I'm not sure whats going on with the top of your strut. This is how mine looks:

 

The Koni install was easy?! I must have the wrong parts or something.

I have spent hours trying to get the OEM bumpers over that flange/bump thing on the shaft of the rear strut. The first one took me nearly an hour, and now that I'm tired after finishing the one side, I can't get the other bumper down over that freakin bump.

Did you get yours over that bump - and if so, how?!

 

Cosmo that is nothing like mine. do you have a 2005 type S?

If the spring were to become unloaded would it go back to that location on its own? Are you aware that the bearing may just come down when the spring becomes unloaded.

Paulkramer:
On the Koni package there are replacement metal sleeves. You need to remove the stock oem metal sleeve. Tap the oem ones with the Koni supplied. If they are missing you need to contact Koni. I hope that is not the case becasue you will need to stop and reinstall the stock till you get the parts.

Note: To remove the rear shock easily you will need to compress the springs or remove the swaybar link so that the arm drops all the way. I went the route of compressing the spring. You will need a nice low profile spring compressor.

let me know if you need help.

 

jmercado - I don't know which sleeves you are referring to .

I borrowed someone else's tip (Razathorn) and placed a washer and nut on the end of the shaft and I have tried using that as a handle to pull against and keep the shaft from compressing while I push on the bumper with Channelocks in a painful attempt to slip the bumper past that ridge on the shaft.

Am I making sense? Did you install the bumper on the shaft and push it over that ride on the shaft?

I see what you mean about using every ounce of your patience......the rest of the job is pretty easy, at least now that I've done one side. If it weren't for the OEM bumper, I would have had this done in less than two hours.

BTW, I have used a spring compressor. But I didn't compress the spring/shock to remove them. I leveraged the body with a jack against a short pipe which I placed underneath the shock end. By raising and lowering the jack I was able to compress the shock enough to be able to remove the bolt easily.

 

Jmercado - now that I re-read your post, I think you are referring to the bumper that sits within the black mount (which when completely installed is visible inside the car).

I am referring to the yellow bumper - about 3 or 4 inches long - that is placed directly above the absorber body and around the shaft. It is the same inner diameter as the shafts outer diameter, except for a ridge on the shaft that is about 1/4" long and a slightly darker color than the shaft. I am trying to slip that bumper down the shaft so it is completely on the bottom side of that bump/ridge on the shaft. It is supposed to rest against the top of the shock cylinder and in order to do so it must be pushed over that ridge.

 

I am afraid that you may be damaging the thread on the shock or something.

Honestly, the piece of metal on the rubber boot slides out with minimal effor. you should be able to remove with a kids or womens hammer.

Just in case... you are not talking about the bump stop (yellow bump stop).

Anyway, lay the assembly on the floor use the provided metal shaft/tube/sleeve, place the replacement sleeve from Koni and tap.

this will remove the smaller sleeve and the newone will be installed. The bottom portion (rubber will drop) press in by hand.

the shock will just slide easier than fingering a... never mind.

 

You're still referring to the topmost bumper, aren't you?

With the slender metal sleeve (on the OEM, it is cut lengthwise, the replacement is solid but same diameter) that I pounded out and slipped the Koni part in in its place.

I'm having the pain of my life trying to position the yellow bumper on top of the shock cylinder - it must slide over that ridge/bump on the shock shaft that is not existent on the OEM shock.

 

Actually the yellow bump stop does not need to go all the way down.

I preferred to leave it stuck to that darker sleve youre talking about. It does take some work to push in there. I did it by hand.

extend the shock all the way to do this. a bit of oil will help slide it in.

Don't forget to cut the bottom part of it. Recommended if you are lowering the car.

 

You did?! But the darker sleeve is where the washers are supposed to rest, which in turn rest against the top "mount" . That is there to support the mount, isn't it?

Here's where I am currently. I am re-using stock springs for now, so I didn't figure I should cut the bumper.

 

That picture really explains it. That bump stop is huge. No wonder.

the 2005 stop is only about 1.5 inches long.

Then my suggestion is to use a drill to increase the diameter of the bumpstop.

 

LOL! Thanks, I thought of that but I figured it needed to stay down beneath the ridge - that was before I completed the first install and discovered that the washers would prevent the bumper from rising that high.

