Guys, I need your help in a desperate way.

I recently purchased a set of brand new Koni Yellows and Ground Control Adjustable lowering springs with the sleeves intended for Koni Yellows, the Koni's are designed for a base Prelude in mind but will fit an SH as long as aftermarket base shocks and springs are used.

The first thing I should mention is the Spring Perch on stock SH Shocks is 20MM lower than on a base Lude, making the car sit a smidge lower but the Koni yellows do have 2 perch settings up front.
I had read in the past that Koni Yellows and Ground Controls springs can be successfully run on an SH, however I assumed that was at stock height or lower? I have installed the coilovers (Koni Yellows and Ground Control Spring) in the front of the car, with bump stops that are cut in half. The spring rate in the front is 440. Now, when I lowered the car, I think I've run into a major predicament, I seem to have no travel even on the cut bump stops around stock reight height, the car is sitting at about 25.5 inches from the ground to the middle of the fender. If I reach up into the coilover, there's no play in the bump stop. If I push down on the front of the car I can hear the bump stops sqeak and if I have my Dad push the car down I can see the bump stops compress. I believe at minimum, I need 1 inch of travel, I shouldn't have to go 20mm over stock height of an SH to achieve this right? I have tried both perch settings and it doesn't seem to help unless I raise the car over stock ride height. The only way I believe to pick up additional travel is to 1. Cut the bump stop more 2. Shorten the shock body (wayy to expensive). 3. Extended the tophat (not possible with the low hood line of a 5th gen prelude). What gives? I have seen evidence of other owners of Prelude SH's running this setup, are they higher than stock ride height, on the bump stops or am I doing something wrong?

 

@Moderator Please fix the title of the post to "install/lowering help"

 

A long time ago, I owned an 01 SH and had the same setup. I also ran the Koni/GC setup for a base Prelude and did not have this issue. What is the spring rate for the rear? Is it possible that you put the rear springs on the front?

Embarrassing as it is to admit, one time I did just that, and wondered why the front end sank down to the ground while the rear was WAY up. Just a thought... I would double check the part numbers on all the items to make sure they even sent you the right ****.

 

I don’t believe that is the problem. Originally I did receive 4 springs that were identical that were all 440 rate. I sent back 2 and received a 380 spring rate for the rear, I install the 440’s up front. The number on the spring is GC 200.64.77 which is a 440 rate, 2.5 inch diameter and 8 inch length. Both the front and rear springs are the same length and diameter, which I believe is correct since the sleeve adjusts length essentially? How much were you able to lower your SH, also how much did you cut the bump stops?

I will say that I have not installed the rears yet, could that be causing a problem? Although like I mentioned, I believe the front is near stock ride height.

 

****, man. I sold that car like 10 years ago so I have no recollection of how I did it. But I do know that I had about a finger's worth of gap on all four fenders.

 

I would echo to double check that all part numbers are correct, and in the proper positions, sounds like something is wrong.

One other thing, for a good measurement of suspension, go from the center of the wheel hub to the lip of the fender, that way tire and wheel size are not part of the equation.

 

Okay, I'll do that. One thought I still have is that I may need to drill out the center of the bump stop so it can easily travel past the thicker collar on the koni shock piston. I'm also going to reset back to the stock perch, and lower the collar on the sleeves down to my desired height, about a half-inch below stock and try to determine where I'm at height-wise.