DIY: EK Civic Coilover Installation

[hysteria]

After I finally got tired of the 4x4 look and body roll in the corners I decided to get a set of Skunk2 Pro-S coilovers from Marco Versloot (at a very competitive price I might add)

I went to my buddy's house and we did the installation. It's really not that difficult. Everything fits right into place and it doesn't take too long. The real time eater is setting the ride height afterwards...

Firstly assemble the coilovers like they say in the instruction manual. Torque the strut rod upper nut to the specified value.

Loosen the wheel nuts a bit and jack the car up. Put trestles under the car so you don’t have to worry about the car falling on you. (1st picture)

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Loosen the wheel nuts and take the wheel off. There you’ll see the strut fork to lower control arm bolt (green arrow) and strut fork pinch bolt (red arrow). Loosen both these bolts until you are able to remove the strut fork completely. Sometimes the bolts may be loosened completely but they don’t want to slide out. What helps is if you press down on the hub or lift the hub. That takes some force off of the bolt so that it can slide out. (2nd picture)

IMG00043-20100702-1106.jpg

Once the strut fork is removed open the bonnet. Loosen the nuts on the strut mounting studs (green arrows). Do not loosen them completely or the strut will just fall out. Hold on to the strut for the final few turns of the nuts. When it’s loose just slide the strut out. (3rd picture)

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Comparison between the 2 front struts (4th picture)

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Set the 2 locking discs on the strut so that they’re about halfway on the thread around the shock. That’s a good starting point for further adjustments.

Continued in next post...

[hysteria]

Now slide the new strut in, with the studs going through the holes. Hand tighten the nuts on the strut mounting studs to enable some free play (5th and 6th pictures)

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The skunk 2 struts have a slightly larger diameter than the stock ones. Take a spanner and bend the strut fork open a little. Don’t go overboard, all it needs is a millimeter or two. (7th picture)

IMG00050-20100702-1136.jpg

Now slide the strut fork over the bottom part of the strut and align the holes with the lower control arm. Make sure the ridge on the strut fork is over the indentation on the strut. Now just tighten the 2 bolts. After that tighten the nuts on the strut mounting studs.

Torque specs:
Shock absorber to lower control arm bolt- 64Nm
Strut fork pinch bolt- 43Nm
Shock absorber to body mounting nuts- 64Nm

Now repeat all of the above for the other side. When you’re sure all the bolts and nuts are fastened you can lower the car again. Step back and admire how nice the front looks (although both sides won’t be the same height). Now it’s time to do the rear…

Again, jack the car up, put trestles underneath and remove the wheels. Also, remove the rear speaker covers as well as the speakers. You’ll see the top of the rear strut. (8th picture)


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Under the car you’ll see the lower arm to trailing arm bolt (red arrow), shock to lower arm bolt (blue arrow) and the lower arm to body pivot bolt (green arrow). (9th picture)


IMG00055-20100702-1238.jpg



Continued in next post...

[hysteria]

Completely remove both the shock to lower arm bolt and lower arm to body pivot bolt. Only loosen the lower arm to trailing arm bolt, don’t remove it. This is to enable the lower control arm to pivot. Again, pushing down or lifting the hub may help to get the bolts out more easily.(10th picture)

IMG00057-20100702-1242.jpg

Now get a ratchet with an extension and loosen both the nuts from the strut mounting studs. Before loosening then completely grab a hold of the strut so it doesn’t fall out. When both nuts are completely loosened slide the strut out.

Comparison between the 2 rear struts. (11th picture)

IMG00058-20100702-1257.jpg

A good starting pint is to set the 2 locking discs about halfway on the thread. Now guide the strut into place and hand tighten the 2 nuts around the strut mounting studs. Lift up the lower control arm so that the holes align. Remember to insert the 2 spacers on either side of the lower control arm where the strut bolts onto it. Now tighten all 3 bolts as shown in the 9th picture. After that tighten the 2 nuts on the strut mounting studs.

Torque specs:
Lower arm to trailing arm bolt- 54Nm
Shock to lower arm bolt- 54Nm
Lower arm to body pivot bolt- 54Nm

Repeat for the other side. After all the bolts are fastened lower the car. At this point it will be obvious that the car isn’t the same height at every corner. Now comes the part that takes up most of the time…setting the ride height.

