hues10

I need to replace my front strut boots since they are dry rotted and cracking, figure I might put on a set of the Eibach springs and become a low rider. I know Mr. Gold recommended them with only the OEM struts though. What about the Progress Sway Bar for a FWD vehicle. Seems when it came out, it was oriented toward the AWD vehicles. Has anyone with a FWD installed the sway bar and what was the difference. I think the car handles well now, so may just go with the springs, but always glad to hear from others. Thanks.

Tomtwtwtw

The sway bar would benefit both FWD and AWD - its main purpose is to keep both back wheels planted while cornering by limiting body roll. It basically resist the lateral load transfer, kind of pushing back on the inside wheel during a turn. It's a little more complicated than that, but it's the basic idea.

hues10

Thanks Tomtw. I think I might just get both products if I can get them at a reasonable deal. I think my new hobby is doing stuff to my car and probably wasting money doing so, but hey, it is fun when the project is completed. This is a 2011 with 48k miles on it, so I figure I am going to have it a while longer so what the hey.

TheWrench116

iTrader: (1)

i love this rsb. and when i lowered it OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hues10

So I installed the front springs today, and not really any install problems, but more questions for the masses here. I remember seeing a thread here where someone posted that the Eibach had the spring part #'s reverses. As the unique part # indicating the left spring was really for the right strut and as visa versa. In comparing the Eibach springs with the OEM ones, I would say that is true. The right Eibach spring had the same coil orientation of a counter clockwise wind as the OEM left spring. So I put them on that reverse way as they just seemed to orient and fit correctly in the bottom of the strut. So my question is, am I correct? Did Eibach have faulty instructions? What should I be concerned with if I am wrong? One thing I noticed was that the new coils seem to be compresses against each other near the top. About three turns of the coil are touching one another. Is that normal? Thanks everyone. I plan on calling Eibach on Monday. They were closed today..

TheWrench116

iTrader: (1)

Does it work? If it it works rock it.

hues10

Tested the car out on the Easter drive to parents. 110 mile round trip. Happy to report no sounds or clunking at all. Looks kind of nice with just the fronts on. Rears to be installed with Progress sway bar next weekend. So I will comment on the drivability differences then. Oh yeah, need slight alignment.

hues10

Just to close this out regarding the directions for the left/right front springs in this mod, I spoke with a Dave at the Eibach technical support, and after he found the spring in an old catalog (no longer being made), he did indicate that some Honda vehicles have a different spring orientation for the left and right struts, and that following the OEM spring orientation was correct. In other words, the directions that came with these springs are incorrect. Also, it is ok that the top couple of coils are touching once the spring is fully supporting the car. Designed that way and have the plastic/rubber tubing on to prevent noise. So, I have the new rubber boots on over the strut (which was the main purpose), and the front Eibach springs are on. Rears and Progress sway bar to come next.

TheWrench116

iTrader: (1)

you might want a spacer made for the rear it seems like these vehicles squat to much. this does 2 things 1 camber goes out the window 2 looks kinda wired at least to me... 1/4 inch would probably do it.

hues10

Well I tried to put the rear springs on over the weekend. Figured it was an easy thing to do, since I thought it was take off the tire, unhook the little sway bar suspension link, remove one bolt from the shock, and the rear should lower and the spring should decompress and I can swap them out. However, the rear end did not come down enough. I even put a spring compressor on to see if that would help. Gave up as I was running out of daylight. Looked at Mr. Gold's service manual, and it seems I need to take out the shock bolt, and another bolt right next to it, and the suspension should lower enough. Anyone change their own rear springs and can concur that I don't need spring compressors or any other special tools to get these rear springs out? Thanks!

hues10

Installed the Progress Sway bar with not much of a hiccup. Except, the only way I could figure out to get the old one out and new one in was to both decouple the muffler from the long pipe connecting it (that was in the instructions) and then getting two rubber exhaust hangers clips unhooked as well so I could pull it out. Fortunately, I was smart and put WD-40 in the rubber, and bought one of those rubber exhaust mount tools from Amazon. Figured I was going to install ATLP exhaust one day just for the heck of it so I will get two uses out of it. Everything put back together, though a tight fit against the muffler heat shield took a little bit of uummph to shove it in there. I thought I would be getting rattles, or some other odd noise, but so far so good. Two projects left. Rear Eibach springs with attempt #2, and the dreaded intake manifold Hondata gasket. And to be honest, do I notice any differences. Nothing night and day, but I have some dirt under my finger nails to prove I am a Tim Taylor type of guy, and I know what is there.

thoiboi

https://community.cartalk.com/t/wd-40-and-rubber/82215

Tomtwtwtw

The RSB should have a great impact once you have the springs on. With the softer springs and a thicker bar you're actually more likely to lift your wheel (will probably just skid first unless you have super grippy tires). Good for pics, bad for traction. But with both you should definitely keep the ass end well planted during the most spirited driving.

DRR98

Agree with thioboi.^

No wd40 on rubber.

