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I just bought my son a Civic SI hatchback with 130K on it. I took it for a test drive when I bought and it rode and felt great. Very tight. It was a long straight away with no bumps at all. The car has been lowered I think as low as it could be. There is absolutley no gap at all between the tire and frame where it almost looks like its sitting on top of the tire. when we took it home, we went on a lot of different roads and we started noticing that it was like bottoming out on an any small bumps and going over speed bumps, the exhaust would scrape at times. We also started noticing a " squeaky" noise when driving like its come from the the way the car sits. I'm now wondering if maybe the car was lowered to much and causing all of the above problems or if it may have bad struts and/or mounts. I was thinking of looking into setting it set back to stock normal and not have it lowered so it would ride better.

Any suggestions on how to know if a car has been lowered too much or certain parts might need to be replaced so it does not bottom out on every small dip or bump would be greatly appreciated. I attached a pic as well.

 
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What size tires are you running?

The only way for us to know what kinda suspension you are runnining is to take off ur wheel and take some pics of the suspension strut and spring.*

Let's start there


And ur suspension squeaks because u need to lube ur bushings. That's just caused with age or ur bushings have been replaced by better and stiffer bushings (like polyurethane)

 
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what tires?
have seem lower ground clearance than that without issues

 
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Worn out strut can cause it to bottom out on bumps, they are not made to hold
the car up, but do keep it from bottoming out. And if its just lowering springs
On it the lowest they go is 2 inch. I have a 03 si lowered an inch and a half on
Tein s tech springs, and i run 18 wheels with a 245 series tire with no rubbing
issue. So more than like the struts need replaced and if they beet the suspension
up you might want to replace the springs as well.

 
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Thanks for everyones useful info. I actually just had the car checked out and it turned out the previous owner installed cheap after market lowering springs on the front while still using worn our factory struts. It was hit metal constantly. The rear had cheap aftermarket coilovers on the back?? That is what is making the car feel like its hitting metal going over any small bump and also making the squeaking sound as well. So now, I need to decide if I should just go back to Honda stock struts and springs or buy decent coilovers so In case my son wants to lower it at a later time. From what I was told, either decision would make the car handle and feel so much better. Any suggestions?

 
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first thing is first, how much money are u willing to spend on suspension.

usually if u want a decently good setup, you will be spending a min of 700 for springs and struts.


i dont really suggest going back to honda to get stock parts because they will be just as expensive as getting aftermarket and aftermarket is much better.

 
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Hi Sir, I also want to replace the struts from my 2001 LX. I wonder which brand do you recommend. I do not want to lower the car, I just want a comfortable ride. Should I replace also the springs or just the struts?

 
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first, you should search. this topic has been discuss before and the very same topic you are asking is actually being discuss right now.

like this one https://www.civicforums.com/forums/4...de-normal.html

second, you should not high jack a thread. its not being courteous. instead you should make ur own thread. but resort to this only AFTER searching.

third, if you would like a more comfortable ride and a much better performance than i would highly recommend tokico blues struts. they are a perfect OEM replacement. the ride quality would stand the same but the handling would be much more precise.

and there is no real need to get new springs if u dont plan on dropping it. use stock springs is perfectly fine.

 
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I have any '02 Si, for now, and frequent a site called "EpHatch.com" Go check it out, TONS of good people and info on there. One thing I have learned on there is that there are a few different companies that make good springs, and even fewer that make ones that actually make the car handle better. Like most FWD cars, the Ep3's tend to understeer quite a bit. So, to fix that, you want a spring that is stiffer in the back than in the front. As far as SPRINGS go, the 2 that I saw that were used the most were Tein S Techs and Progress. I would say a majority use the Tein S Techs. They are about $200 ish dollars. (And would only be about a 1.3" drop, versus the likely 2" the car has now.) They like to bad mouth Tokico Blues over there, but they are still a great strut option. They LOVE the Koni Yellows, but they require modification to fit.
So, you have to decide if you want to go the "cheaper" way and get springs and struts, or spend a little more money, and have the easiest install and have adjustability. You will have LOTS of different opinions for coilovers. If cost is your main concern, get what you can afford. If you dont care for performance, and only want a mild drop, a company called Raceland makes a coilover for the Ep3's that a lot of guys use. If you are interested in performance, I suggest getting something that has adjustable dampening as well. A popular brand for that is BC. Not Buddy Club, which is still a great brand.
If I were to make a suggestion, I would say install the Tein S Tech springs with Tokico Blues, and get a better wheel and tire under his car. MAINLY a better tire! I could be mistaken, but are those 18's on the car? If so, there's nothing wrong with 18's, but 17's, or even 16's, will perform better. Less weight means better performance.
And hell, while we're at it, another cheap and easy performance gain would be to find a rear sway bar from a 2005-2006 Acura RSX Type S. It's a few mm's thicker and will help the car turn a little better.
Last note....you're a great dad doing that for your kid. Most dad's that can actually afford to do this wont because they think it's stupid. I think the "stancing" craze is rediculous, but if my kid wanted it, I would help him out if I had the money.
Just my $.02