hey honda-tech.. I got a couple questions and was wondering if someone could clear somethings up for me. Sorry I know this topic of beaten to death and I searched, but I would appreciate some input..

I have a 96 gsr stock minus catback and header.. I've wanted to lower it for a while but it seems to just keep getting more and more expensive lol. Im a student so money is a factor. Also I found out my cv axel boots are leaking grease.. do I need to address that problem and replace the axels before I even attempt to lower it?

First I was going to just put tien springs with stock shocks (car at 108k) but then my friend told me i'll mess up my ride and struts..

then I was going to hop on a set of used skunk2 coilovers. I called my shop and he told me that i'm going to hate coilovers. He said the ride is going to be bouncy and that if its my daily and dont use for track I would have a better ride on springs. He also said that I also need a camber kit, which I didn't even realize that I needed before..He also said that afterwards I need an alignment which can be more expensive with the camber kit and custom alignment...true about being more expensive?
The downside about springs he said is that it will settle more on the drivers?? I definitely do not want that..

My friend basically told me that dude was wrong and that I will regret getting springs and should get coilovers..

Id RATHER do springs obviously because its a lot cheaper but keep getting mixed input. I'd rather do it right the first time then being cheap and messing my suspension up...

Can anyone help point me in the right direction of a good setup for my teg? I am really tired of the stock height...

Thanks

 

Don't get a camber kit. Just get an allignment after you lower it and you will be better off than having a camber kit. The toe is what is bad owhen you lower your car and the tires are going to point towards eachother. The negative camber isn't going to hurt your tires much at all and is better for handling

Fix the axles as soon as possible but if they've lost most of their grease they're bound to start clicking soon and you can go to napa or wherever and give them your old ones for the core charge and get some remanufactured ones. I've never gotten them from autozone but hear bad things about them from there. Either hit or miss if they will click or not

 

http://http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotor...item255ea98aa3 i used to had this setup on my teg. it was a little stiffer than stock and not bouncy by any means.

 

seeing as how the tie-rods are toward the rear of the front wheels, i believe the tires tend to toe out when the car is lowered.

how low do you want to go?
imo, skunk2's are ****.
you can use the teins with your stock struts if you whip up some extended top hats. if you or someone you know can weld, it'll only cost you about 5$. definitely a budget friendly direction

 

I had just lowering springs, [H&R sport springs] with stock shocks on my 94 Integra for 2 years and all I did was get a 4 wheel alignment.

I worked great with a little stiffer ride and some improvement in handling.

I then went to coil overs, [super spec] with gas matic shocks and needed the camber kit to get the alignment back to "spec", again a stiffer ride, but much better handling, I have since replaced the shocks with adjustable Tokico Illumina, with a noticeable increase performance.

A set of lowering springs is by far the least expensive way to go, no camber kits needed, and a 4 wheel alignment is not that expensive, less then replacing one front tire. 94

 

tein s techs on stock struts are just fine. dont worry if you blow the shocks, the ride was pretty much stock my whole time owing them and did not even notice the actual time my struts blew. Did not even find out until i got coilovers and it didnt matter cause the ride was great and i did not need the stock struts for a new setup anyways. Dont waste your money on aftermarkt struts for a simple moderate spring setup. then go back a year later and get full coilovers...

the teins on my teg for reference. a good drop and still rode perfect.



as far as axles. dont stress if you cant do them right away. Just be ready for a annoying ride thats all. I had broken axle boots on my car for 3/4 a year b4 it made noise. And ive gotten advanced auto axles. they might not be the most amazing quality but comes with a 1 year warrenty so you can sleep at night

 

Thank you for the input everyone, I really appreciate it.

Especially J.WOLFE~v1.0, you pretty much answered all my questions dead on. I'm definitely going with the teins now. That drop is exactly what I want. I still want the car to be functional.. I hate when friends say "I can't have extra ppl in my car its gonna scrape, etc"

What about the issue of settling more on the drivers side? Is that going to be annoying or barely noticeable?

