Ysidro

HI
I was looking around to find some new aftermarket shocks or struts as you call it.
And unfortunately, I can't seem to find any. Does that mean I have to buy it expensively from an Acura dealer only? Can I use struts/shocks from any the Honda models?

Also, I would like to lower my car using the Eibach prokit. What other parts will I need to do this beside the coil? Is it ok if I use the prokit coil with the factory struts/shocks or any brand name struts/shocks.
Im just checking cause I dont want to break the new structs/shock if I bought them. Also any know where to find structs/shocks for the 2.5TL?
Thanks in advance.

demons rage

iTrader: (1)

well if you do a search on "shocks", there have been multiple posts on how the shocks from a 90-97 honda accord can fit in the 2.5TL, except that you would automatically drop approx. 1" using these shocks. An example of it would be Koni Yellow Sports for the 90-97 accord... Part # 8041-1185S(Front) and 8041-1168S(Rear). Theres more info if you do a search on shocks but this should get you started

Also, when using the Eibach Prokit on your car, i believe you could use stock suspension(shocks) and use them... and you would get about a 1.2" drop... i think it was TLBaller thats dropped on prokits... dun remember... but yea... you would probably only need an alignment if you used the prokit only as a drop, but anything over 2" a camber kit would be recommended.

Ysidro

HI,
Yes, I was browsing and browsing . When I was about to give up, that was when I found the Tokico Illumina! This one has 5 adjustable level and I'm soooo pumped up right.
While browsing around I also learn another method to lower a car. And that is with the ground control coilcover. Excuse me everyone, I use to hate cars that are too low. Until I saw somebodys TL on Cardomain. Well anyway, from my understanding, with coilcovers, we can adjust the height anytime. But with the Prokit, it cant be adjusted.
My question is, why would anyone go with Prokits if theres coilcovers? I mean its adjustable. Isnt that better? Also, How is the ride quality with coilcovers? are there any difference? Thanks.

LDH

here are 2 types of coilovers a ground control sleeve type meaning you have the sleeve and spring. Then there are true coilovers which consist of the sleeve being attached to a strut and with a spring over it. With true coilovers your struts should be adjusted to dampen the rates of the springs you have.

A coilover system is better then the spring because you can adjust the height, but a spring is better because you don't have to worry about one side being lower then the other or installing them wrong. The prokit is one of the nicest riding springs out there. Ground controls are the best coilover sleeve system out there, but with ground control you can choose your rates for your own ride comfort.

MILKILOS

what site did you find the adjustable ones at???

demons rage

iTrader: (1)

http://www.andysautosport.com/produc...20and%20Shocks
^Tokico Illuminas
Hope that helps

cambo

Don't forget that springs are usually WAY cheaper than a coilover system.

MILKILOS

Oh i had a question about the adjustable ones...

can you have the car lavitate and get back up... kinda like in the movie Training Day... or am I totally thinking of something else...

How much did you pay for the installation... or did you DIY... if so how long did it it take???

LDH

Does it bother anyone that it says the TL is a coupe?

Hawhyen51

Here's another site you can check out suspension items, TM Engineering or oVerboost. One more source of springs/coilovers is the Sponsered Sales and Group Buy forum. There's one Teins by Street Image and details can be found here.

demons rage

iTrader: (1)

i never noticed that until you now pointed it out...

racerock

I'll look for a thread on using the accord struts on the TL. Do you know if you use them and Eibach Prokit (which drops about 1") is the overall drop 1" or are the two drops are in separate areas of the overall strut assy, and you end up with a 2" drop?

demons rage

iTrader: (1)

the overall drop will be over 1" because since the accord is lighter than the TL, the weight will lower the car when changing the shocks... i think...

racerock

Putting shocks with different valving for different weighted cars will not effect ride height. There may be a difference initially on high gas charged ones, but it would settle.

The only thing in a strut assy that changes ride height are spring characteristics, and physical dimensions in a strut assembly (e.g. shorter length behond the bottom of the spring carrier).

demons rage

iTrader: (1)

^errr yea thats what i was meaning... i think...
if i remember correctly, the shocks for the accord are a tad bit shorter than our oem ones...
well ill find out really soon...

LDH

so when are you going to lower your car? and how much did you pay for the yellows? I've been debating about buying a set...

demons rage

iTrader: (1)

well i already bought the yellows off of ebay... paid 497(or something very close to that anyways) for all 4 including shipping... should be arriving tomorrow.
once i get my paycheck next week im going to buy the ground control's... so im HOPING to have my car lowered before the meet...
except the issue i ran into is that would the Ground Controls for the TL fit on the konis meant for an accord or should i stick with Ground Controls meant for the accord... so yea...

