Hi guys I posted this over on CRSX as well. Hope its usefull

After spending a longish day in the garage yesterday, I thought I'd post back after installing my Tokico DSPEC's on the RSX.

This proccess assumes youve installed a suspension in the RSX before.


The ONLY addittional parts that were needed other than the struts were the 2002 civic SI tie rod ends, and 6 - 1/2" washers. The best washers to use are two SAE stainless and four SAE galavanized. Most parts departments should have both.



I used two Stainless washers on each side, and two SS and two galvanized out back on the shock eyes. The combination of the galavanized and SS washers out back, spaced the slightly narrower shock perfectly, and once the rear shock bolts were tightened, there was NO gap between the shock eye and the mounting bracket. The washers arent noticeble at all once installed. I just slide one in place at a time, while I fed the bolt through the assembly. Thanks to Temptazn_Mark for taking the measurements.

Starting with the rear

Rears compared




Notice the washers spacing the shock eye.





Things were slightly trickier up front but not terrible at all. The main issue, was that the shoulder on the RSX strut is slightlywider than the SI strut. This didnt allow the use of the bumpstop and dust shield the was it was used on the RSX strut.

Fronts compared



Washer added to the shoulder of the strut to prevent the modified dust boot from falling down.



Cut here with a hacksaw



And here and toss the top flange that would normally secure the boot




Cut the bumpstop out of the dust boot where shown in the above photos. Slide the modified bumpstop on first, then add 1 1/2" washer that will sit on the strut shoulder, then installed the modified dust cover. The washer stopped the dust boot from falling down onto the strut body. Then assemble the top hat as usual. This was the only issue I had when doing the install. The Civic tie rod ends work perfectly with the RSX and the new struts.






The only thing that is really noteable about the swap is......The rear shocks from the SI have a slightly shorter piston and body than the RSX shocks. This prevented me from running stock springs as I had intended. I am using them with the Tein H tech springs that I had originally installed, and they work VERY well. Its smoother than stock, and the added compresssion damping of the DSPECS seem to work well the the softer springs. The shock and the struts mounting points, as well as the spring cups for the front and rear are both identical, so the ride height DID NOT CHANGE.

Overall, for a spring that's slightly shorter than stock. or ground controls, I would recommend doing this with either the DSPECS or the Bilstein SI struts. HP's and KYB's would probably work as well. For use with the stock spring, I would stick with the Konis.

Thats it! anyone can do it easily, now that Ive done it once, I dont think it would take any longer than a regular strut swap.

Hope that helps clear things up.