The title says it all.
I don't post to often on these forums, but i'm hoping that maybe i'll get somewhere this time.

Car is a 91 Hatch. Started off as a STD w/4spd 1.5 Dual Point.

As of current, car is as follows...
1.6 SOHC ZC w/Jackson SC, OBD1 converted, chipped P06, Hydro EX tranny from 94 coupe.
The engine/trans/wheels/tires, were in my 94 ex, had no issues.

The suspension is almost all new, Tien S.Tech springs, full energy suspension bushings, KYB AGX shocks, new lower balljoints, Upper adj. camber ball joints are on their way. Both axles are new, less than 50 miles currently on them.

I did the DA integra front spindles/brakes and rear trailing arms/brakes master/booster/prop valve.

So with that said, heres the issue(s). When car is going in a straight line, tested at speeds up to 120mph, car feels smooth. If you hook a hard left 15-30mph, you can feel what would be if you have a bad cv axle, or maybe even axle bind? and when at speeds of 50-60 or more, go left to the slightest, and it feels like i'm on rumble strips. Going around a right bend, all is good.

Also, as most of the time its only me in the car, when I have a passenger in the car, I get vibrations similar to that of the veering left feel, they get worse as the weight of my passenger increases. Theres also no difference as to weather the car is in gear, or out of gear, anytime its moving, vibration is present. I also do have a lil play in the pass upper balljoint, maybe 1/16 of an inch worth.

So at this point, here's a few thoughts, and this is where i'm looking for some positive input. I did put a ebay special camber kit on, hated it as the cheapo bushings were unforgiving under hard cornering. However, it did seem as though the problem slightly improved. Camber kit is off the car now, as I am awaiting for the camber balljoints.

Another thought I had, was maybe something geometry wise is off. I've read a number of posts about the teg spindles causing bad neg camber, bad tire wear, etc. I thought part of a possible fix would be to box out the upper control arms to move the balljoints up about an inch to make up for the increased height in the spindles. I'm using the eg civic axles as well, along with the hasport hydro mount kit on a custom hydro clutch pedal.

I also have the prothane motor mount inserts installed, and was wondering if maybe somehow i'm picking up vibrations that normally would be absorbed by the mounts. I've had energy susp. inserts on all my past cars, so this was a first time for the prothane mounts.

Next free chance i get i'm going to have the balance checked on the rims/tires just to make sure everything is good, even though I doubt thats where the problem resides.

Any thoughts are welcomed, as I've yet to have any mechanic, or suspension tech come up with a good solution.

I should also mention that when I picked up the car, something had fallen on the hood /T-support, and I beleive may have knocked down the top of the headlamp support area/core support?, as I have noticed I do have a gap height wise where the hood meets the DS fender. Dunno If this could have something to do with the problem, but I feel its worth mentioning. Thanks in advance to any who can help.

 

Sounds pretty cool. Hows the power? I just dropped a b series in my STD. I did notice diffrent feels and vibrations as well. I have a driver side noise thats making me scared in the front.

Have a person behind the wheel and some one looking for noises. Shake wheel left to right.

After driving and things sett in might need to retighten things. thatss what im about to do. revise the underside of car.

 

I've got about 950mi on the car since I got it together. Body has 190k, but with the mess of new parts, I'm lost on what it could be. Should also mention wheel bearings are new and there is no excess free play on the front end aside from the pass upper balljoint. If it was a matter of Springs or bushings setting in, it would have happened by now.

 

im having the same issue when i get up to about 60mph or taking real hard turns and both my upper and lower control arms are brand new i have a 1991 si with d16a6

 

For some reason i have large rattle noise under my driver side front mechanicals. Upper controll arm? Replaced New LCA driver side. Having weird *** noise like something is about to fly apart. any little bump and i hear the suspension or w.e it is Jogging hardcore.


Do i replace my suspension? with new shocks/Springs?

Are old Ones recieving beating or are already on there way out or blown. Need replacment.

I purchased the Front crossmember bushings from Innovative. These are a critical part of the front end. I also thing my Inner tie rods may be blown. and are causing wheel wobble When i reach about 60 70 the wheel in the car is giving tons of feed back. Any reccomendations on my end

 

One of my other thoughts was maybe the strut rod bushings could be a problem. If not them, maybe a possibility that the front shocks could be messed up from the prior set of lowering springs that were "too low". So low the springs would unseat on a big bump. Although I have my doubts being the shocks still had a good amount of kick when putting on the tiens.

Could running a wide low profile tire one a bad camber/slightly off alignment cause this?

Only other thought I had, which I can't justify it....The hasport mount kit for the hydro trans could be a problem. I did have to shim the OE mount where it met the adapter mount. If I didn't, the motor didn't sit level in the engine bay. My inlet at the top of the throttle wouldn't have cleared the strut bar either.

Any more food for thought people?

