its time to replace the suspension on my stock '90 civic dx hatch...

this car is currently my dd, but my plan is make it my streetable autox'er within the next 1-2 years.

i have two front springs that are broke, with what i'm sure are the original gas shocks so i figure, if i gotta replace suspension, i might as well put the koni yellow sports on it, at all 4 corners. suspension was going to be the first thing i do anyways (aside from trying to fix rust ).

this is where i need some help from the suspension gurus so i have some questions i hope you guys can answer...

1. can i buy the konis with the springs pre-installed so i can just pull them outta the box and bolt them on the car? i was poking around searching online and it looks like some places ship you all the parts and you have to compress the spring and install yourself...i'd rather just bolt on and not have to assemble it.

2. i'm going for functionality at the track, but with something that wont beat me up on the road. i'm willing to sacrifice comfort for better cornering ability, but dont want it to feel every little pebble, so what spring rates would you guys recommend for the front/rear?

3. will these shocks drop the ride height drastically? i really dont want to have to worry about clearance with 13 or 14 inch wheels for street use.

4. where has anyone else bought konis from and where do you recommend i look?

thanks!

 

1. I am not aware of any place that sells pre-assembled custom setups like that. Autozone does that with their shock/spring packages, but those are all stock rate springs with stock spec dampers. Some of the people in the marketplace might be able to set them up for you or something, but it would be a custom request that you would have to contact the seller to get sorted out.

2. This is sorta a loaded question, because everyone has different tolerance for suspension harshness. I can tell you i run 550 in/lb springs in front and ~330 in the rear, and that is pretty harsh on my CRX. I suspect you would want something softer than that. you might take a look at the rates different aftermarket companies sell for their entry level setups. Companies like Koni, k-sport, Tien, and others all publish their rates, so you can go take a look and see what they are running and maybe get rates around what they are selling in their entry level setups.

3. This totally depends on the springs you choose. I don't know if you are planning to use Ground Control sleeves, like everyone around here does, but if you do, then you don't neet to worry about that so much, because you can adjust the spring perch up and down to change the ride height. If you aren't planning to use ground control sleeves, then choosing the right spring length will be important when choosing the springs you want to use. I think stock are like 9in tall??.. The ones i run are 7 inch, i believe, and are just right for 205/50/15s on a CRX, but they are much stronger springs than stock, so you may need to do some math if you don't go with the ground control sleeves.

4. First, check out the H-T marketplace forums. There are lots of shops in there selling gear, and may even have like a "all you need kit" with koni yellows, ground control sleeves, springs, and tophats if you want them, and for a reasonable price. They would also be good targets to buy pre-assembled from, but you would need to ask them. Otherwise, I like SummitRacing.com a lot, and NoLimitMotorsport.com, and T1 race development and Special Projects Motorsports and some others.

 

No, shocks n spring don't come preassembled because there are parts you must reuse from stock suspension.

There are a myriad of full suspension type of kits. MOST ARE CRAP. But try progress.

You'll have to just try different springs to learn what you like.

 

ok, thanks for the info guys.

so if i just get a ground control coil over kit, what special tools will i need to assemble? i'm assuming a spring compressor, but is this something i can do in my garage?

i did find this site: http://www.redshiftmotorsports.com/R...ne%20Store.htm

scroll down about half way and you'll see the koni sport kit for $859. would this be everything i need, aside from any special tools?

 

you wont need a spring compressor. just adjust the perch low and assemble. then raise the perch to the ride height you want.

here is a nice writeup>>>>> http://www.d-series.org/forums/diy-f...ck-travel.html

 

You'll need a spring compressor to take apart the stock shocks in order to reuse the top hats at the least.

When I say "need" its the recommended safe way. But honestly I've done without and let the nut off, pointed away from anything, and it works fine, no crazy danger.

This is all things you can do in a garage for sure. Use jackstands and either put the car on 4 jackstands or if you only have 2, jack it by each axle at a time. Don't try to do one side (left/right) at a time, the swaybar messes things up this way.

There's tons of write ups on suspension. Just make sure you jack up the suspension to load it when you tighten down on the bushings. If you leave them sagging when you tighten, you'll rip the bushings.

 

good info...thanks!

so if i were to get that kit in the link i posted, i wouldnt need to get special top hats or make any special modifications to my 90 civic?

here is that link again:

http://www.redshiftmotorsports.com/R...ne%20Store.htm

 

You shouldn't need anything else and you can reuse the factory top hats.

Koni shocks have an adjustable spring perch (this is what the coilover sleeve rests on.) Lowering the spring perch actually raises the shock body (relative to the top hat) and you will bottom out on the body of the shock even sooner. You would want to raise the Koni spring perch and then lower the ground control spring perch to get as much travel as you can.

If you want more suspension travel, look into the extended tophats.

Top hats will NOT lower the car directly. They do allow the shock to tuck up higher, so it allows more travel before the shock bottoms out.


diy extended top hats
https://honda-tech.com/forums/welding-fabrication-53/extended-top-hats-tophat-mod-2385931/

basically cut and weld a tube in there

 

thank you for the info! very much appreciated everyone.

 

Google my friend!

http://www.d-series.org/forums/diy-f...ck-travel.html

-Chris