lastig21

iTrader: (1)

I installed H&R Sport Springs on my 08 Type-S over the weekend. I used the How-To's in the Garage Thread as my only guidance.

Service Manual: https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-problems-fixes-114/torque-spec-shock-assembly-3g-garage-d-091-a-633039/
Awesome DIY: https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-tires-wheels-suspension-97/diy-ht-spec-coilver-install-dummies-any-other-suspension-3g-garage-d-091-a-816065/

Novice Level Installer
I've never removed/installed shocks or springs before, and it was a learning experience. I do have an impact wrench, complete socket set, hand tools, and acquired a spring compressor for this job.

Shocks
I'm nearing 70k miles on the stock struts (which I reused) and expect to have to do this job again by 100k miles. I'll upgrade to Koni Yellows then.

Driving Experience
The feel of the car is very close to the stock TL-S suspension. It feels as though the springs are softer, and I perceive a bit more dive and roll. The shocks recover quickly, and its still a solid feel. I find it a bit less harsh than the stock suspension, and am pleased.

Installation Experience
I gave myself a 4 day weekend to perform the installation. I took out the rear seats and deck in about 90 minutes on day 1, removed/installed front springs in about 4 hours on day 2, removed/installed rear springs in about 5 hours on day 3, and reinstalled the rear deck and seats in about 2 hours on day 4. I was not in a hurry, and would be much faster the second time around. The weather was nice, and I enjoyed with the work with minimal injuries

C-Pillars
The first clips that you must remove are the SRS inserts in the pillars. The tabs are along the sides, so make sure you pry from the top and bottom. This isn't clear in the SM. I used plastic panel removers, and still left some impressions in the cloth. Be very careful on these.

Front Shocks
The Front Shocks I found to be very straight forward. The only thing I really learned was to pull the strut towards the rotor and front of the car to free the shock from the fork, and later to slip it back into the fork. There is sufficient clearance to remove and install the shock through the suspension.

Rear Shocks
I thought the rear shocks would be easier, but was sorely mistaken.

Endlinks
My major delay was with the endlink removal per the SM Scan. DeathMetal's guide suggests simply removing the bracket that the endlink and knuckle bolt connect to. At this point, I have to agree. Without removing the endlink though, the installation of the shock back under the car is very difficult. If you attempt to remove the endlink, notice that the hex wrench (allen wrench) inserts into the end of the bolt (at the opening of the nut). The end of mine was caked with dirt and grime, and it took awhile to make sense of the Service Manual Pictures. On one side, I removed the entire end link (removed the bolts on both sides) and installation was far easier than leaving it intact.

Shock Removal
The rear shocks are huge, and hard to maneuver out from under the car. Have a thick towel to wrap over the top hat to prevent damage to your paint. My car was only on jackstands, so there was not enough clearance to completely remove the shock from below the car.

Rear Shock Assembly
The bushing on the rear shocks are easily removed from the tophats, and can be reinstalled incorrectly (known from experience). Since you are aligning the new springs with the impressions from the old, make sure you install the rubber bushing correctly in the tophat. Fitment can be confirmed by aligning the impression of a small semicircle cutout on the side of the rubber bushing with the same semicircle cutout on the tophat.

Rear Shock Installation
The length of the rear shocks again presents a problem when installing back underneath the car. Cover the shocks with a towel again, and have patience and a lot of energy. I had to apply downward force on the rotor to get the clearance needed. I had to do the same thing to align the flange bolt through the shock and knuckle.

Rear Deck Installation
There is a white hook on the back of the rear deck (near the rear windshield). I noticed a lump in my rear deck when removing it, and it was from the dealer not slipping this hook in the rear dash correctly. When installing the deck, be sure to guide this hook in before pressing down on the clips. The lump is gone after reinstallation.

Rear Seat Installation
The passenger side bolt that installs through the bottom of the seat back and hook on the seat bottom is a royal PITA. This took me probably 40 minutes to align correctly. The angles are terrible, there is no room to see, and you get tired quickly. There is significant upward pressure needed on the seatback to align the threads correctly. Aside from the endlinks, this was my biggest frustration of the entire install.

Conclusion
Although I found the install rewarding, it likely wasn't worth the effort. It would have been much more time efficient to take the work to a shop. If you do take the car to a mechanic for installation, I suggest removing the rear seat, C-pilliars, and rear deck yourself. I had the Acura dealership fix a rear deck rattle previously, and found missing and broken clips in the C-pillars and rear deck when I did this install. I would imagine the same cover-ups are possible at a mechanic, and you might suffer from rear rattles. I'm clumsy with clips, and have a stock on hand for when I break them.

