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Hey all, new to the forum, but It looks like a great place to get information.
I did a mild search but I cant seem to find anything completely related to my situation. If anyone can find a thread related, please post the link and close this thread.

I have a 2001 Honda Civic Ex Coupe. Stick Shift, 5-Speed.
The car is lowered, probably two to three inches. However, I have NO aftermarket struts and NO camber kit.

The camber on the car is getting to be -3.15 and -3.57. The appropriate camber seems to be -1.00, so I am not sure how bad my camber is.

I need to get this situation fixed quickly and ALL help is appreciated, thanks ahead of time.

I need:
1) A Camber Kit
2) New Aftermarket Struts
3) New Springs to go with the Struts

If there is anything I am missing, please inform me. Any site, reference to someone, or such is appreciated highly. I am trying to help get my car into a nice alignment.

Thank you again. I look forward to all the posts.

-Matt

 
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1. SPC or ingalls camber kits
2. tokico HP blue struts for upto a 1.5-1.7 inch drop
3. eibach prokit spring (1 inch drop), eibach sportline (1.7 inch drop)

dezod.com has some great stuff, also check ebay sometimes you get lucky. after you install all that, you should be able to get a proper alignment. i would not recommend going lower than a 2 inch drop for performance.

 
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Thank you for the suggestions! I'm guessing that "Super Moderator" means you might be some sort of admin or just an EXTREME Honda buff. Either way, I appreciate the help and will look into your choices.

My only true questions is what is meant by "1.7 Inch Drop" and such? By that it means how far the car is/was lowered? Help is greatly appreciated.

Another quick question is whether only certain Struts work with certain Springs, or are they universal?

Thanks again for the post. All other posts are welcome as to add to my research of parts to buy. Look forward to new posts.

-Matt

 
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yes the drop refers to how much lower the car is compared to stock. people also refer to "finger gap" when measuring lowered cars, which is the amount of your fingers you can stack between the tire and fender. for example, i have prokit spring which lowers the ride 1 inch from stock, and i have about 2 finger gap of space between wheel and fender. im also using tokico hp shocks. the shock must be able to handle the amount of lowering of the spring. using oem honda shock with lowering spring will not work because over time the shock will sag and blow from the extra stress.

heres what my setup looks like

 
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First of all, thanks for all the help gearbox!

Alright, I went out to my tires to check the "drop" for my finger length inbetween the tires. On the front tires I have about a 2 finger, almost 3 three finger gap. So I'm guessing about 1.7 Inch Drop on the front tires.

However, the back tires Re substantially lower. Only about a 1 finger gap, barely. Another note, I took it into a shop and they were talking about lifting the "lip" on the inside of the wheel drum, which would give the gap about another finger length gap, probably roughly around a 1.7 Inch Drop.

As such, would I be looking for a 1.7 Inch Compatible Strut and Spring for each tire?

Thanks again for your help. I appreciate your help gearbox, as well as any other comments others have to make. Please post and I greatly accept your help.

-Matt

 
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your rear is lower because the stock shocks are sagging. they cant properly support the weight anymore. what happens is the rear goes lower and front goes higher. when i had my lowering springs with stock shocks, the rear had no gap and the front had 3 fingers. after installing the aftermarket shocks, both front and back are 2 fingers with the same lowering springs.

 
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Once again, thank you for all your help!
I am going to look into all the equipment shortly and hopefully get it taken care of soon.

Quick question: I found Ingalls Camber Kit for around $130. Is that a good price?

Also, for buying all the struts and springs, do I get the same kind for all 4 tires? What is a decent price to pay for 4 struts and 4 springs? I have heard of getting springs for $50-60. Good price on struts?

Thank you for the help and support, and I look forward to seeing any and all new replies.

-Matt

 
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camber kit is a good price. set of 4 springs (the front two and rear two are different sizes) usually goes for around 200 new or 100 used. the struts are for the front, and shocks for the rear. usually they come as a set and ive seen they as cheap as 350 on ebay new. i got my springs used for 100 (used is as good as new, they last the life of the car), shocks for around 280 used (for 3 months), and new spc camber kit around 125. install cost should run few hundred $$ plus alignment.

 
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Gearbox, you are simply amazing with all the help and support you have shown. Thank you for it all!

Alright, so there are different types of spring sizes? Front size and back size I presume? Is the size based on the "Inch Drop"? If so, how do I know for sure how much my car is lowered or what springs are right for the car? Because the finger gap trick seems like a guess-timate.

Also, struts are for the front tires and shocks are for the back? Do "sets" come with 2 struts and 2 shocks?

Thanks again for all your help!

-Matt

 
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Sorry For Double Post, but Had to Get This Info Out.

Camber Kit:
I found a camber kit, but it says "Rubber" and I believe I have seen a different type out there. Any difference? Site Below.

http://www.clubrsx.com/cr/ING-38970PR.html


Shocks/Struts:
I'm still a little bit confused about how these work, but I found the Prelude Tokico struts/springs. Site below. Lemme know what you think about quality and price.

