Ekhriz

So I was putting the dust/bumper cover on these front struts and after aligning the two arrows I can't see to fit the strut back in there properly. You can see what I mean in the pictures. Also the top hat has a letter L does that mean that belongs to drivers side? And another question is the spring mounted properly or upside down since the letters of stagg are upside? Mainly I want to know why it doesn't fit back into the assembly maybe I lift the arm too much w the jack and now I have to put pressure back to bring it down?

GusBuz

Yes the letter means what side the strut is for.

Usually the spring has a coat of rubber on one end this end goes on the bottom of the strut assembly. (at least this is how mine have come from the box)

Lastly is your car lifted the whole front or just one side?

Ekhriz

Uhmm i didn't see that coating and yes I only lifted on one side only, so that might be the issue?

GusBuz

It could be, because the anti-roll bar is putting pressure on the side you are working on.
Try and jack the whole front so the pressure of the bar is gone and the control arm should be able to move easily

Ekhriz

yea lifting the whole front of the car on jacks was the solution to that pressure built from before. Now another question. Does the perch hole on the bottom of the strut has to line up with the two arrows as well? Also Im assuming the spring coil seats with the less spaced coils on the top while the rear ones are the opposite from what i'd been reading. Correct me if I'm wrong.
look at this post for reference

GusBuz

Yes the hole on the lower perch and two arrows line up, it also lines up with where the strut gets bolted to the knuckle.
From the picture it seems like the springs are oriented the way you said. Im sure they will only seat perfectly one way or else everything wont align.

Ekhriz

Uhmm I lined them up like that and now it makes a noise I think the arrow on the outer top hat is supposed to point to the engine. Gonna switch them out tom and see what happens. Plus it doesn't feel flush when being pushed on the body of the car.

Also is this spring put correctly or should the more spaced coils be at the other en. (this is the rear one)

GusBuz

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...tallation.html
This thread has two videos that show the installation of springs and shocks/struts.

Also if you go back to the thread that you linked about the alignment of the top hats they talk about using the paint marks instead of the arrows. Paint marks align with the perch hole and the arrow just points outward. You can give that a try and see if your noise goes away.

GusBuz

Here's a pic of the service manual explaining how to align the strut with the spring.

You can see that the arrow is facing out and it says that there should be a dot or hole facing towards the inside

GusBuz

Here is some pics with the rear spring/shock installation

Ekhriz

Oh man so yesterday I aligned the arrows and there a noise and today I pointed it one of the arrows to the outside in a diagonal way trying to follow the slant of the car and nothing, even more noise when turning the car on a test drive. The holes yea that's fine because the 3 bolts only fit into the car one way. The top hat has an arrow as well and the golden question would be what does that match to?

Ekhriz

I guess to put it in lamens terms, what number will align with what number? Im thinking aligning the bottom perch hole (5) with the notch mark (6) that way the arrow (2) will point out. Another option will be to align the paint mark (3) with the perch hole (5) making the arrow (2) point in towards the engine.

I guess it's obvious to state that 4 and 1 cannot be moved since that's the way the bolts/flange goes into the car. Also the notch/mark (6) is exactly 180 degree away from arrow (2).

My best solution so far to try tomorrow will be to align 5 with 6 that will make 2 point out and 3 align with 4. Every number seems to be in use so this solution gives me a good indicative of being correct.

GusBuz

I just remembered that you said the springs did not come with a lower seat cushion/rubber. That might be the source of your noise since the spring and seat are rubbing without something to dampen the sound. You can try to grease up the lower seat and see if the noise goes away.

It it is still present then you might need new top mount bearings.

I recall from my installation of springs on my car that the new lowering springs came with the bottom part covered in rubber. I also made sure to mark the top hats to a good reference point on the strut so they would go back in the same way. On the first install they have been good and have made no noise at all. Even though I dropped one of the top hats and the little bearings went flying out into the dirt!

Ekhriz

I didn't have the noise before. All I did was add number 8 from this diagram. Also this diagram doesn't show a rubber seat for the bottom.
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/.../S5A3B2800.gif