SharksBreath

iTrader: (33)

aweome post.

Predatorbird

All that reading and no pics of the car???

Otacon

iTrader: (1)

Very nice.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Congrats Lastig-well done.

lastig21

iTrader: (1)

No Good Pics, but I did snap these after the springs were on.

Bearcat94

Well done!! H&R Sport springs were my first 'real' DIY project.

Bruce Banner

iTrader: (2)

NICE!
Could you take some measurements of your groupd clearance and wheel gap is?

I've got prokit and I've always liked the H&R sport more, but was worried about the drop level.

lastig21

iTrader: (1)

Thanks! Your posts and pics on this forum were a leading reason why I went with the springs over coilovers. They seemed to fit what I was wanting, and your answers to others' questions helped confirm that.

I can measure wheel gap. Where do you need ground clearance from... front bumper?

ebelp

Well-written post. Don't worry, it'll be much easier the second time around when you upgrade your shocks. It's definitely not worth paying a shop to do it.

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

nice DIY, you dont need to remove the c pillar or the rear deck to do the rear shocks though, just take the extra 30 seconds to be careful when accessing those rear shock top nuts. For me it went something like this:
10 min remove rear seats
15 min remove left rear shock
15 min remove right rear shock
5 min remove endlink
10 min on spring compressor


10 min remove front right shock
10 min remove front left shock
15 min on spring compressor

re-installation was about same as removal. total time under 4 hours and that's by myself without air tools. I do have a lot of experience with these accords,tl, tsx suspension though

Bearcat94

:awshucks:

ebelp

paperboy, I'm curious how you can get to the rear top shock bolts without touching the c-pillars and rear deck. There's almost zero room to fit a ratchet in there. I always remove the c-pillars first and then just pop up the rear deck just enough so there's room to fit the ratchet in there.

lastig21

iTrader: (1)

If I don't forget everything by the time I have to do this again, I will be much faster next time. Prime example: Fiddling with the blasted endlink led to a 90 minute removal for the first rear shock. Second shock, 20 minutes and out she came. Of course I gave some of that time back when I misaligned the tophat and had the shock at the wrong angle for installation into the knuckle. Live and learn I guess.

Bruce Banner

iTrader: (2)

Side skirt behind the front wheel will work.

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

I know what you mean, but I use a 3/8" drive ratchet with a regular 14mm socket, just be careful not to drop the nuts when you remove them. and because of the tight space theres not much room for leverage so i use a pipe as an extension for more torque. it can be done for sure, I've never had to remove the rear deck nor the C pillar. Having smaller hands help too lol

powerflow

I've done a few suspension jobs on the 3G TL. I've never had mess with c-pillar or deck cover. This where a high end, fine tooth ratchet proves its worth. It is tight, but better than messing with somewhat delicate plastic trim panels.

I use my 1/4" & 3/8" all the time.

http://www.craftsman.com/craftsman-3...8&blockType=L8

tperuc

What's the best aftermarket sping that will drop the car about an inch, not require and camber kits, provide a slightlt firmer ride than stock without being harsh. Wanting for my Type S daily driver. Thanks.

lastig21

iTrader: (1)

The H&R Sports that I put on and the Tein S-Techs are the most common springs I see mentioned on this site. The H&R sports drop the car a little less than 1.5", and keep the factory rake to the car. The S-Techs drop the car 1.5" all around, and level out the car. The H&R's feel softer than the stock springs (on stock shocks) and I've read that the Tein's usually feel softer as well. People are pretty happy with both sets.

You might look at the full A-Spec suspension. The drop will be less than an inch, but you will get a very balanced package and the ride quality you are looking for.

lastig21

iTrader: (1)

I was finally able to get the measurements this evening.

Wheel Gap: 1" front, 1.5" rear
Ground clearance at side skirt behind front wheel: 6.25"
Ground to Front Fender above tire: 25.5"
Ground to Rear Fender above tire: 25 5/8"

Bruce Banner

iTrader: (2)

Thanks, I'll compare it to my prokit

Bearcat94

Here's mine from just after install (not sure if they've 'settled' over time or not):

geekybiker

I think I'm going to do this tomorrow. I have the springs sitting on the couch and working up the motivation to wrestle with the car all day. Any recommendations on stuff to get from the auto parts store before I start? I'll either have to rent a spring compressor, or buy one, probably a new tube of anti-sieze. Probably time to buy a breaker bar.

lastig21

iTrader: (1)

