Tortion Bar Suspension Troubles

[Olskool Integra Boy]

Hey Guys,
I recently had Pedders sport riders shocks with king springs installed in my 86 model teggy, it looks a bit lower and handles ALOT better but iv got problems in the front end. because these teggs dont have springs but tortion bars they had to be 'wound' to suit the rear, now my left front feels softer then my right front and something within the suspension
( shocky or tortion bar bump stop ) has bottomed a number of times in the front left. it makes a real scarey noise and i dont no what to do.

Any Help? :x

[FANATK]

i used to own an '86 teg
bottoms out and makes a bang noise when on a pothole or bump, but thats coz the torsion bars are wound to its lowest settings... i ended up gettin new struts (my old ones were actually broken) and it helped it a bit not as much bottoming out BUT can still bottom out on real big holes or large bumps...

id say one of your struts have gone... so if u wanna spend the money invest in new struts... i think i got KYB struts and i had pedders rear springs...

at first pedders wanted to charge me $400 for rear springs and adjusting the torsion bars (i didnt know much about torsion bars and that it had them when i got it), then i went to aussie best and they charged me $200 just 4 d springs (ordered from pedders) n adj. the torsion bars no charge pretty much... pedders tried to rip me off charging $200 for adj. the torsions, lucky i didnt do it... torsion bars can be adj'd by any1, its pretty ez..

[mooshie]

Torsion bars. thats whenit looks like the front has no spring right? like on my 85 civic so come on then how do you adjust them?

[DJIntegr8]

to adjust torsion bars:

- handbrake on, or put wheel stops behind car, jack up the front of the car

- there is a 17mm bolt on the torsion bar torque tube, turn anti-clockwise to lower, clockwise to raise.

- one turn will equal about 5mm ride height change
http://www.g1teg.org/faq/faq-torsionscan.gif

- lower car down off jack

- push the car down a few times to let the suspension settle, repeat steps if necessary

if that's not enough lowering, then you can respline the torsion bar but i'm not really sure how to do that.

try this website:
http://www.mullinator.com/crx/tech_tbar.html

[IEVAQ8]

i have the same problem, my integra 1986 bottoms out and feels like the front end is gonna fall out evry time i hit a pot hole or bump, so im getting my torsion bars re tesion/re splined hopefully on thursday i will let you know how i go.
p.s. my integra sits very uneven, like driverside lower than passanger, but very big difference.
let me know if u can help plz
greek_stud_4_u@hotmail.com

[fat_85_civic]

there is a 17mm nut under you car that you titen up and it will raise to car up on one side.
Getting the bars tensionoed or resplined will do NOTHING to increase stiffness it will only change the hight of your car.
To stop bottoming out soo much you can remove the break line bracket from the strut and lower it further down into the hub to gain more suspension travel.

[ek4-guy]

deppends how low you went pedders do not make a shock for lowerd springs for civic so when i put super lows i blew them in a month but yeah not sure if they make a lowerd shock for your car but if they dont dont be surprised in you have blown them especially from bottoming out you see inside a shock the widest part is the middle towards the top or bottom gets norrower so basically your shock is only workin in the top section an blows it

[IEVAQ8]

i solved my problem, i was told that the only shocker that will get rid of the bottoming out is the koni, but it has to be modified and the torsion bars have to be re tentioned and it costs $1600 for the front only... so because i already have brand new monroes in the front and back, rob at the suspension center in kialba, is going to do all the work, retension the torsion bars and modify the shockers to give me as much ride as possible, he almost garuantees me that it will be all fine once its put back together.
it will cost me between $200 and $350 depending on how many hours he spends on it.
i will keep you guys posted once the car is done and the 17's are under the archers.

[IEVAQ8]

hey guys, just letting u know that i got rid of my bottoming out of my da3 integra, i went a saw rob at suspension center in melbourne (kialba) near sunshine, and he used some sorta cusion plates in my front shockers wich got rid of my bottoming out, and he also retensioned me torsion bars and droped it on its arse.
i have pics if anyone is interested, i have 17's on the car too.

[sx16]

post pics bro :D

[IEVAQ8]

send me ur email so u can post them for me
i dont know how to post

[IEVAQ8]

here they r

[sx16]

pm sent :)

[IEVAQ8]

if you could post them that would be great

[qikteg]

picsorban!

[fat_85_civic]

where?

[Iwishiwasa Type R]

pics!!..
i got a soft spot for gen1s.
just wondering. do torsion bars wear down and have to be replaced?

[fat_85_civic]

no torsion bars dont ware down and need to be replaced.

