2000 integra ls with 17x7.5 wheels,-37 offset 215/40/17 tires. Koni yellows + h&r race springs. Factory upper control arms. Factory top hats in the front are extended by 1 1/8". new type r bump stops. The rear bump stops are mounted on the front because they fit in the extended top hat I made.

At ride height in the front I have 1/2" of travel at the wheel before I hit the bump stop. Taking the weight off of the jack stand by jacking the car up by the lower control arm at the shock, i have an aditional 1 1/4" travel at the wheel before the bump stop is fully compressed. At this point the upper control arm is roughly 1/16" away from hitting the shock tower. This was all done with the sway bar disconnected and springs off of the shock. Does this sound ok? Sufficient travel?

In the rear with factory top hats (not extended), at ride height I have about 1" before the bump stop another 3/4" under bump. This is travel at the wheel with no spring and sway bar disconnected.

Only thing I could change would be to run a really stiff bump stop that's shorter to gain more travel before I hit the bump stop. I cant gain any more total travel in the front because the control arm hits the body. If I cut a hole in the body to have the control arm move farther, it might gain 1/8" before the upper arm hits the top hat.

Any suggestions? Or is that enough travel?

 

Pic at ride height

 

Would raising the spring perch on the front shock to the next higher groove be out of the question? Would that raise it too much? The front looks lower than the rear to me.

 

OTS Koni yellows work best at relatively high ride heights. Nobody seems to believe me.

H&R "race" springs are too low for stock length shocks.

Top hats will help. 1/2" of travel at the shock is probably something like 3/4" at the tire. I'm guessing integras have a 1.5:1 MR?

The bumpstops are a part of the suspension, but at that height, you'll be using them all day. Especially since Koni yellows are only rebound damping adjustable. Your instinct is to run them on stiff because its so low. But that is going to cause the suspension to pack down over bumps and ride the bumpstops even more.

I'd buy ground controls and raise the car up. You'll notice a huge increase in ride quality if the car is lowered like 1.5" from stock.

 

If raising it up is not an option because it will cramp your style, I would suggest selling your setup and buying a coilover that has full body adjustment and a relatively high front spring rate.

Whether or not you can find something like that which also isn't total garbage for the $800 you spent on your Koni/H&R is debateable.

Maybe Tein Street Flex would work...although, the spring rates are not exceptionally high.

 

I am ok with raising the front. I can also extend the top hats in the rear too. That photo was taken when the top hats were not extended yet and no bump stops just to get a baseline of where it would sit. Also that is on the highest spring perch in the front and middle on the rear. I was thinking about making some spacers on the lathe to raise the spring perch a little more to get the front end a little higher. Also I can move the front fork down on the shock to get a little more height. It would be enough to get .210" at the wheel just buy moving the fork down. Its not much but between that and spacing the the spring perch I think I can get enough. What would be considered enough wheel travel or shock travel before touching the bump stop? Not looking to buy different shocks. Would rather just buy ground control sleeves, but wanna see if I can make these springs work first.

 

The wheel travel you need depends on where you drive. If you drive on extremely smooth roads, you may be fine as-is. But...the bumpstops aren't the big concern. The inevitable concern is smashing the strut tower with the UCA. Those springs are probably too soft to be that low. What are the rates?

 

I read some where that they are 460f and 350r.