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I'm not 100% familiar on the different trims of the Civic models, but I believe this particular guy's car that I worked on was had an LX.

So he came to me with KYB AGX Struts + Eibach Sportline springs. Upon installation I had a problem with inserting the bolts through the front struts of the car. I pulled the strut assembly back out of the car and found out that the KYB holes were 2mm too small, where the stock struts were 16mm. Unfortunately, I don't have a drill bit that big, also I was a little concerned about the structural integrity of the strut itself as well but these are the pictures.

Stock Struts



KYB AGX Struts



Side by side comparision



Is this just a fluke or something that is well known per a year-to-year difference of the 7G?

Otherwise, the rest of the install went great minus that, I used the stock struts and put the KYBs in the rear with the Sportlines all the way around.

Noticable differences between this car and my 3G Eclipse was that I was not too hip on having to go through the trunk & the back seats just to remove the rear shock assemblys, but it's similar to a lot of other imports though. Another odd difference was that the tie rods were connected to the struts which I thought was a little odd as well and definitely use a ball joint puller for those.

 
Rep Power: 310

Looks like theyre made for the 2001-2002 struts which are 14mm instead of 16mm. Same thing with Tokico's. Not sure if KYB makes 2003+ struts, but if so then you need to exchange them or drill them larger like some people have done with their Tokico's. Probably better to call KYB first. I dont know if making the holes larger would affect the strength enough to make them unsafe.

 
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Excellent information, I'll pass it along! Thank you

 
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If I'm not mistaken it should be the other way, 2001 strut bolts are 16 mm while newer are 14 mm.

 
Rep Power: 320

no, newer is bigger because mine were for 01-02 and we had to drill them.. (mine is 03)

i've had no probs and we DIY'd mine about 4 months ago or more...

this was with tokicos, not KYB..


oh yea and btw.. this is a known issue w/ 01-02 vs 03+

 
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It's not really an issue like everyone has posted. You'll need to drill the bolt holes for it to fit. I mechanic used this drill it that went from small to big and he said the end point on it was about 11/16. So that's how big you'll need to drill the hole for it to fit.

 
Rep Power: 320

it is an issue if ur wanting to use 01-02 on an 03.

 
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KYB and Tokico dont make 03+ struts. drilling them might void the warranty.

 
Rep Power: 432

Yea, KYB agx's specially made for 01-02 model being 14mm knukcle bolts.
Couple guys from clubrsx also tried to fit those on thier cars and they had to enlarge hole to 16mm from 14mm.
No big deal.

 
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I would like to have drilled the holes bigger myself, but we could not find a drill bit the right size at home depot. The closest we could find did 15.88mm. Regardless, that's something KYB really needs to address (and Tokico apparently).

 
Rep Power: 424

I know no one has tried it, but maybe someone should. The simplest solution to this problem would be to just make bushings for the knuckle and convert the 03-05s to 14mm crash bolts. Clearly they can handle the force or they wouldn't have put them in the 01-02s, so I don't see the problem. Make a steel bushing with a 1mm wall thickness and slip it in the knuckle. Put 14mm crash bolts in and call it a day. Why can't Tokico and KYB think of this?

 
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I didnt even know KYB had struts, how much are they?

 
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Yeah the KYB AGX's are about 400-450 online for a set. Prob the next best thing to Koni's. I am getting a set myself in a few weeks...