if you want the link ill give it to you for the shocks

Ysidro

HI folks,

At first I thought I was just going to go with the prokit springs.
BUt then I thought about the coilovers and its adjustment feature, and I decided to use that instead. It was the ground control coilover.
The installation was not hard at all. I was alittle intimidated at first.
The only thing thats hard are the lugnut bolts. Mine were very stubborn and even WD40 can't help. I had to use full muscle force to get it out and ofcourse, I was all sored the next morning.
For each of the front wheels I believe you have to remove 7 lug bolts/ nuts.
3 are the nuts at the top in the hood, 2 are the ones holding the brake line bolted on the strut, one at the top of the fork thats holding the strut, and finally one long one at the bottom of the fork.
For each of the rear wheels, you will need to remove 3 lugs/nuts.
2 at the top portion behind the rear seat. Ofcourse you will need to remove the back seat to gain access. Just becareful when you remove the back seat. There are 2 of these metal pieces and it will scratch your leather seat if not careful. It scratched mine, and I now Im mad for being so stupid and careless. Someday Im going to learn how to sow and sow my own new leather seats to replace my old ones. When I took my rear seat off, I noticed the leather part can be easily remove and replace. There are perforated leather out there that are sold by yards. I wish I know how to sow.
And finally the long lug at the bottom of the strut.
I can take pictures if anyone needs it. I just got a new camera yesterday.

After I had installed everything, I drove out to try out my new struts/coilover.
In my opinion it was the roughest ride Id ever experience ,even when I set my struts to the max confort mode! My stock struts are way smoother.
However, the performance was kick-ass sweet though! I mean before with my stock struts/springs, I cannot take corners easily at 40 MPH! My body just rolls the other way ,and felt like the car was going to roll over. Also the steering wheel feels more tighter like a sports car and somehow I feel the accelerating from 0-60 is a bit quicker. It makes the car look damn good also.
As expected coilovers are for racing. The springs are shorter thus makes the car lower and the sacrifice is the ride quality. Another thing, the coilovers I think should be an inch or two longer so it can be more versatile.
I mean I can put it real low but cant do the same if I want to go higher.

My setup was using ground control coilovers and Tokico Illumina adjustable struts.
The Tokico Illumina part numbers are
Fronts= BU3714
Rears= BU2896
They can be found on eBay.

Maybe the smoothness can be due to the make of the struts. Anyone tried one that is really smooth? I mean smoother than the stock ones? I'm willing to buy another set if I can get a smoother ride.
What aftermarket struts are you guys using?
Thanks for reading.

spooky3ce

"Levitate" you mean like move up and down with a push of a button...

The new thing is air bags or air cylinders... Although they are cleaner to maintain... they tend to be LOUD!!! (air cylinders are less noisy to no noise but are slooooow...)

The 1978 Monte Carlo in training day had a suspension set up called "Hydraulics"... nothing new... been done since the 60's and 70's... maybe even before that... I think it was the years right after the war here in the U.S. People came back with "Hydraulic" Know how and applied it to cars... Just a little history for you guys...

Anyways... here's a link to a pretty cheap set up i was kind of thinking of but most likely won't happen to the TL but will to my 83 Caddy... 2 pumps F+B+S+S... for a little under a "G"... CLICK HERE!!!

The thing you are thinking of are Adjustable coilovers... They make those for our TL's... i think there are a few members here that have them... one of them is ELA.TL... Clean ride IMHO...

demons rage

iTrader: (1)

i plan on putting on the konis before the meet but i dont know if im going to have enough money to have either ground controls or eibachs on also... so we shall see how it ends up...

plus on a side note... i might be ditching my first gen soon sooooo i dont wnat to drop that much money into it anymore

LDH

As far as installation goes the front does have 7 bolts, 3 on the very top, 2 brake line bolts, 1 pinch bolt, and 1 lower control arm bolt. The rears have 3 bolts the 2 upper bolts and the one lower control arm bolt.

Now, about the ride quality there are many factors in this. How low is your car? what kind of tires are you riding on? Are your tires full? Whats the setting on your struts( I noticed you had illuminas)? The most important question is what are your spring rates?

When lowering your car the ride quality is something you gotta suck up and live without. I've never seen a lowered car that rides nice. Struts are part of it, you could try koni yellows but you'd have to buy new ground controls.

spooky you love your low riders don't you?

demons rage

iTrader: (1)

could you take pics? hell you are making this sound VERy easy to do... i might as well do it this thursday when i have a day off of work...

LDH

Front
http://www.honda.co.uk/owner/AccordManual/400/12-24.pdf
so you get an idea of how it looks, it's pretty similar to the tl

Rear
http://www.honda.co.uk/owner/AccordManual/400/12-38.pdf
don't drop the rear upper ball joint, but I can't even remember if the tl has a rear knuckle like that.

Be glad the tl uses a double wishbone suspension and not the new macpherson setup. Don't forget to torque everything back to spec, if you don't have a torque wrench then just make them tight...

