right front passenger side shock on my EF is missing #7, well its missing one of them. every time i go over a wavy area in the road and my shocks travel, i hear some clanking and some banging of metal against metal.

im assuming its because im missing one of these bump stops. also, when i jack up the passenger side, the stem of the shock actually moves almost as if its not secured for some reason. then when the car is back on the floor, the stem sticks up really high, but i can press it down to where its supposed to be with not so much resistance.

pretty crazy, i plan on replacing my suspension setup with yellows/gc's but this still has me curious.

 

I think you may be mistaken on what you are missing. The Bump Stop is number 13 on the right side. Both of numbers 7s on the left side are just alignment bushings for the rod of the strut. The only way for your shock to be coming up past the upper mounting cup is to be missing number 9 or if you have removed the dust shield then it would be missing number 12. These are what actually keep the rod down in the strut assembly.

 

i DO have number 13, sorry for the confusion. i DO NOT have the dust sheild or number 9. i DO have number 12 also.

another thing, you said number 7's help align the shaft. its funny you mentioned that because the top of my passenger side tire kind of sags inward toward the coil over. but my driver side, which has both 7's, the tire sits straight up and down. i've always wondered why the passenger side sags inward.

so if i were to pick up the missing number 7, put the dust shields back on, and put on numbers 9 and 12, i should be alright?

none of these things comes with a set of yellows or illuminas right?

 

You would have to cut the dust shields if your car is lowered and they are not really needed. Also if you do have numbers 9 and 12 then the strut rod should not be coming up at all. Also no, the struts will not come with what you need. What you are wanting is the strut mounting kit/bushing. Usually the kit comes with all of the pieces on the left side except maybe 8 depending on the manufacture.

In answer to your question, Yes, if you put all of it in order exactly as shown and put on what is shown (besides number 11 the dust shield), then the wheel should come back in alignment and your strut rod will no longer come up.

 

yea its so annoying everytime i hit the smallest bump i just hear it clank, oh it also put a small hole in my hood :-)

so without the dust shield, number 9 just goes on the very bottom of the shaft right? then follow the orientation of everything else.

 

im goin gc's with illuminas on a 90ef sedan...blox lca's, skunk2 camber kit, cusco front lower arm bar, dc strut bar.

any arguments or suggestions? im going for comfort WITH drop. oh, i will be getting GC extended top hats as well.

 

Sorry, but I keep my vehicles stock ride height. I am not into that kind of stuff.

 

ya same thing happened to me, was most annoying ride home lol i just replaced number 12 that i picked up from honda dealer and it fixed it

 

your missing 7 get it b4 your shock shoots threw the hood.

 

Number 7 is a strut rod Isolator/alignment piece. It is NOT what holds the strut rod down. Also he already stated that it went through the hood already.

 

Just a quick update, i have Monroe Sensatracks on my EF as of right now. I've had them since Nov 08 and i didnt realize until yesterday that i have lifetime warranties on my shocks so i decided to take advantage and pick up a new front set.

My passenger side was completely dead, i could compress and it wouldnt even really decompress at all. Driverside was kind of alright but i switched em both out with a fresh set.

i also raised up the front end a little bit, bout an inch, and it does actually make a difference. Oh i picked up a top mounting kit which included all the rubber pieces needed for a shock assembly. This included the alignment piece i was missing for the shock shaft. Unfortunately, my passenger tire still sides crooked and i really dont understand why, it almost seems that the driverside has camber correction and the passenger side doesnt.

bottomline is that it rides a lot better now and this will get me buy until i get my GC's.

 

quick little update, squeaking coming from passenger side front shock all of a sudden....its raining pretty bad right now could that be the reason? water getting all over the rubber pieces and making that stupid noise?

i hate to think that after i just replaced this ****, my problem is starting all over again, on the same side too.

 

I would say probably not from the rain. Also when you had the car up off the ground did you check the ball joints? This could be the cause of the bad alignment, but not the squeaking. Also, the rubber that attaches the upper control arm to the strut tower could be worn creating the squeaking you are talking about. Unless you don't have the rubber insulator (number 10) for the spring in there, then that could be it too.

 

Got number 10, i didnt even think about checking the ball joints. your talking about the ball joints on the UCA right?

Im not sure what your talking about when you say "the rubber that attaches the upper control arm to the strut tower".

 

Lay it on me

 

dont realy have a answer but just wanted to say i like the way this guy posts, doesnt just ask, acculy does some searching and provides picks.

