I've finally come into enough money to do something about the suspension on my ek hatch. Unfortunately whereas when I kindof know when im being screwed by garages about engine stuff, I know nothing about suspension - (that is, what parts there are to it, what they do, where they go etc... Any diagrams anyone?). My local enthusiast shop recommends that if im driving only on roads (and i am, and pretty bumpy uk roads at that) they wouldnt recommend coilovers. They guy suggested a set of eibach springs would be the thing?! Anyways, I would be tempted to try the work myself, ive got a couple of ramps i used when i tried to sort out an exhaust years ago. What parts do you need when changing a cars suspension? Im assuming its not a case of unbolting the old springs and shoving on the new ones (or is it?!). Anyway, im rambing on here. What springs would you recommend, and what sort of drop would u suggest on 15" rims. I'm not looking for a groundscraping stance, 'i've got to drive it every day, but an inch or 2 would be nice, what do u think?
Anyways, awesome stuff guys, great forum this!!

 

1.5 inch is a good drop for bad roads. eibach or tein springs are good and ride smooth. if you have any mechanical abilities you can do it yourself. you will need a spring compressor to remove them safeley

 

Changing struts is pretty straight forward. The only real hard part is installing the new springs onto the strut. There are 3 bolts on the strut tower that you have to remove. Then there are 1 or 2 struts on the control arm. After you have removed these 4 or 5 bolts, the strut will come out. You might not have enough room to get it out, so removing the sway bar will give you some extra room to take the strut out. Once the strut is out, you have to compress the strut (with a strut compressor). There is a DIY on this somewhere. The only thing to remember is that these springs have a tremendous amount of force, if you are not careful the force will be unloaded onto you. I'm not trying to scare you, its actually quite easy but you have to take care in doing it. When i did this job the first time, the only problem i had was getting the strut back in (but that was b/c i was too lazy to take out the sway bar).

 

Agent my friend, im sure that is awesome advice, but to be perfectly honest, i dont have a clue what a strut or a control arm or a sway bar is, or what they do and what they look like! Any help on that front would hit the spot!

 

the strut is the tube inside the spring. It keeps the car from bouncing repeatedly from one bump

The control arms do just that. They hold everything in place and keep the wheel pointing the direction it's supposed to go.

The sway bar connects one side of the car's suspension to the other, it keeps the car from tilting a lot during cornering

Hope that helps [8D]
You should pick up the factory service manual for your model of car, it's great just for the exploded diagrams.

 

dont worry my friend, we were all there once..first..this site it great for learing ALOT ALOT about every aspect of a car and how it works, i used to spend hours reading this site learning, heres the page on springs http://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-suspension.htm , from that page you can navigate to a bunch of different other things about anything car

second..

A set of Tein S-Tech will run you about $160 or cheaper and it’s like a 1.8 drop but they work with your stock shocks. Here are 5 links from people that have already installed them on here, myself, mynmisoli, 97_nw, x2100 and 05 civic with pics

https://www.hondacivicforum.com/m_123028/tm.htm

https://www.hondacivicforum.com/m_69.../tm.htm#107781

https://www.hondacivicforum.com/m_150637/tm.htm

https://www.hondacivicforum.com/m_153260/tm.htm

https://www.hondacivicforum.com/m_200426/tm.htm

 

awesome guys, thanks for the help!