Hey guys, I have a base 91 hatch, with about 270k on it.

So far, i've changed the lower ball joints and tie rod ends, the uppers i haven't touched because they are still good.

but as a whole, everything else is either rotten, or started to rot, or worn out, out of spec, you name it. The only things it does is hold together.

It's all stock everything besides that, I drive it as a commuter about 80 miles a day at least, sometimes more, mostly highway. What I'd like to do is replace what I can, everything if I must, and things I might want to change while I'm in there. I'd like it to handle DD duties and feel somewhat aggressive at the same time, like stock with A+ response. Right now, it kinda just floats everywhere, response is that of a Grand Marquois at best. I should mention there's also no front sway bar.

What would you get if you could replace everything in the suspension?

Edit: I'd like to stiffen the chassis up too, so braces as suggestions are ok too.

 

the best thing to change is the trailing arm bushing that connect to the body those get rid of that body drift in turns as well as freeway shake at high speeds. also new rear control arm bushing also get rid of extra body roll as well as tire skipping when making hard turns at low or high speeds on uneven roads.

but a good set of lowing spring(NOT COILOVERS) will give you better handling and tighten up the car but will lower drivability on bumpy roads or parking lots with hills for speed bumps.

 

The consensus on lowering springs around here are ground controls with koni yellows?

 

Personally if you want to kind of stiffen up the car in general, is purchase an Energy Suspension Bushing master kit. This will replace all your shot bushings. After you do that, if the car isn't up to your expectation in ride quality, then go to a stiffer spring/strut combo.

 

thought about it, and was looking at the progress parts...

 

anyone else wanna chime in?

 

energy suspension makes a kit for bushings which are beyond amazing. do you wanna be slammed? if you do i would buy full coils, d2, function form, skunk 2. if you wanna save some cash, ground control coils on koni yellow struts is amazing.

 

... Ebay adjustable coilovers .

Honestly, they ride pretty decent, lol.

 

A better compromise would be this:

Energy Poly bushing kit
Ebay coilover sleeves
Eibach/Apex/Tein springs
Tokico or Koni struts
Extended top hats

That is a cheap set up in my opinion.

 

ok i just ****ed myself. i had a huge post but this stupid ****ing computer logged out my h-t session and lost it all when i went to post. basically this car has come a long way, giant list of repairs, no build thread, want to finish restore, can't make mind up about suspension, want input from h-t to help me decide on dd+autocross/canyon (for fun, not really competitive). going to keep this car, was going to be temp as i built my other toy. want a full compliement of suspension, for function and bling cause i can, while im at it. interior is getting redone also but thats up to my taste, d15 being rebuilt because of 275k, along with transmission. if i land my dream job sometime in the near future i'll be going kswapped with mpg tune and long gears.

would eibach prokit springs fit ebay sleeves? torn between koni/gc and eibach set. original plan was to not lower it if i had a choice but **** it, i'd like to lower it enough to level out my roll center. right now ANY suspension would be an upgrade, tokico blues on stock springs would be an upgrade. i'd like to do the suspension proper and completly remove everything and upgrade parts to help sustain the longevity of all parts. ie, prefer silicone over rubber because rubber will fall apart, i can maintain silicone..

**** im mad my **** got lost but anyways i hope this somewhat paints a picture for everyone, if anyone cares my previous career was being a mechanic, so this isn't new to me. just want some help deciding on the suspension for now. aksejfalkfaklsjaljefbailwjkrzsdwej jseu83489489448954sz4x

 

list of stuff if anyone cares.
Lower Tie Bar
Rear Lower Control Arms
Upper Rear Strut Bar
Front Upper Control Arm
Rear Upper Control Arm
Rear Toe Adjuster
Front Sway Bar
Rear Sway Bar
Coil over
Lower Shock Mount
Rear Trailing Arm Bushing
Front Lower Pivots
Rear Lower Pivots
Front Radius Pivot
Steering Adapter
Quick Release
Lock
RE S3 Seat
Personal Wheel - Neo Grinta 330 Suede
Stock Interiors Carpet

so far about $4100+/-

haven't decided on traction bar because i haven't seen my alignment spec. if i need to fix caster i'll get a cheap one.

bodywork will be getting done sometime too, and underhood rebuild and tuck. trying to source jdm front end at least, would like a full jdm outside.

appreciate the help. im making smaller posts as to not lose anything anymore. just want to get my vision out there if that helps you see where im heading. otherwise i don't care if you ignore it all. thanks for reading.

 

Ride like your sitting on a blender

 

fix ur steering rack. $15 in parts will improve ur car more than $1000 in suspension.

 

I get mad body roll from the rear going in n out of turns & fwy exits I did my struts and lca's and I keep thinking I need a sway bar with new bushings, but if u say trailing arm bushings then ill do that cause its scarey sometimes.

