So I bought struts and shocks for my 96 civic 4dr, the suspension is oem and it's off a 2000 civic sedan. I tried to install a strut today on the front drivers side and the strut extends too low. The fork seems to be too long, it extends under the lower arm and I can not get the bolt to go through because the holes don't line up. I tried to have my brothers stand on the wheel hub to lower the control arm down to the forks bolt holes but the holes still do not line up because the fork extends to low. I'm probably doing something wrong or I bought the wrong struts but I thought 2000 civic struts fit on a 96 civic, please help!

 

Go here:
https://www.hondapartsnow.com/

Enter the VIN of the 96 and 00 Civic for which you are exchanging struts.

Search for struts or strut components for each vehicle. My guess is that the part numbers are different. If so, that's the problem.

 

Bolt up the damper fork (with everything complete) onto the LCA first, then use a floor jack to lift up the suspension assembly so the 2 top hat studs go into the shock tower holes.

 

 

correct...but if you remove the castle nut (at the upper control arms), the wheel hub assembly should drop down enough to let you bolt the damper fork to the LCA.

OP, time to replace the suspension with some aftermarket parts, like coilovers.

 

 

Put the new strut next to one of the old ones and compare length.

If it is close to fitting, you can put the jack that came with the car between the upper control arm and the fender to push the suspension downward until it makes up with the fork.

 

Will take effort to get them in, thats all I can say.