Do you think I should attempt to install the teins myself? I've had all my parts installed by a shop because the jobs were above my level (tools, space, lift, etc) but I think this could be a good place to start.
I'm not scared to attempt, I just feel I would have a hard time trusting my novice work in such in important area..


Btw SICK gsr!!(?) I love the painted Ls mesh look! I really want a pair.. too bad i'm stuck with these weak "gsr starfish" for now lol :/

 

Not HELLA low. just a nice moderate drop..
I think im going with the teins because that seems to be the consensus, but could you explain the extended top hats? I've also heard of this but wasn't quite clear about what they do..

When do people start to change things like LCA, etc. Only when super low?

 

LCA's actually do nothing for the performance of a car. They are mostly used for the bling aspect and are strictly more for looks than anything else.

The only advantage of, lets say, using Function7 LCA's over the stock, is that they allow you to mount different sway bars as well the adjustability for it. Other than that, they serve absolutely no purpose.

 

no prob man always trying to help

as far as the car settling more on the driver side, why ask? because of the axle boot or a blown strut?
to answer both no itll sit fine with a torn axle boot, and no they sit pretty perfect no matter blown or not, the suspension is meant to accommodate the road conditions and keep the car level. so naturally it will still sit even.

and for working on the car yourself i ALWAYS condone working on your own car. Its a great learning experience, great hobby, and a great way to learn about the car inside and out. Ultimately being able to work on your car and not wasting time with a shop and wasting precious money, and hoping they do it correct. Car modding at the end of the day is a hobby and really fun. Youll get so much more out of it doing the work yourself and with friends.

Now to rain on the parade i will say you need a few things for this to go smooth.

Have tools at hand. and not just hand tools but air. Assuming this car has never had suspension work done in its time sense factory, every single bolt is going to kick your *** w/o air. and you will prob break alot of the bolts and not be able to finish. (especially the lca bolt!!!!!)

How do i know... me a 1 of my friends worked on my car for the first time and it was the same situation. no power tools and just us. we started at 8pm thinking it would be a 2 hour job. We did not finish until 5am because it took a lot of extra b/s that power would roll through.

Now second as far a knowledge before hand. You don't really need much. but to save time and trouble i would look online and there are many tutorials with pics. But all in all suspension work on honda's are pretty simple. basically your top hat bolts, lca bolt that holds the bottom of the strut, and little odds and ends like break lines etc.

yea the meshes i had painted myself a while back. you could sell your set for a couple hundred or even find someone to trade plus a little cash. but meshes with tires are valued like 300ish. that state of the car was old as dirt. Here is a pic i took yesterday of the new setup maybe you've seen the thread i made on here of recent.


any more questions just fire away!

Justin

 

they actually decrease unsprung weight. not by much, but there's not all that much weight that's unsprung

that is one slick looking dc2. nice wheels/stance in the last pic

 

The stock LCA's are notoriously hard to get off, often you need to cut or torch, which is why alot of people end up with aftermarket ones just as a replacement.

 

I once had to cut an EG LCAs as they would not come off even with air tools...

 

Or, you could save up a bit and get Koni Sport shocks, and some used ITR OEM springs. Put the Koni Sport spring perches on the lowest setting (they have different height settings), use your stock Integra springs up front, and the ITR rear springs in the back to get a fairly level ride height.

You'll then have adjustable shock rebound, but more importantly, the shocks will LAST FOREVER! I've had my Koni shocks 9 years now and put 200K miles on them and they're still working great. With OEM springs it's a near-stock ride (slightly stiffer due to stiffer ITR rear springs).

As for uneven height side-to-side, yes the driver side will likely be a bit lower. It's usually only a 1/2" to 3/4" difference, but that difference is much more noticeable when the car is lowered. Of course adjustable-height coilovers do not have this problem since you can adjust them independently to achieve a level height on both sides.