 

Plus I did my alignment & camber.

 

sway bar maybe, end links and bushings for sure. if you have a base you might not have a front sway bar and it makes the car feel like its going to get crazy on on/off ramps. cause mines the same way.

i have the steering rack end bushing already. and new ball joints. and new tie rods.

my steering wheel doesn't have play. the suspension does. the car does not pass the bounce test. i've seen my bushings. i've picked out pieces of my bushings.

maybe i took this the wrong way, but i didn't ask about steering rack bushings.

i have a tiny little rear sway bar, blown shocks, and rotten bushings. i'd like to replace these parts. and while i have to remove pretty much EVERY COMPONENT of the suspension, why wouldn't I just replace it with either better engineered parts, or recondition the ones i have with new bushings/joints. I have a press and all that so labor isn't the issue. I mean if someone says the new pivot joints from progress are awesome, i'm more inclined in getting those instead of getting a whole lca or something. but if they aren't the cats meow then i'll settle for aftermarket lca's that already come with new pivots and bushings. i bought the car from a girl that liked to surf and do crazy things in the wilderness, any and all holes, gaps, nooks, and crannies, were filled with either mud, rust, sand, or all the above. even the exhaust hangers were stuffed with sand. and the interior was coated in sand.

i was really just asking for suggestions on shocks and bushings for the most part, but if no one in here has any personal experience with any of it, then nvm. i'll be the guinea pig and figure it out myself. might be getting a shop sponsor so i wanted to have the list ready so the work/money can be planned out.

 

replace all the bushings and balljoints with STOCK, from the dealer. those parts are the BEST. no joke, no BS.

you have no need for spherical bearings, or pivot joints as you call them. aftermarket LCA are a joke too. you might as well just get a whole new OEM control arm anyway, they come with new bushings already pressed in.

as for shocks and springs, theres 1000 threads with people's opinions already.

regarding the rack end bushing, i bet your steering rack DOES have play, and is a major contributor to the crappy feel of your car.

 

mine's got play. so what, replace the whole rack? is it expensive? or just do inner tie rods?

 

Maybe i jumped to the conclusion that they weren't available anymore too soon. I'll go back and check later, but i did ask about sway bars and they were d/c'd. a lot of stuff is d/c'd..

and they all pretty much say koni/gc for any and all reasons. oddly i don't know anyone with this set up. linear springs and sport shocks sounds like a very track inclined setup and not suitable for bumpy back roads (contrary to populular belief, CA back roads are not taken care of like urban streets) and some confort, but i can't judge for myself unless i go for a ride.

I've been keeping it all OE so far, i'lll see what they have left in stock. and i'll just get aftermarket from there on.

 

you can find a front swaybar cheap from the junkyard. its not a big issue. they all had front bars except the HF. some ppl prefer it without a front swaybar tho... but thats more of a competition type handling. you dont want to go bigger than stock, such as a 22mm front bar from suspension techniques. just dont do it, its not doing the suspension any good.

the de facto aftermarket rear swaybar is suspension techniques. works with non Si bodies, so if you dont have an Si its no big deal. the other one i would recommend is a tanabe but thats made to fit just Si bodies since they already came with a rear bar.

yes, koni/gc is the most popular. i personally dont advocate it. it has lots of flaws, but its the bandwagon. i think youd be just fine with tokico illuminas and eibach pro kits. i know i was. illuminas are great, japanese made and adjust both rebound and compression simultaneously. koni only adjusts rebound by design, and i believe thats one of their biggest flaws, altho theyd like to say its the way it should be.... funny how every competitive racer with konis gets them revalved for more compression damping...

it sounds like you got a piece of **** chassis and are trying to polish it like a turd by throwing money at it. dont waste your money, dont fall into that trap of "might as well upgrade". that will lead you into buying less performing aftermarket crap that dont suit you. i dunno what you mean by getting a "sponsor", but if its bling you want, then go right ahead, put as much rainbow anodized and jdm crap on. but thats not going to make it perform any better.

focus on getting it back to ground zero, fully maintained and like stock. then you can figure out what you want out of it and where exactly to spend the money.