When you adjust the height the struts need some bumps to settle. When you lower the height the car will appear higher when you’re finished. Press down a couple of times on the car and it will sit a bit lower. Go for a drive (make sure to go over some speedbumps) and the car will be even lower. If you adjust one corner it will also have an effect on the other 3 corners’ height. You see the dilemma…it’s not just a matter of making an adjustment and you’re done. So here is the procedure I followed…

1. Find a completely level surface,jack the car up at the corner you wish to adjust and remove the wheel.
2. Loosen the discs with the special spanners.
3. Rotate the discs up or down, depending on how much lower/higher you want the ride at the specific corner.
4. Tighten the discs with the special spanners.
5. Put wheel back on and lower the car.
6. Push down on the car a couple of times and go for a drive (find as many speedbumps as you can)
7. Eyeball the car and decide where and how much you want to adjust next

After the car looks right it’s time to get out the measuring tape and make sure it’s the same height in the front 2 corners and the same height at the rear 2 corners.

There are a couple of places you can measure the height, i.e. at the sideskirts, distance between lower control arm and the body, height of the bumper from the ground etc. I chose to measure the distance from the lip of the mag to ridge of the fender. Ideally you want to be in the car while the height at every corner is adjusted but it probably won’t be possible. Alternatively you can put something on the driver’s seat that’s the same weight that you are. Ofcourse the best would be to have a scale under each wheel.

In the 12th picture I have a measuring tape hooked onto the lip of the mag, going over the center cap and pressed against the fender. I set the height so that I have the same distance on the tape at the front 2 wheels and the same distance at the rear 2 wheels. I let the rear sit slightly higher so that I can take an extra passenger or 2 in the rear without having to worry about the wheels rubbing.

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Some extra notes:

The skunk2 pro-S coilovers don’t allow for a slammed civic. The only way to accomplish this is to cut the bumpstops at the front, which will void your warranty. It still allows the car to sit nice and low, but I don’t reckon it’s possible to have the wheels tucked into the fender. The pro-C and the pro-S II have a different way of adjusting the height where the whole shock is lowered/raised. This will eliminate the concern of hitting bumpstops. A lot of the americans mount the shock lower so that it sticks out below the strut fork. This is especially popular with the koni/ground control setups. IMO it looks a bit dodgy…

The ride is hard, but not too hectic. It’s harder than normal lowering springs, but it’s not unbearable and you get used to it quickly. Personally I like it. It’s like reading the road with your arse.

The cornering…WOW! I didn’t think it would make such a big difference but it did. I can throw the car into corners and it will just stay on rails!

After you’re satisfied with the height take the car for wheel alignment. I suggest postponing this for a while because the suspension needs to settle and you may want to tweak it for a few days before you are completely satisfied.


OK that's it!

[ShiiZZo]

What the heck?!? No pics of the finished product?

[nemesis]

What the heck?!? No pics of the finished product?

nice one J,

i agree, where be them pichures ???.

nice write up !!!

[hysteria]

hahaha ok I took some pics of the finished product but it's not quality pics. But I'll post the decent pics I have...

[hysteria]

Ok here are 2 semi decent pics I took after after the install...
First pic is right after the install...still needs some adjustment. Oh yeah the nissan in the background is one hot 160 turbo.

IMG00060-20100702-1406.jpg

The second one is after some adjustment. Still not perfect but more or less resembling the final outcome.

IMG00061-20100702-1558.jpg

[Fluffy]

DUUUUDE!!! i'm glad to hear good feedback about them!
Mine are almost on their way with my Skunk2 shipment!
http://cms.skunk2.com/id/518/Pro-S-II-Coilovers/

once they arrive-
You are SOOOO coming to my place over a Saturday (I got beer) and we hook it up...

i wanna feel ur car tonight....

[2FAST4gp]

i wanna feel ur car tonight....

Hahahaha... that sounds so gay!!

lmao feel it but don't put anything in...
hahaha

[BALLADE1.5I]

hay man how much did that set you back? and do you have 17" ?

will it be a bit softer if you have 15" i know its a stupid question.

[hysteria]

@ Fluffy:
Ok I'll pull through with my civic tonight for a bit of "touchy feely".

If I have my own click-type torque wrench by then we can hook it up no problem!

@Ballade1.5i:
I got them for R7200 from Marco. Jip I have 17's on. The ride will be a little softer with 15's. I've swopped between 17's and my old 14's and there is definitely a difference in "ride softness". Also the car is a little slower with 17's, but the extra grip from the 17's make up for it.

[ShiiZZo]

@Ballade1.5i:
I got them for R7200 from Marco. Jip I have 17's on. The ride will be a little softer with 15's. I've swopped between 17's and my old 14's and there is definitely a difference in "ride softness". Also the car is a little slower with 17's, but the extra grip from the 17's make up for it.

