undyroos

here's my story bear with me...

i installed gc coilovers on my car last summer, rode ok for about 9 months and then my passenger rear shock blew and the ride went to sh!t. clunks over the tiniest bumps and bottoming out left and right. i knew stock shocks would blow again so aftermarket was where i looked. since i already had gc, koni was my first thought. i had read so many things about gc+koni=great.

i read and reread the posts on this forum and the other tl board and found TL12's post that he got koni yellows for the 97 accord to fit his 3.2tl but he said he had to do some modifications to get them to fit. he said they were shorter than our stock shocks so he had have another groove machined into the body so the circlip could be moved up. then i pm'd another member on this board who said he had koni yellows for the 97 accord as well. he also said it was too low for his tastes and reused the stock spring to get the height he wanted. did some more research and found out that 3.2TLs share the same exact rear suspension as 97 accords. i looked at schematics of the front suspension of all other hondas and acuras that overlapped the UA3 production period. i think the legend came the closest but koni only makes reds for the legend. personally, i like a low ride and since i knew i was going to ride on coilovers, i figured i could bring it up more if need.

i searched the honda-tech forum looking for deals on koni yellows and pm'd nolimitmotorsports.com about their special and got a set for $470 shipped. i think i did pretty well.

at first i was going to reuse gc kit i already had and just buy adapters for the konis but ppl at honda-tech said koni specific gc baby sleeves were the way to go and when i called GC they said they recommend the baby sleeves as well. so i got 4 threaded sleeves for the 97 accord and i also need new perches to fit on the sleeves and i also ordered 4 bumpstops from them. i was orginally going to go with energy suspension polyurethane bumpstops. GC said they would save the shocks but they would be too hard for anything else. total cost ~$175 shipped.

i installed them this last sat. started with the rears and they went in no problem at all. went to go do the fronts and i couldn't get the 12mm metal sleeve into the strut upper mount bushing because it is all one piece. after going to the honda dealership to see if a 97 accord strut upper mount would fit (it doesn't) i had the stock ones bored out to 12mm on a drill press for $20. then i put the fronts in and called it a day. with the perches all the way up, the front was a bit low even for my tastes, the front tires were tucking, but i took it for a spin anyway. out of the driveway and i hear rub. took a right turn very slow and i hear rub so i park the car and call it a day. on sunday i take the entire suspension apart AGAIN and swap the thread sleeves. i had the longer sleeves on the rear of the car because thats how it was for my tl but the shorter sleeves were too short for the front so i decided to swap them for the ones in the rear. to compensate the for the shorter sleeve in the rear, i move the c-clip on the konis up to the top groove which gave me about another inch, the fronts only have a lower groove otherwise i would have just raised the fronts. with the rears all the way up, the tops of the tires sit flush with the bottom of the wheelwell with a full tank of gas. the fronts right now have about 1/2 finger gap with room to go down or UP this time. so FYI, if you want to do this ask GC for FOUR of the LONGER threaded sleeves for the 97 accord. i'm going to order longer springs with a higher spring rate for the rear so i can raise the ride height. right now, when you jack the rear of the car, the rear springs also fall out so hopefully the longer springs will keep the springs seated.

ok so enough talking, how does it ride? in a word, awesome. i remeber i replied a while back to someone asking how the gc coilovers rode and i said it was harsh but that was with stock shocks on the verge of blowing. the ride is so nice now with the konis. i rode without the backseat for 2 weeks before putting in the konis and i could hear every little groan the stock shocks made over bumps. one shock was dead and clunking and the other was making psssshhhhh sounds over speedbumps and such. the konis are dead silent and so much better. even though i have them at full soft, the ride is firmer now but thats with me coming from crapped out stock shocks. i havent driven it hard yet but thats bc i still need to get an alignment.

so where are the pics you ask? before someone puts up "this thread is worthless w/o pics" go here for a teaser https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123907
i'm working in lab right now so i'll have pics posted when i get home.

Lof8

sounds nice. glad someone finally figured out a good suspension option for the 3.2's. I'm looking forward to seeing the pics.

undyroos

pics
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...06#post1452806

98_2.5_TL

Those Prelude rims look SO sharp on your car.


at least they look like they are exactly off the 02 prelude (or whatever). my assumption.

KelloggTL

So, I can assume that Koni Yellow struts for 1997 accords? will fit our cars, fine on the back, and with a re-thread on the front?

Can you verify this?

Will Koni Yellows for the 97 accord with, with just some lowering springs for our 3.2s?

undyroos

konis for the 97 accord will fit our car but I would only use them with koni specific gc sleeves and 2.5" I.D. springs.

the spring perches that come with the konis are too small to fit our stock springs so they would also be too small to fit any lowering springs made for 3.2s. i think i read somewhere that you can hammer off your old spring perches and reuse them but i didnt go that route so dont quote me.

the reason i went with coilovers on the konis is because they are height adjustable so they will help compensate for the shorter shock in the front, plus i like a lower ride. if you want to use konis with lowering springs (i.e. prokit or whatever) then you have to deal with the koni perches being to small, it may be too much of a drop for your tastes, etc. someone on here with konis for a 3.2 said they got too much drop with lowering springs and had to use stock springs to get it back up.

just save yourself a bunch of headache and go koni+GC. you wont be disappointed.

binky

I searched too and yes the '97 Honda Accord 4DR LX ABS/ V-6 4AT KA rear shocks are an exact match for our cars.....and the 1995 Legend fronts are the same for our cars!

binky

Better pix