Just installed my STi coilovers
 

Well, as some of you may know I ordered the Ceika coilovers. All was going well, but there were some delays due to the people that made the top mounts and it was taking longer than expected. I'm moving in a month so waiting wasn't an option. I went and bought a set of 05-07 STi coilovers from Raceland. Go ahead and judge me. Install took me about 10 hours. The hardest part was getting the strut knuckle bolts off. I had to use a 4 foot breaker bar several times. Anyway, I'm pretty much a beginner at all of this stuff, and if I could do it, surely you can. The fronts were not bad to get on, just time consuming.

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Do you guys like my redneck garage?

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Take your STi top plates, and measure where you need to drill. The holes were pretty tiny, and it didn't seem to mess with the structural integrity at all. After all, all the force goes against the top plate, not those little bolts. The bottom knuckles were the exact same width, but the holes were spaced out a little farther. I extended the bottom holes up about a quarter of an inch, and it all slipped on after that. I still haven't connected my sway bar up front, but I plan on doing that this week. It still drives great, though.

The rears didn't take as long but were tedious, and might stray some people away. The knuckles are too skinny, and they must either be bent out or shaved, or shave your SVX (which I won't do). I couldn't find a torch so I just put the damn thing in the flame of the stove until it got pretty hot. I have this old tire changing machine with a leverage bar, and I used that to bent them out to the perfect amount. It took quite a bit of bending/testing/bending, but it worked. I had to wiggle and hammer them on, but they're on and they can come off easily with a hammer. The holes were in the exact same spot, so that made things nice. For the top plates, I had fixed ones, but you'd probably need to drill 3 new holes if you want your camber plates to go straight out, because it sits at a slight angle. For fixed plates, you just need to drill one hole. I was off a little bit so I had to make the other holes slightly bigger, but it worked.

That's LITERALLY it. Even the brackets on the front ones are good to use for the brake/abs lines. It takes a bit of redneck engineering and some elbow grease, but it works. If I can do this, you definitely can. Considering there are 2 companies we know of that make an SVX suspension and probably dozens that make STi ones (and will continue to), I think this may become our best option. The coilovers I bought came with 8k/5k (450 ft-lb/281ft-lb) which made me nervous at first because I HATE bouncy rides, but it's smooth as can be. No body roll too, even without the sway bar up front. I'm completely satisfied. Oh, did I mention it's low? :cool:

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^ I literally couldn't even pull out of my stupid driveway at this height. When I finally did, it rubbed the crap out of my fenders whenever I turned, so I raised it up a bit.

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^ This is the ride height that is perfect. No rubbing at all, even when going fast on bumpy back roads. I would like to have it a little lower, and if I roll my fenders I could go much lower. it still had plenty of clearance on the inside, just not the edge. I may try it with some camber as well. I still have almost 3 inches left to go on the coilovers, and that doesn't include taking the locking nuts off.

I must say I'm pretty impressed with myself, considering 2 days ago I looked up "how to adjust coilovers" on youtube.

Seriously guys, just do it. It's such a good option.

Re: Just installed my STi coilovers
 

Nice work! The car looks great, and it doesn't sound like too bad of a job.

...And every time I see a set of those STi wheels, I want a set (in silver) more and more.

Re: Just installed my STi coilovers
 

Good job, but them not having the sway bar attachment point is the biggest reason people haven't been doing this, so I'm interested in what you end up doing to hook up the sway bar....

Re: Just installed my STi coilovers
 

Grate work and the car looks grate too. :cool:

Re: Just installed my STi coilovers
 

Huck, I honestly wouldn't have even known if someone had done this for me and handed the car to me. The front suspension is tight enough to make it not 100% necessary. I feel like I can feel the absence of it, but that might just be me being paranoid. I think I'm going to weld a small bracket onto the control arm and do it that way. I could weld it to the strut, but it would have to be lower and it will be dangerously close to the brake lines. They have adjustable endlinks for civics and such that would fit and I plan on getting those this week :)

Re: Just installed my STi coilovers
 

Could you find something like this?

Re: Just installed my STi coilovers
 

Yes, but you would have to buy shorter endlinks in order to do so. That would work just fine, though.

Re: Just installed my STi coilovers
 

Looks great, and congrats, one other option for you could have been getting the top plate made at a machine shop.

Cost was about $150 for the both of them at a shop in PA I think, I dont recall what the cost was for mine also for the sway bar mount this is what came with my set.

Re: Just installed my STi coilovers
 

Can I be the one to make fun of you for buying the cheapest coilover possible?



inb4coilsblown.

Re: Just installed my STi coilovers
 

*most affordable

Re: Just installed my STi coilovers
 

What is the Warranty on these?
(to asnwer my own question: 2 year warranty):D

Re: Just installed my STi coilovers
 

So maybe they are the most affordable, which appeals to me as well! I do have one question though - is there more height adjustment to raise the car? I'm thinking about doing the same swap at some point, but I really need coilovers that will raise the car to at least stock height, preferable higher (for the winter time).
Thanks!

Re: Just installed my STi coilovers
 

Yes! I had about 2 inches to go down, and probably 3 or 4 to go back up. You could definitely run at stock height. I wouldn't get them if you plan on going higher, though. You may run into camber issues if it's going to be high too, since the only reason mine is in check is because it's been lowered.

Re: Just installed my STi coilovers
 

Okay, thanks for the info. I know the rear camber is adjustable, but I can't remember if the front is or not.

Re: Just installed my STi coilovers
 

The rear camber is NOT. The front is. You'll have to either buy camber bolts or a camber plate from another suspension (BC sells them for $150) in order to raise it much higher than I am now, otherwise you'll have positive camber.