This site has a set of 4 I believe.
http://www.racinglab.com/hon92prelex9.html

Another site for comparison buying. At bottom of site they are listed as cheaper, but do you get all 4?
http://www.stillen.com/product.asp?i...DA&model=CIVIC


Springs:
I decided to go with the Sportline springs because they seem to me, high performance. So I just want the best bet without having to worry. Site below. Pricing and quality good?

http://www.stillen.com/product.asp?i...DA&model=CIVIC


Basically, I'm looking at around $800 bucks for everything. Then I will have to pay installation, which is around $200-$400. So grand total of roughly $1200, for everything.

The shop I went to wanted to sell me parts and labor for $1800. So to me I saved $600 bucks. What do you think about all this? seems expensive for a car that is 8 years old with 116000 miles. I don't know, but I need it fixed.

Thank you so much for everything gearbox. You are a greater help than I think you realize. So thank you and I appreciate all your help.

NOTE: Do I need a front camber kit? I only got the rear adjustable kit. Is a front camber kit necessary? The tires dont camber hardly at all, and the only reason they do camber is because the back ones are so messed up.

Thanks again for everything!

-Matt

 
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spring "size" is just how low it drops the ride height. also the front and rear will look different, and they should come as a set of 4. sportlines are good. struts are for the front and shocks for the rear, and yes they come as a set of 4. camber kits come with rubber or polyurethane bushings, i dont think they will really wear out but if you want the longer lasting ones go with poly. you need to find 01-02 civic tokico shocks, i doubt preludes will fit. front camber kit may be needed, it depends. usually the rear is most important. its overall a good investment, you should get at least 5 yrs out of the shocks, and lifetime from springs. and a better looking car with proper alignment.

 
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Okay. I found the Eibach Springs for $225, whichis a little cheaper.

I didn't realize the struts were for a Prelude, I missed it.

I'm looking at these Tokico Struts:
http://www.gripmotorsports.com/pi~pn...rear-7611.html

However, how do i buy struts? That site above says "Tokico Rear Strut". So does that mean only 1 strut? But a rear strut is really a shock?

And for the front struts,... I AM JUST LOST!
It says, "Front Left Strut" and "Front Right Strut". So I have to buy both? The picture shows 2 struts and 2 shocks, but it only comes with 1 strut/shock?



Gearbox, if you could, maybe you could help quickly.

This is the site:
http://www.gripmotorsports.com/dl~pn...ocks_Blue.html

If you could just browse this listing of struts, and just pick out the front and rear struts. I need all 4 struts/shocks, 2 in the front and 2 in the rear (one for each tire). Please, your help would be greatly appreciated.

NOTE: I have a 2 Door, 2001 Honda Civic EX, Manual, 5-Speed.

Thank you gearbox, and I appreciate everything you have offered and helped me with.

 
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Some sites does sell only one corner in case you need only to replace a damaged one (hitting curbs could happen).
If the site sells only one corner you need to buy each of them. If they say set, usually it means four corners. If they say front or rear set, it means 2 corners. You need all four.
Fronts are a mirror image, left/right. you need to buy them separately if they are not a set.
Also, front shocks are inside a structure of metal (which is integral part of the suspension), so they are called struts. Rear shocks are not encased and attach to the suspension structure, they are not an integral part of suspension, but some sites do call them struts because they don't know better.
Front suspension needs to be different than the rears (different weight, different requirements - for example, fronts need to steer, most of the weight is in the front with engine, receive most of the impacts straight, etc, etc, so they are different than the rears).
See, your own body have different appendages front and rear, yes? But mostly same from right/left except that they are mirror images of one side to the other. same to cars... difference is to the steering wheel in one side or other, like the heart adn liver!
Bottom line is, don't get confused by "some" of the names, the rears are shock, not struts. Somebody calls them struts, just ignore and read them shocks. Somebody calls fronts as shocks, read them as struts.
If you get an earlier Civic with front double wishbone, you need to call the fronts shocks, but rears were never struts. Just names stuff, don't get confused for that small stuff.
That's all.

 
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concerning your other question on getting front camber kit, they are pretty inexpensive. If you want to get better cornering, our Civics need more camber in front than rears. However, when you lower, the rears will present a huge change in camber due to its design, while the fronts will change almost nothing (huuuuge understeer).
Correcting the rears from -1.6 to -0.8 deg (Skunk2 rear) did change the behavior a lot, but still needed the front camber kit (eibach bolts) at -1 deg - still thinki9ng on getting the rears to -0.5 and get the rear to come around the corners.
If you don't race, just forget fronts, you need only the rears to bring back to 0 deg and you should be fine.
If you race, well, you need front/rear or your tire die for early outside shoulder wear. Mine are at 7mm inside and 1mm outside grooves for sheeer lack of negative camber.
Check front right camber here

 
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Hey! Thanks for all the help! Haha great analogy and I think I actually understand what you said. Only thing is, what is a good price? Any good sites you can refer?

Thanks man!

-Matt

 
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387 shipped is cheapest ive seen for the set of 4.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TOKIC...Q5fAccessories

 
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You can buy my springs and camber kit.