[incoming]

ok i've adjusted the torsion bar
its dropped about 1-2 inches
but i want it lower but the torsion bar nut is almost sitting flush with the bolt end

any way of getting the car lower cos i can still fit 3-4 fingers between the guard and the tyre

[fat_85_civic]

yeah you can lower it more.
Ill find the thing that explanes how to do it now and post it up.

[fat_85_civic]

Heres a few different one telling you how to do it.

http://rallybeater.com/thewhitecar/suspension-torsion.html

this is just a general one on how to get them out and stuff

These two are from rpr.

First the basics- the early CRX has torsion bars, rather than springs in the front. Honda used T-bars to save space, reduce unsprung weight and allow a lower front profile.

In the rear, there is a beam axle located by trailing arms and a Panhard bar with coil springs. Inside the rear axle is a torsion bar that acts as a rear sway bar. In the front, there is a conventional sway bar.

To lower the car, you need shorter springs and reset torsion bars

***Important Note*** When you lower the rear, the axle moves closer to the driver`s side. To correctly reposition the rear axle to the center of the car, you will need an adjustable Panhard bar. They are available from www.opmmotorsports.com and www.redpepperracing.com.

Coil overs are the best way to lower the rear. www.ground-control.com sells a couple different options for coil overs. If you are cheap you can use the rear springs from the Civic Wagon or the Integra and cut one coil off. Cutting coil springs is generally not a good idea, but the simplicity of the CRX rear suspension allows a measure of crudeness.

In the front, the front torsion bars can be adjusted lower about 1/2" by loosening the adjustment nut underneath the car on each side. To get the front really low, you will need to take the torsion bars out and reposition them 1 notch lower. If your car is a 100% racecar, get the thickest torsion bars you can find (OPM Motorsports has a selection). Lowering the car reduces suspension travel.

You can increase suspension travel by filing off the brake line bracket on the front struts and positioning the struts 1-inch lower in the front knuckles. Camber plates will also give you some more suspension travel at the top of the strut. Adjustable struts are expensive, but they allow you the opportunity to fine-tune your suspension. If you are not racing, maybe you do not need adjustable struts. Increasing camber and caster will wear out your tires faster, but will help you on the racetrack.

An alternative to camber plates is to bolt on the lower arms from an Integra to get about 1 degree of negative camber. Caster can be added by loosening the sub-frame, pulling the entire front end forward with a winch and then re-tightening the sub-frame.

Suspension Techniques and OPM sell a bolt on rear sway bar, which is a good idea to add to your car. There are many opinions about the front sway bar on the CRX. Some people suggest removing it completely, others advocate using the thicker Civic Wagon front sway bar. Changing the front sway bar is a PITA. For street and Autocross use, I kept the stock bar with new bushings.




There are two ways to lower the rear end of the car:

1. Cut the rear springs. 1 coil is fine for what you need, if you gut it you will need to cut two.... if you want the wheels tucked 2 coils normally, or 3 gutted. If you want to tuck your wheels, I suggest getting either wagovan (AWD Wagon is better) rear coils or Integra (86-89) coils to cut up, because they are stiffer.

2. Get a proper lowering spring. Ground Control makes adjustable coils, and there are other manufactures too, do a search, the FAQ can help you out tons too.


There are also two ways to lower the front of the car:

1. Torsion bar adjustment. If you aren't familiar with the operation of T-bars, you will definately want to search out how they work (don't want to explain in right now ) Anyways, as Erik suggested, once under the car you can see along the length of the torsion bar, inboard, just behind the crossmember is an arm that connects to the torsion bar tube. There is a 17mm nut on the end of this, and you can back the nut off until you have one thread sticking out the bottom of the nut, and that will lower your car about 3/4" to 1".

2. Torsion bar resplining. You have a civic, so you are lucky, and you won't need to file anything. The details of resplining are a bit tricky, but in theory what you are doing is taking the torsion bar out, rotating it one spline, and putting it back in. This effectively puts the suspension higher up in the body, lowering the car. The general maximum is considered to be one spline, but if you go two and adjust the nut all the way up, it is the same height... and it gives you the availability to lower it more if you ever want. Thats just what I suggest from my own experience. If you are going to re-index (re-spline, same thing) you should think about getting some stiffer shocks and springs. I haven't had a problem yet, but the roads around here are pretty good.


If you lower the rear you dont really need a new panhard bar, i dont have one and ive only got like an inch gap between the tyre and guard.
Civics dont have an index spline so you wont need to grind anything.

Luke