Ysidro

It looks easy doesn't it? Depending on our skill level, we may have diffrent opinions. I think the hardest part for me was unscrewing the stubborn bolts and at the same time trying to be careful to not damage the bolts. The bolts looked one of a kind and I think you can only get them from the dealer. Another thing when you put them back together, put some grease on the bolts and it's hole. In case you need to work on it again in the future, it'll be easier to unbolt.
When taking the strut housing off, since I wont be needing the struts anymore, I drilled a little hole at the bottom of the strut to release the gas(killed it).
This way the strut will compress into a shorter piece. Now just compress the spring coil with the spring compressor tool(I got at Autozone called the Macpherson compressor) until you can pull it out. And thats it.

I'll have the pictures posted here for everyone late on Wednesday.
Since I never posted pictures before, it'll take awhile to figure it out.

Ysidro

hi folks,
Heres the photos.
I managed to put them together at work without being caught.

Tools/Necessities you will need:
-wrenches
-ratchet
-Hex tool
-spring coil compressor(Autozone called Macpherson spring compressor)
-An electric drill+ drill bits( Optional: useto release the gas in strut if not keeping.)
-A big plier(Frugal way) to adjust the coilover unless you bought a tool for it already.
-WD40
-Grease
-Muscle power(pump those irons the day before the project )
-Gatorade/Powerade drinks(You'll get damn thirsty/dehydrated without them )


There are steps that must be followed when unbolting. If it is done randomly then, your work will become more unecessay and takes longer, and may even drive you berserk. Taking out the old struts will be hard but putting the new ones with coilovers will be easy because coilovers can be screwed to make it shorter.
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Step one, put something between your wheels to prevent it from rolling.
Then, jack up your car. If you're going to work on the front, jack up both sides, vice versa. This is done to put off the pressure on your struts.
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This is after you take your wheels off.
This is also a good time to paint your caliper and perhaps checkout your brakes. By the way, if you want to change your brake pads, there is a bolt on the bottom of the caliper. Unbolt that, and slide it up to remove the brake pads. You'll need to push the round piston in to make room for the new pads. Put the new pads in, slide it back down, bolt it and you've just changed your brake pads.
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Take a good look at the wishbone/fork at the bottom of the strut.
If you put your finger under the wishbone, you can feel the bottom of the strut.
This is where we will be drilling to release the pressure another words, destroy the struts. Before you do this, make sure the new struts you've bought look like the stock ones and are the right ones. Once you drill, you cant go back.
Or if for whatever reason, you want to keep it, use a Macpherson spring compressor to compress the spring until you can pull it out. Im using a spring compressor from Autozone called Macpherson spring compressor. Other compressors may not be able to fit under the car.
I tried this method on my passenger side without drilling and it works too.
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Before you unscrew any bolt, WD40 down the bolts and wait, then take out the screw thats holding the brake line first. It has 2 of them. Since it is rusted and maybe seized, I put a wrench on it and knock it with a hammer a couple of times backward/forward to get it to loosen up.
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Now once you get the 2 screws that hold the brake line off, pay attention to the bolt at the top and bottom portion of the wishbone.
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Take off the screw at the top portion of the wishbone first.
Then take off the bottom bolt and began drilling the bottom portion of the strut to relieve the pressure. Or if you still want to keep your old strut then put the spring compressor on now.
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Once you relieved the strut pressure or compressed the springs, take the nuts off from under the hood that holds the strut housing. However, do not unbolt the middle bolt with the green arrow. that bolt holds the string and strut together.
Remove it when you take the whole strut housing away from your car.
Put a hex tool in where the green arrow is pointing and use a wrench to twist it open. If you didnt drill the strut then becareful. The strut will shoot out from the bottom when you take off the middle nut. Point the strut away from the car or people.

Installation is reversal. Put the wish bone over the axle, stick the strut housing throught the hole toward the hood, screw the 3 nut on, put the bottom strut onto the top portion of the wishbone, screw it, screw the bottom, and finally, srew in the brake line holders.

For the rear its simple.
There is one long bolt hold the strut on the bottom.
And 2 nuts holding the top portion of the strut housing.
To gain access to 2 nuts at the top of the strut housing, you will need to remove the back seat.

About the back seat. There is 2 portion, a top and bottom. The top portion is where your back leans on and the bottom portion is where your ass sits on. All you need to do is remove the top part.
To do that, there are 4 screws holding the top portion of the seat.
2 screws, one are at the farthest left and right side. And the other 2 are in the middle. The screws are in the middle crevice part where the seat belt buck are stuffed in. You can actually lift up the left/right side of the bottom part with some force to reveal the left/right most screw. For the 2 middles, you just have to put your finger in there to feel it. Once the screws are off, push the top part of the seat up to unhook it.
To install. you simply push the top part of the seat down to hook it then screw them.
Oh, by the way. I think theres a modification that can be done here.
Like make the rear heated seats.
I noticed the bottom part of the seat. The leather part has this metal thing holding it. Im think, if I put heating pads under the leather then viola! heated seats! Anyone know what Im taking about?