Sorry Bud, didn't see this until now. The spring compressor is a must, and I think an air wrench or electric/cordless impact would make wrench it much easier to use. Jack stands if you don't have them. A torque wrench is a good idea to get everything tightened back to spec. Plastic panel poppers to avoid damage to the c-pillars. I didn't need a breaker bar for mine, but I had the impact wrench to use.

geekybiker

I got through it okay. I picked up a cheapie electric impact from harbor freight and it was invaluable getting stuff off that had rusted. Biggest issue was getting the top hats aligned correctly. I assumed the indents would be right, but the springs were off enough that I had to redo a couple spring. Once on the back since it was just lined up wrong and once on the fronts since I didn't pay attention to the alignment mark the first time and had assembled 180 degrees around.

lastig21

iTrader: (1)

Glad you got everything in I misaligned one of the tophats on the rear shocks, but the front went in ok. Feeding the shocks back into the suspension is no cake walk, so was pretty annoyed with myself when I realized what I had done.

How long did the process take you? Ever worked on a suspension before? How did you handle the endlinks on the rear suspension?

geekybiker

It took about 7 hours with all the screw ups on my part. I did a suspension on my old subaru once before, but that was a cakewalk in comparison. macpherson struts are much easier than the TL, and I didn't need a spring compressor for that. My endlinks were a rusted mess, I just took off the bracket to get enough clearance. Best part is while doing this I found out one of my shocks is bad and I get to do the whole thing again when new shocks come in.

geekybiker

Since not everyone gets around to the progress threads...

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

Called a couple shops and they wanted 400 to do this work, and that included me taking out the interior...nope! Looks like I have to tackle this one myself

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

what alignments (camber) are you guys running on this setup? i'm going to firestone after i finish installing everything and would like to give them some target camber. i have a camber kit installed on the rear so it is adjustable

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

did the front installation last night, and ran in to problems so it took me a while. i have 2 questions:

1. i went over a speed bump today and heard a clunking sound from the front left. any idea what it might be (i torqued everything to spec)

2. do we really have to use new nylon lock nuts for the damper? I re-used my old ones because the ones I bought from home depot started to mess up my damper threads

beyond 1000

I installed Koni Yellows, H&R Sports Springs, Rear Comptech sway bar, and wheel spacers absolutely no problem on my 08 WDP. Everything went perfect the first time.

........I had a pro speedshop do it for me....and yes I PAID them. This way I had no problems guaranteed.

Bearcat94

When you torqued the 3 nuts from the top hats inside the engine bay, did you have the suspension under load?

Check your end-links, front and rear.

I think I reused my nylon nuts, but I'm not 100% positive .... it's been a while ago.

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

i for sure torqued them under load on the left side...right not sure haha. but it wont' be that bad to check them again just gotta take off the strut bar. thanks for the response, that was my first thought too sounds like something wasn't fully tight.

i will also check my front end links. i gutted my interior today but will have a shop do the rear installation for 120 next saturday, seems like a good price for something that would take me a lot of time and energy by myself on jackstands. this thread has been a great help though

lastig21

iTrader: (1)

I ordered new lock nuts, but they didn't arrive before I started my job so I reused the originals. When the new ones came in, I replaced the driver's side front. It was such a PITA because the shock began spinning when installing the new nut, making it impossible to torque to spec. One side was assembled on the work bench, and one side was torqued while on the car. I haven't had trouble or sounds with either.

If everything is torqued down without any movement, its possible the clunk was 2 coils of the spring touching. You'd have to take on a speed bump at a pretty good clip to pull that off, but maybe you and that speed bump have a dark history

stockashelltypeS

iTrader: (1)

this is great and after I saw your pix, I decided to get the same one. Do you have the part number? I'm about to order it but I want to make sure I didn't order the wrong one.
Thanks a lot

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

I just got a used set of coilovers and will be selling my 1 week old front h&r sport springs and brand new (not installed) rear springs soon if anyone is interested. Currently there is a back order until the end of November/early December. Part is 50106

lastig21

iTrader: (1)

I bought the kit for the 07/08 Type-S. Part Number is 50106. There is a different kit for the base TL, but based on your username I don't expect you'd need it. I bought mine used from the Black Market, and they arrived in great shape. I'd check with sockr1 and see what he is selling his for

geekybiker

Thats the one I have on my base TL as well. I wonder how different the spring rates really are?

stockashelltypeS

iTrader: (1)

Yup, I PM him, hopefully I will hear from him soon.
I check on ebay, they said those spring will drop F 1.4 R 1.3, but it looks like it drop more than I expected, which is what I wanted. I can't wait to get a set and install it, but winter is comming soon.......