Dish soap and water make a good lubricant safe for use on rubber.

mrgold35

I felt the same thing when I upgraded to Progress RSB and Eibach springs, not much difference. I think it goes to show how well the sh-awd works in a tight corner. I think you will feel a difference if you take a corner with zero engine power and the RDX feels a little more controlled and stays more level (goes for Eibach springs also). You have to be on the power for sh-awd to work or you have a top heavy 2 ton CUV taking a corner (even more so in my taller/heavier MDX without power in a tight corner). Once you get both installed, the tight curve exit ramp max speed limit will now be the minimal speed limit for the RDX.

hues10

Agggh. So I have ruined my rubber mounts it seems with the WD-40. Oh well, maybe I will rub them down with Dish soap to clean them off. Damn YouTube and their hints. Mr. Gold, I went with the FWD version since I am in Florida and no snow here, so the impact of my mods will probably be even less. But that's ok, I am enjoying being able to do the work myself. I could be sitting around watching the boob tube when I don't have the kids, or I can be jacking up the car and taking things off to replace with a different version of something. It is quite therapeutic when complete and works.

CPen

Don't know if you got the rear springs out, but I recently had my springs replaced and could say that you will need to losen the two bolts on the rear control arm to get the springs out. And "no" you won't need a spring comppressor for this.

DRR98

hues10, I think the rubber will be ok after you clean the wd40 off real well. Maybe put dish soap and water in a spray bottle, use it with a brush and scrub it all off and then dry it with a rag.

hues10

Sprayed the rubber mounts with the dish soap mixture the other night. Figure what is the worst that can happen. In three years the rubber breaks down enough and the muffler hangs for a day or two until I get a replacement. Being formerly from up north, this was a common occurrence in the rust belt. It was a nice spectacle to see the sparks coming up from the muffler dragging on the street at night. Every three or four years, you needed a new muffler and tailpipes from the salt used on the road in the winters. Midas and Meineke shops all around. Do not see many muffler shops in Florida it seems nowadays. Thanks all.

hues10

So my latest update on trying to install the rear Eibach springs. I loosened the two bolts from the rear control arm, and it did lower another inch or so. However, the arm did not become unattached from the wheel hub assembly to lower even more. I tried to push down and pry up, but to no avail - the arm will not go low enough to fully decompress the spring in order to take out. No I didn't pound on it with a hammer and force it, since I didn't want to take something apart that I should not. So, my next option is to remove the entire lower arm by removing the one remaining pivot point bolt. I figured I would use the spring compressor tool before that just to make sure that the arm does not go flying down and take a part of my body off like a finger once it is loosened. I used Mr. Golds service manual, and found that this is all it takes to remove the lower arm - remove three bolts in total. Of course it says to remove the spring after taking the second bolt out. This is like being on a quest now. I will freaking take this entire car apart to get these springs out. I am getting real good at getting the car jacked up, tires removed, sway bar link nut off, then two bolts removed, all with my electric hammer drill. They come out pretty easy now that I have removed and installed them a couple of times. Stay tuned for the continuing saga.

rsxdude

Easiest way for me was this procedure.

1-remove the swaybar endlink
2- remove the toe adjustment bolt, shock bolt, and loosen the lower hub bolt.
3- let the whole cradle swing down and remove the spring
4-use a jack to raise the cradle after you orient the new spring in.
5-reverse of removal.

rsxdude

Also as a side note, your toe will be off by a lot. You should mark the tow washer so you can line it up when you reinstall the adjustment bolt.

hues10

Thanks RSX. If I may ask, what is the toe adjustment bolt you speak of? My car is FWD so possibly I do not have this since it is not AWD. When I loosened the lower hub bolt, the cradle lowered a little more, but did not detach from the hub. I was expecting it to, but even after trying to separate the hub and cradle, no luck. That is why I was thinking of removing the entire cradle, since I believe it is only three bolts. But if removing a toe bolt does the trick, I am all in. Thanks

rsxdude

The toe adjustment bolt is the bolt/nut farthest on the cradle arm. If you look from the rear, it will be a nut with a washer that has lines on it. it is used to adjust toe for the rear wheels. You should have no problem with clearance if you remove the toe bolt and the shock bolt. the cradle will swing lower and outward. ill look to see if i can find a picture for you.

rsxdude

Here is a link to a picture. You can see the toe adjustment nut/washer near the center of the vehicle.

https://www.google.com/search?q=2007+acura+rdx+rear+differential&client=m s-android-verizon&prmd=svin&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0a hUKEwily8y95tHTAhWJhlQKHQWMBK0Q_AUICygD&biw=360&bi h=560#imgrc=WJISDmh45QHG5M:

hues10

I did it gents! The springs are on after the third try at it. Ended up taking all three bolts out of the lower cradle arm and it basically is unattached from the frame. So the easy part was getting the springs out. The hard part was getting the new ones back in and bolts attached. Ended up loosening the tie rod bolt as well as I thought I was going to take it off as well. So I ended up putting the bolt on the rear wheel assembly first and then jacked up the toe area to put that bolt on. The left one went much smoother. Was not an exact fit though, as the instructions said to use the rubber bumper they provided. No chance as this was not even close to the OEM top rubber mount. So Eibach I give you a big "F" on instructions and supplied parts that are supposed to be made for the RDX. Alignment coming today as well. Glad this ordeal is over. Tired of taking the wheels off and on every weekend.