Hello Honda-tech,

I recently got a 2000 honda civic DX coupe to use as my daily driver. It only had about 60k miles as it was owned by a college professor whom lived on campus.

I really have the urge to lower it seeing as how the stock shocks probably need to be swapped out anyway. I have my eyes set on eibach's pro system kit. It comes with eibach pro kit springs and pro kit dampeners. Probably a 1-1.5 inch drop max. Nothing too aggressive.

I know basic car maintenance and all that but i've never delt with suspension. I was wondering if i were to swap out stock suspension and put in that eibach kit, would it put strain on certain parts of my car's chassis that I should be aware about? Basically I don't want to spend about 500$ and put my car in a worse condition by damaging other parts. I've read about people with slammed cars running into other problems like wheels hitting certain parts and etc.

In addition,after reading patricks thread, I don't plan on getting a camber kit . I'm just slapping on this kit and then aligning it...do i need to do anything else?

thanks guys!

 

Sounds like a good plan for your intended use.

No. Not in any way you need to be concerned about.

Be sure to correctly clock the bushings, as lowering without doing so will speed their destruction.

It's also a 9 year old car. Inspect all suspension bushings while you're doing the work, and replace as needed. They're probably fine, but the large trailing arm bushings seem to be some of the first to show signs of wear.

My 2000 GSR has started cracking the TA bushings recently, but I did not clock those bushings when I lowered it 3 years ago, just the rest of them. To clock the TA bushings requires pressing out the bushing and pressing back in.

Might also be a good time to go ahead and check the tie rods, just in case.

Not a concern with a mild drop and wheels with the correct offset and the correctly sized tires.

Nope. Enjoy the lowering!

 

Thanks for the quick and informative response. I'm not too sure what "clocking" in the bushings mean? and also if possible could you come up with a list of which bushings to check? and for the tie rod there's a cotter pin that needs to be removed right? does that need to be replaced when i take it off?

thanks again for the help!

 

Clocking bushings is described in detail in the shop manual. Essentially, you tighten down all bushing bolts with the suspension loaded instead of at full droop. Bushings twist as the suspension moves, so you want the rubber to not be in a state of flex at ride height.

To check the tie rods, visual inspection for damage and with the car up on jackstands wiggle the wheel and check for play.

Check all the bushings. Just a quick visual check should be fine. Cracks or rubber rotting is easy enough to spot. You can also try moving the suspension part by hand and see how much the bushing itself gives.

 

I would look at your rear trailing arm bushings to see if they are gone, in most cases by now they are torn. Replace those with either OEM or Hardrace trailing arm bushings then do your clocking.

As for the eibach kit, that is an awesome way to go since it includes quality plus lifetime warranty.

 

lower it. if something breaks fix it. i doubt a 1-1.5 inch drop will do too much damage.