GritzNGravy

My car is an 04 EX with 190,000+?? miles. The suspension feels very loose and I hate it. Any slight raise or drop in the road makes the car want to pull in that direction. Even driving over tiled crosswalks at intersections makes the car feel squirrely. Alignment seems fine. Tire wear is even. Both front LCA's and bushings were replaced about 30,000 miles ago.

I want to fix the above mentioned issues as well as make an improvement over stock. With that being said this car is ultimately a DD and will spend 95% of it's life delivering pizzas so for practical reasons I would like to keep my budget down. Just to provide a reference point; my goal would be to get this car to handle similar to my stock suspension 9th Gen Si.

Am I foolish to think this could all be achieved with some >OEM struts/shocks and a rear sway bar?

If I dont want to lower the car, is it necessary to replace the coil springs?

Where is a good place to buy all of this?

Sorry for all the questions but as always, any help is appreciated.

GolNat

iTrader: (7)

I would recommend:

New dampers (struts/shocks) - Tokico HP is a good performance damper for the price.
Tie rod ends - Moog is a good performance brand
Sway bar end links - Moog
ball joints - Moog again
upper strut mounts if worn

Keep the OEM springs to keep the ride height the same. No need to upgrade/replace the springs unless they are bad or you want to lower the car.

GritzNGravy

Thanks for the quick reply!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tokico-HP-blue-shocks-03-05-Honda-Civic-Sedan-Coupe-Si-EP3-Front-Rear-Set-/261642864931?fits=Model%3ACivic&hash=item3ceb214923&vxp=mtr
Is that a good price to pay for the Blues?

Are cheaper options like Sensa Trac/GR2/AGx completely crap compared to the blues or are they fairly comparable?

I planned on doing strut mounts and bearings. Should have also mentioned I have new ball joints waiting for the rest of this stuff so it can all be done at once.

Any input on the upgraded rear sway bar? I'm not even sure if mine has one at all?

GolNat

iTrader: (7)

Maybe. Usually eBay is the cheapest option you just have to be careful that you are not buying fake items. So if the price seems to good to be true, they may be fake.

Sensa Trac - Garbage. Maybe not garbage but there are better options.

GR2 or AGx - Both great options as KYB is who makes the OEM dampers. The
GR2 I believe is going to be similar to the OEM while the AGx will be a more
performance oriented damper (adjustable which is nice).

I am not sure who is going to make a better performance damper, KYB or Tokico but you can't go wrong with either option. More people probably run the Tokico. Koni is another option but requires some extra installation as it is not a "direct" fit.

Good plan.

Your car should have one already. An upgrade option would be to put an RSX sway bar on it as it is larger in diameter. These can be found at junk yards and eBay. Another option is to buy an aftermarket one like from Progress Technology. More expensive but a very nice rear sway bar (I have one). You can try to find these used to help save some money.

Mad Dog Tannen

Wow SLOW DOWN, you don't need to rebuild the whole front end!

Find out what it loose, and just replace those parts.

Tracking is usually from tie rods. I would start by inspecting those.

Do a full inspection of every joint/bearing/bushing then determine which parts you need. It sounds like you have steering parts issues that need attention before the worn shocks do.

If you plan on lowering it, then think ahead, adjustable A arms might be a good idea.

Don't just guess and throw parts at it, or you will be wasting a lot of time and money.

GritzNGravy

I haven't been guessing on anything. When I bought the car the passenger LCA was bent and the bushings on both were completely separated. That's why those were replaced.

The ball joints look in pretty bad shape and are popping so I got a set of those. Now I'm looking to replace the shocks that are pretty shot.

Nothing else that I've noticed seems to need attention at the moment. The shop that did the alignment didn't have any comments after the LCA's were replaced and Honda only mentioned motor mounts (replaced a week ago) when they looked at the front end.