 

rack end bushing. check this link i found yesterday. and installed today. i too had same thing i just upgraded to 90 ex spindles new lower ball joints bearings inner and outer tie rods and skunk2 upper control arms new koni yellows and still had play. 10 dollar part fixed the problem. https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-crx-ef-civic-1988-1991-3/crx-rack-end-bushing-1117870/

 

Well I hate when things don't go to plan. I changed the steering rack for a (0) miles brand new not reman unit, changed the upper balljoints to the camber adj. ones, and installed the rear wicked camber arms. Used my trusty level to get the camber close, took it for a test drive.

AND THE PROBLEM LIVES ON!!!!

So, tomorrow i'm going to try to have the car completely re-aligned, as well as have the tires looked at.

Any possibility that the rubber spring isolaters or the strut rod bushings could be the problem? If I can figure this out soon, i'm gunna rig a camera to watch the front suspension and go for a ride in hopes that I can maybe see something of help.

This whole ordeal just doesn't make any sense. Any other ideas people?

 

are eg axles the same length? as ED axles?

 

I'm running the eg axles to match the eg trans. I did a LOT of measuring between the two tranny's before installation (cable vs. hydro) to check on where everything lined up at. And the most variance I could find was 1/8, but this was lining up and eyeballing at best. I could pull the axles and check them against the originals, but I vaguely remember doing that already when I was putting together the car. I'll compare the axles at the parts store, saves me the trouble of pulling it all apart again.

Another idea was.....prothane solid mount inserts. Should the motor/trans have a lil give? Could when i'm turning, the axles are slightly binding because the engine/trans can't shift a lil?

 

It sounds like an axle problem. I've had all kinds of civics that were slammed to the ground and worn/beat out suspension parts and never had a problem with vibration or binding type noises when turning. Suspension parts that are worn make banging/clunking noises not usually vibration problems.

I have a ef8 sir and have had your exact same problem, turning corners hard, I had a binding type noise. Just coasting I would get a vibration. When i have a passenger and am on the highway going straight, come to a dip in the road I can here and feel the vibration. With no passenger and hit the same spot in the road I hardly notice it. So weight does make a difference. I finally broke down and bought 2 brand new oem B16 axles from a parts store in japan. When i pulled the axles out of the box I compaired them to my 89 integra axles they looked identical.

I pushed the c/v joints all the way in on the teg and B16 axle and again compaired them. The 89 teg looked a little longer but still looked the exact same. I though great just wasted some more money on axles. I installed the oem b16 axles anyway and left the shop. Got in the parking lot and turned the wheel as hard as I could to the right and gave it some gas. No noise what so ever. Turned the wheel to the left and nothing, perfect!! After $700 or so on an axle problem. If I did this with the 89 teg axles(which everyone says to use) I probably would have snapped it within a few tries.

Anyway did you have your set up all done at once? Meaning engine/tranny/brakes? They would work perfect in an eg because that's what the car comes with. I don't think you can swap eg axles into and ef chassis. Either way it sounds like you have an axle problem not suspension.

 

I agree completely that it is an axle bind issue at this point.. I did the swap all at once, so engine/trans/interior/suspension/brakes all came in at once, so I have no baseline to compare to.

As far as using the EG axles, I don't have any other thoughts on what else to use axle wise for a hydro trans with a EF civic. Hasport doesn't mention anything, just how to use their POS hydro cable arm, which I opted against. Do the EF axles fit into the hydro trannies? As well as fit in the DA teg spindles?

 

Was able to compare the pass side as the drivers side was outta stock on one of them. Ef axles are shorter. Having the other axle ordered in and then I'll compare them with a caliper and count the splines.

 

I also have tried searching and didn't find anything about your set up. Someone else out there must have a hydro tranny in a EF? I don't know if the EF axle would fit into the tranny? You might have to use the eg inner joints and maybe the ef axle and outer c/v joint?

 

the ef sohc axles will work with the DA hubs. same spline count.

 

i would think if different axles were necessart hasport would sell them. they sell everything you could need for their swaps. if the ef axles are shorter thats why you are binding. when u turn more pressure is put on the cv. i would swap them out before you ruin the wheel bearings or bearings in tranny.

 

Check subframe bolts are all tight.

Or cracked subframe.

 

I'll be swapping in the EF axles today and tomorrow. Gotta wait until tomorrow for the drivers side axle. The splines on the outers and inners are the same for the EG and EF chassis axles, excepts the HF and STD models, which use the smaller ends for the wheel hubs. Only difference between the EG/EF axles are the lengths. I will see for sure tomorrow on the drivers side axle, but i'm putting money on it that it is shorter. Thanks to all who helped on the figuring out of this problem. I'll post back on the results tomorrow.

For the future, to all who do the hydro trans swap to the ef .....

Use the stock EF axles. EG axles will fit, but they will bind, and you won't be happy.

 

Axles swapped.

All is good. So nice to have a car that I can enjoy driving again.

Thanks again to all who helped.

 

EF and EG are very different, some douche sold me a new one for $20, it didn't fit at all - way too short