I'd attribute that to the increased side-wall of the 15s...

[Fluffy]

@ Fluffy:
Ok I'll pull through with my civic tonight for a bit of "touchy feely".

If I have my own click-type torque wrench by then we can hook it up no problem!

@Ballade1.5i:
I got them for R7200 from Marco. Jip I have 17's on. The ride will be a little softer with 15's. I've swopped between 17's and my old 14's and there is definitely a difference in "ride softness". Also the car is a little slower with 17's, but the extra grip from the 17's make up for it.

OKi doki... gonna be with the girlfriend tonight but i think we'll be @ menlyn ANYWAY... lol... I'll just HAPPEN to bump into you there... lol... what's ur cell number? mine's 0829230030

Click wrench i just might be able to lend one over a wkend...

[hysteria]

PM sent

[BALLADE1.5I]

sweet man thanx for the reply mybe i would be able to get my sister to order it for me and send it as a gift because she is working in the u.s , i like my 17'' but i will mybe get a set of spoon replicas but not sure if i should go down to the 15'' yet.

thanx again for the reply

[hysteria]

No problemo!
Yeah you could get them for alot cheaper in the US but the shipping is a bitch...
It's all up to personal preference...initially I wanted to get 15's but when I walked into the shop and saw the 17's I have on currently it was love at first sight!

[BALLADE1.5I]

yeah same with my mags its not everybody's cup of tea but i love it

thanx again for the help, i will see what i can do if i get my sister to buy it for me i will also ask her to buy me a energy suspension master busing kit..... i will also have to pay her back

[hysteria]

Get yourself a strut brace too!
That's my next mod... After speaking to nemesis I'm sold on the strut brace

[BALLADE1.5I]

i will but i mybe have something else in mind

[hysteria]

Something else in mind...?

I want to get/build a lower rear brace. It looks baller when you're looking at the car from the rear. Kind of like a thong complementing the perfect arse...

[BALLADE1.5I]

hahah yeah i know what you mean. sorry for asking so much questions but do you need to get the adjustable camber arms or will it be fine for the length of the shocks and the amount of drop.

im going to try and build my own braces because my dad can get everything profile cut and TIG welded but if it doesn't turn out the way i want it to i will buy a set but it will take longer.

oh do you mybe have the part nr. for the shocks?

[hysteria]

No it's fine, ask away!

You don't have to get the camber kits for the pro-S coilovers. After wheel alignment my camber is still in spec. The only time you're going to need a camber kit is if you're really slammed. Like wheels tucked in behind the arches. But even if you're running a bit more camber than what honda suggests your wheels will be fine as long as the toe is set within spec. Oh yeah and that's the only thing they can adjust on a standard honda suspension- the toe. Camber is fixed.

Funny enough, before my car went for wheel alignment the toe was out of spec (toe out). The car felt more stable. I liked it alot. But if you drive around like that your tyres are going to wear out fast. Camber doesn't eat tyres- toe eats tyres.

It wasn't even necesary toe adjust anything at the rear after the drop. Everything was still in spec.

That's a great idea. If your dad has access to all of the equipment go for it! I also want to build my own...but it's going to be a backyard job with an arc welder.

Part number for the Pro-S is 541-05-5725. But the Pro-S II coilovers are out now. They have a design similar to the Pro-C, which is better cause you can go really low without worrying about hitting the bumpstops. Part number for them is 541-05-4725.

[BALLADE1.5I]

sweet man. thanx for the info. if my dad cand make a plan with the tig welding and stuff it will also be a back yard job lol.

the full coil overs is a bit pricey but i was thinking if getting megan racing adjustible coil overs

here is the link http://www.meganracing.com/products/...id=46&catid=59

im not sure if its worth the wile but its more in my price range. do you think its ok or should i rather leave it.

[hysteria]

It depends on what shocks you are going to use...
I wouldn't recommend it with stock honda shocks. The ride will be a bit bouncy and the shocks won't last too long. If you have aftermarket shocks with greater dampening it will be sharp.

[BALLADE1.5I]

if i get the energy suspension kit and stuff i will also have to do shocks . what shocks would you recommend?

[hysteria]

If megan makes shocks they'd probably match their sleeveovers the best.

Personally I'd go for skunk2 or koni shocks. I've heard alot of mixed opinions regarding megan.
Pretty much any aftermrket shock that's made with stiffer springs and a lower ride height in mind will suffice.