 

by "sponsor" i meant my boy owns a shop out here and i'd be advertizing for him in trade for discounted parts/labor, i work there on my off days from my other job, so i already provide free help to him. We've touched on it already and it sounds pretty mutual. I was also going to have him rebuild the motor/trans to spec. the ef is not my only car, i have other toys as well. the other ones aren't sponsored, i pay out for those. i also don't drive them as often and am the first owner of them. the ef is what i beat on to work and around town. i was going to sell it after my other car was done but i've decided to keep it.

you're starting to irritate me by lobbing me with some punk 16 year old that just bought an ef for a first car. i've trolled h-t for about a decade before i decided to actually participate. it took me this long because i didn't want to be lobbed into this pit. i've seen your contributions to this site tyson, and i respect your opinion, so don't ruin it for me now. the unibody is nearly immaculate, theres A spot of rust (size of a nickel), and little scrapes that don't penetrate the paint or anything. the underbody is another story. its not rusty underneith either but its ugly. i can't find another ed/ef in this condition for what its worth. nobody takes care of these anymore. all i basically asked for is what people have as far as suspension, or what they would want, because i might want to have a ride like that within reason. what i didn't ask for was how to spend my money. i was hoping to collaborate with other h-techians and gather some communal input that could possibly enlighten me or expose some flaw in products or something i should know about. why would i spend $900+ on koni/gc when i can get megan coilovers for $600 and work better (as an example, because i DONT know personally how they ride)

as far as the sway, i have my reasons for not going to the junk yard already. I don't wanna waste my time at a pick and pull, and the online database shows only one dismantler with one, and its about 90 miles out, among other things - i actually called a place a few weeks ago and the guy laughed and said he arleady knows they don't have one. people ****** up civic parts like a pearl before swine out here.

as far as "Might as well while im in there" goes, things like front upper control arms to adjust camber would be one of those things. or da trailing arms. because i will never replace those springs in the drums again. waste of time dealing with drum brakes. Things like this help me with these projects because even tho i have no plans to do anything with it now, it may change later. the ceo may want to do something with it beyond what i had plans for. who knows. someone one day will appreciate that its there when they need it, whether its me or not.

 

how i treat you makes no difference to me. your questions, your laundry list of parts, the way youve responded is pretty much like all the other kids who want to spend a lot of money on the car and end up making all the same mistakes.

you could have read a bunch of stuff already in the faqs and just doing a search on suspension topics by keywords like product brands and component names.

here's another example. what makes you think you even need to adjust the front upper control arm? skunk2 is NOT better than stock. its got a crappy balljoint that will fail sooner than stock, its heavier, and its not needed. why you ever thought its "better might as replace" is probably just from looking at magazines.

DA trailing arms arent exactly better either. i dunno why youre worrying about your rear brakes either. theres nothing horribly wrong with drum brakes other than maintenance, but apart from a bad wheel cylinder, its maintenance free in my opinion. havent touched mine since i put HF aluminum drums on for gits and shiggles. its all an unnecessary expense to switch to disc if you ask me. almost purely cosmetic.

speaking of which, the HF did come with a front swaybar. the reason i had it in mind is that its got the smallest front bar, and ive sold over a dozen of them that i got from the junkyard to racers looking for an edge. the STD civic hatch btw is the one that didnt come with a front swaybar. is that the model you have? if so, it all fits right in.

but dont tell me theres no civics in the junkyard you cant take 30 minutes to pull off and pay less than $20 for it, endlinks and bushings. i know the pick n pulls in norcal, i bet on any given weekend there are about a dozen EF's. you can even use EF sedan bars which are slightly bigger, or even a DA front bar that is even bigger, but hollow. i guarantee you, front swaybars are NOT what the junkyard rapists are looking for. if the chassis is there, so is the swaybar.

then again, all this info is in the faq's. if you really want to be adult about things, you ought to read and search before asking, tell me how to spend my money.

 

Which lower tie bar do you have? -rear or -front?
Rear is useless. Sell it and get one for the front.
Front one was amazing on my old hoopty.
Combined with an upper strut bar and the full ES master kit installed, the lower front bar boxed the front chassis together and bumps during turns felt like butter in comparison to before
.

 

What would you suggest i use to adjust camber then? this is why i made this thread. prove me wrong, prove me right. I don't know if s2 upper control arms are good, like i said it was an example. I don't doubt they aren't as good as stock or as good as another companies, its apparent everything s2 makes is garbage. c'est la vie.

Exactly, i've already put all new hardware in, so I don't expect to touch it anytime soon. I'm not dying to put da trailing arms in, but if i stumble across a set for a good price i may take it. no biggie, it was just an example.

Perfect. Yes, i have the STD hatch, theres no front sway.

Neither.
Sounds good. I just threw the rear tie in the list because i always liked how it looked. its always a nice touch.

 

why are you looking to adjust your camber? something bent in your suspension? you dont need it if your cross camber is fine. negative camber is good. camber does not ruin tires. bad toe does.

actually, if anything, youd want to swap out the front knuckles to some bigger, normal sized hubs and axles. this is something where "might as well upgrade (to normal stock) while youre replacing". the STD hatch came with some puny axles. oddly i think the brakes were the same... not sure. you can check on that.

and dont you have a 4 speed?

why the hell did you get this car??? rhetorical. dont feel bad. its all replaceable.