shocks and springs, and tires by themselves.

 

I don't know man, the 20 year old car argument could be made for any performance enhancement. at some point you have to make the decision to either do what you want to the car regardless of age, or move on to a new platform. I'm not trying to be an *******, I'm just pointing out that despite the car being 20 years old, if it isn't broken, why try to fix it?

My case in point is i just replaced a rear wheel hub/bearing assembly on my car. A brand new honda part was $99, and its a good bet that both sides need to be replaced,but only one side was making noise. instead of paying $200 to replace both at the same time, i just replaced the one where it was needed, and i will keep an eye on the other. The 1 part alone is 1/11th of what i paid for my car, but from my perspective, i am going to have the car forever, so if it isn't broken right now, then why fix it and potentially waste money on a new part when the old one still has life in it. I essentially deferred the replacement cost further down the road, so i don't have to do it all at once.

my guess is that unless your car had some offroad time in the past, at least one of those mounts is still usable, but i could be wrong. The question then becomes what do you gain from getting all new ones? adjustability? Lighter part? my mantra is: "Don't replace, upgrade." if the benefit of the new part is so great that it makes no sense not to buy it, then maybe you figure out a way to make it work. on the other hand, if the new parts are more bling than function, i probably wouldn't get it at all.

good luck.

 

Bump, for Tyson!

 

Thanks for your opinion. Thats' sorta my mantra as well. I'm the original owner of my 220K CRX Si, 100% OEM stock. I bought it new in the spring of 1990, (so yes, I am an old bastage. ) I totally agree with everything you said above.
I was sorta asking questions, while thinking along similar lines to you. It really has nothing to do with money or even the cars age/mileage. Why fix what works fine already? But there gets to be a point at this cars age that PM starts to become almost a daily thing.

Yes, the car is a 20 years old, daily driver, that I plan on keeping 4ever. I don't want to keep fixing something just for the sake of fixing or bling.
If I replace something that is broken, I'll replace it with an OEM Honda part or an aftermarket upgrade, if the aftermarket part is better/cheaper.

The question becomes where does one stop?
The front springs have rusted to the point of the lower coils have seperated from the rest of the spring, and shifted up against the shock body. So obviously I need new springs. After reading threads/posts/topics. I settled on H&R OE's versus OEM. Mainly from what I've read they preform similarly to OEM stock, with some advantages, yet the cost appreciably less than OEM. Having bought the new springs that necessitates new shocks, correct? I'm so far torn between Koni's (but are $500 shocks really needed on a 20 year old DD that will never be tracked?), or Tokicos?

Which in turn necessitates bushings and/or maybe even some broken bolt replacement. Which in turn necessitates shock mounts and their bushings.
See what I was saying? I still want to do most of these replacement procedures right.

But how far does it go? Especially on a 20 year old great condition economy, yet still sporty car?

I personally hadn't even considered mounts and bushings until a friend brought it up.
He said, "if you're spending all this money on new shocks and springs, what about the mounts, their bushings, and the other LCA/suspension bushings, which are probably worn out, tired and or broken too."

"I mean while you have it all apart, might as well do it all once and be done with it, right?"





Modified by 4crx4me at 2:03 PM 7/5/2008

 

Most new shock kits will come with the bushings for the tophat.

My Tokico Illuminas did. I love them.

And only replace the bolts if they are obviously fatigued......

 

4crx4m:

I am in somewhat a similar situation as you. Like you I bought my 90 crxsi new and am faced with suspension parts refreshing and replacement. I love my car and will drive it for the rest of its or my life. This is a reliable car, parts are readily available, relatively cheap, and the car is relatively easy to work on. I have already replaced my springs and shocks to Vogtland springs and koni yellow shocks. I love the combo. I have also replaced inner and outer tie rods on both sides and the rack end bushing. The rubber bushings are all getting tired and some are cracking so I will soon have to replace them. Like your friend was saying, since I am going to have to take apart my suspension I might as well replace all the rubber bushings, ball joints, replace some controll arms as I suspect some are bent, and sway bar end links. The bearings are still original and are still good but I have about 215,000 kms on the car so I suspect the bearings will soon go as well. Since I will have everything apart, I might as well replace the bearings as well. I was contemplating replacing the both front hubs, but they are so expensive and since I don't track the car, I might just pass on new hubs but if funds permit, I may just buy new ones for peace of mind. I guess after reading Tyson's experience with his busted hubs, it kinda sat in the back of my mind.

But the thing is once that is all done, my whole suspension will be renewed and I will likely not have to worry about it for the next .... say 10+ years. I just have to focus on the next things.... clutch replacement, rebuilding transmission, and engine work like rings, valves and head gasket... hehehehhee.

