coilovers but what else?!

[aRc]

hi guys,

i wonder if you can help/ advise me on something else...

i'm hopefully getting some coilovers soon but wonder what else i will need when installing these.

i often see things such as 'sway bars', 'camber kits' and 'lca' but i don't know what all these are!!

i have found some posts that are similar to this but nothing that really answers what i'm asking:
http://www.ek9.org/forum/suspension/6270-coilovers-what-do-i-need.html
http://www.ek9.org/forum/suspension...rs-what-else-should-i-consider-replacing.html
http://www.ek9.org/forum/suspension/17938-camber-arms-lcas.html

any help would be greatly appreciated

thanks in advance

 

[_JT]

Maybe it's handy to check out the Honda workplace manual to see what every part is and how it relates to other parts.

Swaybars reduce bodyroll by linking your left part of the suspension to the right part. You can increase thickness or change to a harder material to get a stiffer swaybar to reduce roll on the front or the rear. Stiffer swaybar on the front usually means more understeer, on the rear more oversteer character. It's a matter of balance which sizes/materials you choose for the front and the rear. On the EK9 you already have prettty thick swaybars.
HowStuffWorks "How do stabilizer bars work?"

LCA = Lower control arm. This is a part of your suspension to which your shocks are attached. You can change them for lighter ones, but I think most people rather do that for the nice colors that they have On most street cars the change in weight would give a rather marginal result I'm educated guessing.

Those purple things are LCA's (on the rear, there is a pair on front too), the grey bar running in front of the red-silver brace is the rear swaybar.

Camber kits enable you to change your camber - this is often necessary for optimal steering results when you lower the car. Sometimes you get too much camber by doing that. Your car certainly isn't per definition the fastest if your wheels sit flat on the ground when not cornering;often a little bit of negative camber is applied. This is camber:

There is much more to learn about this, but for that I urge you to search on Google

What I would recommend you to do is change your rubber bushings under your car. For new ones, or get after market polyurethane ones. Cheaper and stiffer, which in turn increases your cars responsiveness but costs a little comfort cause bumps in the road will not be dampened as much with polyurtethane as with rubber. But it's the cheaper option by far (at least here in the Netherlands) and increases the responsiveness. The reason for changing these for after market or new ones is that they are often an overlooked factor. They become old, dry and worn out which will decrease responsiveness and make your car dwell more. Maybe first check them if they are worn out. Imho do the following:

- Coilovers
- Camber kit
- Bushings
- Get a good geometry setup for your car

That would make the biggest difference imho.

 

[MeisterR]

The List go on like this in my opinion:

1. Coilovers: Pretty simple answer. But decide what you want, and try to get new one with a warranty as the last thing you want is a leaking used dampers without a warranty.

2. Rear LCA (Lower Control Arm): One of the main reason you change this car along with the coilovers is the damper bolt that goes through the rubber bush on the standard arms alway seize up. The bolt will snap and in the end, the only way to get the bolt out to replace your damper is to destroy the LCA bush. Once that happen, you pretty much need the bush replace.

There are 6 bush on the arms, and Honda charge about £60 for the 6 bushes.
You can buy a complete LCA from Honda, but they are about £200.

So that is why most people get aftermarket LCA because it is a new aluminum arm with all new bush (of course check what bush the LCA use, you don't want soft and cheap rubber), and the cost isn't far off standard replacement.

3. Camber Kit: Again, pretty straight forward. You have the front and the rear, and using these kit will allow adjustment to the camber so you can get the car's alignment back in specs. Good arms will come with new bushes and that is another easy way to replace old worn bushes.

And the rest of the bits are just replacement... just make sure you track the car afterward as that is very important. Best suspension in the world is useless if the wheels isn't pointing in the right direction.

 

[wasabi]

Great advice from JT and jerrick!

 

[Deleted member 8859]

..... Well they definately answered his question !!