What's up guys. I was just wondering if you guys can tell me what a decent street suspension setup would be for my 97 civic at a fair price. I bottom out everywhere i go, and my car feels like i'm riding on wooden wheels, i feel every little bump on the road. I don't know much about suspension, i'm currently riding on some cheapy adjustable springs with oem struts. I'd like to still be able to lower my car somewhat, but not have to worry so much about bottoming out all the time. So if you guys can please give me some suggestions on a decent adjustable spring and strut setup it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

A decent strut company like KYB with some 2" or so lowering springs, from H&R, Tokico, or Koni. You can leave with a brand new setup like that for like 500 bux.

Drop it lower than 2-3" and you won't be able to 4 wheel align it good enough that you won't have camber-wear - so you'll need an adjustable camber kit which will just bump the price up a bit. It'll also become less practical.

You'll need harder springs the lower you go to keep from bottoming out, so if you get like 6/8k on a 2" drop you should be fine.

 

Yea, I have a camber kit already up front, and washers in the back. So any specific strut? And you recommend just regular lowering springs over adjustable?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by gsrcivic619 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yea, I have a camber kit already up front, and washers in the back. So any specific strut? And you recommend just regular lowering springs over adjustable?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Screw adjustables.

Get 3" drop springs from a company like Koni, Tokico, or H&R (any reputable spring company), those are my top 3. 3" is as low as I'd go to retain practicality. Though that's just my personal opinion, many pple slam their cars. If you slam it you're going to need a harder spring rate to keep from bottoming out.

At 3" I'm not sure if 6/8k will cut it, you may need 8/10k - You'll need somebody else who knows suspension better than I do to help ya out with that, suspension is my weak point.

As for struts, again, any reputable company, I'm a bit of a KYB fan, but Koni, Bilstein, and Tokico are also very reputable strut manufacturers. Bilstein's been around since time started ticking &gt;.&lt; - I hold them, like Edelbrock, to a very high standard, since they were making aftermarket parts for cars b4 the first hondas were sold in America ('72?).

Somebody else will have to help u about a bit with the spring rates at that drop level.

I'm running Tokico reds (2" drop) on OEM struts (previous owner installed 'em, so don't yell at me for using OEM struts) and I love it. I don't think anything more than 2" is good for practicality, but I also live in an area where pot holes can (and will) swallow your car hole. Where steelies are by far a better choice than alloys because even steelies can be bent by them - where people blow out struts all the time in pot holes and bumps...damn I hate this area.

People in Cali, or places down south where there's a lot of cement highways, and have the budget for better roads, often can lower it better - I say do it via top gear method: For a car to be practical, it needs to be able to clear a speed bump - that's why all the cars on their lap time wall are able to clear speed bumps, on an angle or not. Though I wouldn't drop more than 2-2.5", personally. There's a photo of a dub on the VW vortex that shows a guy with his dub so low he can barely fit his razor phone inbetween the oil pan (lowest point on a dub) and the ground - and that's on a perfectly flat parking center O.O!!

 

Sweet, thanks for your help man. One last question, do you happen to know if KYB GR2 struts are any good? There's this guy selling them for dirt cheap out here in Los Angeles. Sucks about the pot holes ha, I've hit some potholes here i could have sworn all of my tires exploded but luckily they didn't!

 

yeah i heard those struts are good struts... cant really go wrong with KYB... havent ever heard anything bad about them

 

tokico 5 way adjustable and teins sprins

 

cool thanks guys!

 

i think kyb gr-2 sucks *****. i got a set on my mom's stock 240sx and the fronts are okay but the rear feesl like they were blown since day one.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EkFG &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">tokico 5 way adjustable and teins springs </TD></TR></TABLE>

same setup here, love it. drop is just right... and like syndacate, i too live in a pot hole/bad road infested area (state even) and i rarely ever bottom out.

 

Hmm how much do the 5 way adjustables run? And what exact specifications can you adjust them for? I'm assuming you have 5 choices for adjustment?

 

Im running function & form type 1 coilovers. I love them they ride really nice and are a great dd setup. I got the coilovers brand new shipped to my door for 500.

 

What size springs should I buy and what brand? Is there a link to ride heights? I'm leaning towards the Tein brand, but I need to know what specific model and what size of drop i should get. thanks guys

 

great...i almost did KYB and skunk 2 coilovers. but i went with complete D2 set up...anyone know anything about em'? i have not even installed them yet.

by the way i had koni adj. in my last car with stock springs and it was a GREAT ride..so personally i have nothing bad to say about them.

 

Just a random question to throw in this thread... can we post questions in the civic/delsol forum about suspension, cause i have a few, ive posted them in the suspension forum, still waiting answers.