Of course this is not to undermine what sanimalp was suggesting. I just want to plan ahead and purchase the parts when funds are available and when I can find the needed parts on sale/discount, but most importantly, do the work at the time that is convenient for me, which is usually during the summer months.

Whatever you decide to do, just plan ahead and use sound judgement that suits your financial situation and time, as my situation may differ from yours.

All the best.

 

Part of the reason I'm so undecided on what to do is, for the most part, the car runs/drives perfectly FINE. Even as of this afternoon, even with it's broken springs.

It started a couple of weeks ago. The first and only thing I noticed was, ONLY at excessive highway speeds, of say 75-90mph, the car started to get really, really floaty and unstable. And while at those speeds it would also tramline horribly, as well, and the tramlining would turn into a rocking kind of yaw, until I slowed down to below say 50-55mph. It had NEVER EVER had done anything like that in the past 20 years, even at speeds over 100mph. Even at speeds in excess of 100mph, it had always felt extremely stable and planted. All on the stock OEM suspension and bushings.

So I put it up on a lift, and saw all the rust on the springs, the shocks and mounts. And I saw the shifted and broken front springs. But never bothered to check ANY of the bushings. I just assumed the problem was the broken springs and limited shock travel because of them, and left it at that.

Meanwhile at anything below 50mph, it still drives fine now. Go figure?
I guess you can call it, "Honda over-engineering"?


Modified by 4crx4me at 3:53 PM 7/5/2008

 

I just re-read your posts. $300 for shock mounts? Unless there is something obviously wrong with your top hat/shock mounts, just re-use them. I re-used mine as there was nothing wrong with them.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BoombasticSloth &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">$300 for shock mounts? Unless there is something obviously wrong with your top hat/shock mounts, just re-use them. I re-used mine as there was nothing wrong with them. </TD></TR></TABLE>
Yeah that is sorta of what I was thinking too.

With all respect to the poster:
For that same $300 price. I could just replace EVERY SINGLE PIECE IN All 4 shock mounts, with brand new OEM Honda bushings, washers, spacers, collars and stop-nuts, and stiiiiiiill have some money left over, to buy most of the other OEM Honda bushings in the suspension and some Honda silicone grease, too.

I don't think that much 'renewal' is necessary, not yet at least.


Modified by 4crx4me at 6:07 PM 7/5/2008

 

the top mounts dont go bad. i see no reason to replace them.

when you buy illuminas, they come with new top rubber bushings and hardware anyway.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the top mounts dont go bad. i see no reason to replace them.

when you buy illuminas, they come with new top rubber bushings and hardware anyway.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Thanks Tyson!

That's what my gut was telling me. But friends started to convince me otherwise.

Do you know if Illuminas come with the brake line bracket attached or, do I reuse the stock one?

 

I had illuminas before I switched to the Koni's. The Illuminas has the brake line brackets attached.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BoombasticSloth &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I had illuminas before I switched to the Koni's. The Illuminas has the brake line brackets attached. </TD></TR></TABLE>
Thanks for the info. Good to know.

 

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

But the thing is once that is all done, my whole suspension will be renewed and I will likely not have to worry about it for the next .... say 10+ years. I just have to focus on the next things.... clutch replacement, rebuilding transmission, and engine work like rings, valves and head gasket... hehehehhee. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I was thinking the same thing, once the suspension is renewed it'll be good for at least the next 10, if not the next 20 years.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BoombasticSloth &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Of course this is not to undermine what sanimalp was suggesting. I just want to plan ahead and purchase the parts when funds are available and when I can find the needed parts on sale/discount, but most importantly, do the work at the time that is convenient for me, which is usually during the summer months.

Whatever you decide to do, just plan ahead and use sound judgement that suits your financial situation and time, as my situation may differ from yours.

All the best. </TD></TR></TABLE>
Again we are thinking along the same lines!

 

OH one thing to keep in mind. I am assuming your existing shocks are original. Don't just throw your old shocks away. Keep the brake line brackets, just in case you decide now or sometime in the future to move to koni's. Koni's don't have the brake line brackets.

Just use a screw driver or punch and use a BFH and bash the brackets off for possible future use.

 

keep the oridginal tops, my son and I are doing the same thing and decided 300.00 could be used someware else. We are putting on some Progress 2's and they came with new rubber for the tophats and the 300 was used to buy a ES kit, hot tank all the suspension parts and powder coat them. Looks and rides like a brand new car. all done on a 89hb

 

Thanks to everyone who contributed, Tyson, Boombasticsloth, and all!
I bought H&R OE's and a set of Tokico Illuminas are on the way, as well.
I'll just keep the OE mounts/top hats and go from there. We'll see what it looks like when I get everything apart.