 

yea i actually like to know what im asking before i ask haha. unlike a lot of people on this site. im all hands on DIY so i have to know what im talking about.

 

I am talking about number 13 located in the upper control arm closer to the motor rather than the outside of the car. Also the upper control arm has one ball joint and so does the bottom which is number 10 on the lower. The upper is not labeled because typically you can purchase these with the entire upper control arm.

Also, we haven't talked about this I don't think, but what type of springs do you have? Are they coil-overs?

 

They are piece of crap ebay sleeve type coil overs, adjustable. they've been on the car since September when i got the car. In a few weeks i'll be ordering my GC's all the way around.

also, the squeaking stopped somehow haha i bounced my front end and its gone now :-). pretty sure it will come back though.

So if my UCA is all jacked up, ball joints i mean, and rubber bushings. Same with the LCA, bushings and ball joints.....i could have a screwed up tire alignment from top to bottom? It DOES make sense im surprised i havent thought of that before.

If i replace one UCA or any component of that, i have to replace the corresponding part on the other side of the car. Should i go after OEM UCA's or maybe some aftermarket? also, i could get number 10 (LCA ball joint) by itself and that COULD lead to problems with the alignment right?

 

Yes, if a ball joint is bad it could lead to a bad alignment. If I were you since you have a lowered car I would pick an upper control arm that has camber adjustment built into it. Like Skunk2's or some other type of knock offs. Also ball joints are not the type of parts that needs to be replaced in pairs, BUT I would recommend that it be done because typically if one is failing then the other is sure to be close behind. Sort of like a headlight, it still works but it is getting dimmer and dimmer. They will still function with one new and old but the quality won't be the same and eventually the old one will quit too.

Almost all upper control arms that I have seen come with the bushings as well (number 13). I could be wrong, but I haven't seen any front lower control arms that are aftermarket.

The easiest way to tell if the ball joints are bad is to jack up the car and put your hands on the wheel at the 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock positions. Then push and pull your hands in the opposite directions (rocking the tire) and you might hear clanking or feel some looseness in the wheel.

To check your tie-rods you put your hands on the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock and do the same thing but side to side.

 

thanks a lot dude for the info i didnt know some of those things. but man the Monroe Sensatracks are fairly decent, i mean i have the front end bottom-ed out and the ride is still pretty decent. Even with the shitty coil overs. i may just stick with the Sensatracks for now in the front, get some for the back, then slap on my GC's and get some skunk 2 camber kits for the front and HOPEFULLY should just be done with it. after that, i wanna put in a b16a.

 

Not a problem, I try to post helpful answers not bullshit that most people post on Honda-Tech. That is the reason I have quit HT about 5 times before LoL, even though not with this name I have been here almost since the beginning.

Well hopefully I will still be around if you need detailed answers for the B16 swap too LoL...

 

when it comes to B series stuff in a D series shell, i get confused with two different things...

which axles would i use? i'de be getting a b16a from an eg sir2 (obd1)
which wire harness? can i use my existing since its MPFI? and lastly, still wiring related, i seem to put too much thought into it, but the under dash fuse box. Do i need a fuse box from a B series? or does all that just stay there and i dont touch it?

haha sounds dumb i know but hey cant hurt by asking!

Im not "really" a "noob". But it would be my first FULL swap.

 

Well the axles used depends on what intermediate shaft is used. So there is a bad part to getting a true SIR2 swap. I am not an expert on the JDM stuff but I know there are different splines on the axles which makes you have to change your spindles (people call them knuckles on here).

The wiring is all done for the most part if you are already MPFI. What type of car are you doing the swap on? Most of your questions so far have not been specific to a particular car, but now that is not the case.

Your dash fuse box is fine and you don't even have to touch it.
The only extra wiring needed would be a few wires to make the VTEC work unless... your car is not OBD1 now. Like I said before,
What type of car is it, and is it OBD0 or OBD1, ect.? This can change a lot especially for wiring and especially on what type of swap you should get.

 

oh sorry, its a 90 ef sedan LX with a d16a6 obd0 swap. its MPFI so i guess the dude before me converted it to MPFI. i KNOW ITS NOT a true EX, if it was then i know there wouldnt be a MPFI swap.

Im stuck between the b16a siR (obd0) 160hp, or the b16a siR2 (obd1) 170hp. I know the siR2 comes in obd2 as well but i dont need that.

10hp isnt really THAT much of a difference, and i may have a better chance finding an obd0 b16a anyways, plus probably cheaper.