I have a 1997 Honda Civic EX with a 1.6L Vtec engine. I want to lift my car and put a little bit bigger tires on the car but don't know how to lift the car safely/confidently. I was thinking and hoping that a CRV suspension can be swapped over. From watching videos, they seem to be the same type of design with the front suspension. Two bolts on the top hat and the bottom goes a wishbone that connects to the lower control arm. If anyone has any advice or experience with this that would be great. Of course, CRV suspension would be the easiest and cheapest to get but I wouldn't mind getting a set of aftermarket coils that lift the car. I would almost prefer an actual 1997 civic lifted coils/lift kit but I don't know of anywhere that sells this. I appreciate all the help I can get!

 

It is a bad idea... and that is why no companies make the parts that you are looking for. Why do you want to put bigger tires on the car ?

 

I had a bone stock hatchback once that seemed a bit too lifted and bigger tires 205 I think well not too long after having it I made a quick jerk too avoid a car turning into my lane on the freeway and my car swerved like a boat and spun around so fast I diddnt even know what happened and of course someone hit me! lowering it if anything will give you better handling than lifting the car. The next hatchback I bought I installed a set of aftermarket coil overs and set them decently over the tires not too high not too low I can still go over speed bumps and it still is lowered enough to give me better handling as if I needed it in a stock car but its mostly for looks but I also do enjoy the handling it has with it being lower.

I would just leave the OEM suspension as is and or replace what you have if its not OEM already. May I ask why you want it lifted and by lifted how high are we talking? I'm picturing a lifted truck only with a Civic chassis haha

 

Hell yeah! Lift it! You could probably use the strut spacers used by the 1st Gen CR-V guys to get 2-3" of lift.

CR-V struts should probably also fit. You will start to run into knuckle to front strut clearance issues as you go taller.

I have a lifted 91 Wagon using strut spacers. You will end of shortening the life of the CV joints with the higher operating angles.

 

The rear CRV shocks MIGHT work with ITR lower control arms.

 

In reality, to make the vehicle safe you will have to stiffen up the springs by a lot to compensate for the higher roll center.

I suspect by the time you are the equivalent of a truck, the ride is going to be so jarring it won't be worth while. Would be a good winter snow vehicle with the front wheel drive though. Harder to high center.

 

Alignment will be out of whack but I doubt you care about that and have other reasons

 

Clearly many of you have never played with lifted Civics.

You want SOFT springs to use all of the available travel. Yeah, geometry for handling will be screwed up and it will wallow around like a giant marshmallow. Going fast on pavement is not the point of a lifted Civic.

Bonus points because the camber curve get MORE aggressive as you lift. If you can get enough camber correction at ride height you will gain camber very rapidly in compression.

Take everything that changes with a lowered Civic and invert it.

 

And this is exactly why truck suspensions are pretty stiff as well as for hauling loads. The high center of gravity needs stiffer suspension to prevent safety issues of "wallow around like a giant marshmallow" with normal every day driving.

 

3" is not enough lift to be a safety issue on a Civic. Even with sticky buns you would be hard pressed to roll it over. A mud tire or all terrain will lose grip well before you get to the point of even lifting a leg.

They are a blast to bomb around in. Really allows honing of weight transfer skills as it all happens so slow on soft springs. Also lowers the grip threshold making playing with the limits of grip happen at a much lower speed.