And it didn't take me quite so long to do the first side, so I figured I would just do the other side the same way.

Now it's at least half way over the ridge.......so it would take just as long to remove it and drill as it would to push it all the way.

Damn. What a pain. The rest of the install is a snap.

Thanks again for your help.

Interesting that the '05 bumper is so much shorter than the '02.....

 

Cosmo that is nothing like mine. do you have a 2005 type S?

If the spring were to become unloaded would it go back to that location on its own? Are you aware that the bearing may just come down when the spring becomes unloaded.

No, actually I have an 02, but i wouldn't have thought they would change it so drastically so that you had to use the upper spring perch.:dontknow:

The bearing separates every time I jack up the car. It pops back into place whenever I set it back down. Its not a big deal but if I wanted to fix it I could get helper springs.

 

No, actually I have an 02, but i wouldn't have thought they would change it so drastically so that you had to use the upper spring perch.:dontknow:

The bearing separates every time I jack up the car. It pops back into place whenever I set it back down. Its not a big deal but if I wanted to fix it I could get helper springs.

yea mine ground controls looked like that as well when i had that set up. i wish there was like some thick plastic/rubber peice that would go between the top collar and the mount though so it doesn't do the loud banging noise

 

Truvietz,

By installing the way I did portion of the boot actually sits between the collar and the spring and makes the noise you mentioned go away. I have a very smooth ride.

No poping of bearing as cosmo mentions and when I jack the car up I do not have to worry about noises or the spring or bearing moving out of place.

The rears come with a polyurethane bushing I wonder if one could be available for the front springs.

cosmo: your are lucky that your bearing has not sat the wrong way or separated. Nothing holds that bearing toguether except the grease in them. Mine separated once while installing at that was one too many times for me.

Also, the plate will protect the area from debris and washing of the grease of the bearing. If it was a sealed bearing that does not fall off I would not worry or cared. I guess I put too much attention to detail and longetivity.

All I can say the car drives awesome and squat while braking has been reduced dramatically and body roll has been greatly reduced. It is strange I had to readjust my shifting I actually stalled the car. The engine oem mounts are taking much of the take off force and definetly need to take the time to install the esmm. I may modify those a bit sot that they are not so tight against the mounting plates and reduce the anyoing vibrations everyone talks about while idle... that seems to get better after time.

 

Its not a big deal but if I wanted to fix it I could get helper springs.

What are these springs and how would you attach them to fix this problem?

 

jmercado - thanks for your help last night with my Koni install. I was getting pretty frustrated - hell, I was exhausted!

I finally got that bumper all the way over the bump early this morning, after a decent night's sleep. The remainder of the install was pretty easy.

The car feels much better now, but the new rears make the fronts feel even worse than they did two days ago. I can't wait to get the fronts done too.

The car already handles and rides better - I even got a little oversteer today making a left-hand turn!

 

cosmo: your are lucky that your bearing has not sat the wrong way or separated. Nothing holds that bearing toguether except the grease in them. Mine separated once while installing at that was one too many times for me.

The weight of the car keeps the bearing together. In the occasional split-second that there is no weight on that particular corner of the car, the damping prevents the suspension from rebounding significantly. It has never separated while driving since i've installed the springs, and I dont expect it ever will.

A helper spring is a short spring that spends most of its life collapsed. You put it in series with the main spring and when there is no weight on the suspension, it extends to keep the bearing in place.

 

Me and my friends had the same problems with the bearings, at first no matter what we tried, as soon as we decompressed the springs, the bearing mount would start to separate and we could see the bearings. It took us a LONG time to position the top hat the right way so the bearings wouldn't separate when the springs decompressed. I'm using the Koni + Tein S-Tech setup btw.

 

jmercado - when you drilled out the OEM front struts to install the Koni inserts, did you clean out the oil that was in there? Or just stuff the new inserts in the greasy old strut?!

Just wondering what I will be up against when I get around to replacing the fronts.

How do you like your car now? Was it worth the pain?!

 

kramer - I realize you're using GC's and not progressives, but progressives instruct you to cut the bumpstop in half for each shock (f & r)

-Dan!!

 

Dan - actually, I re-used the stock springs, so I figured I should keep the bumpers intact.

The Koni instructions didn't mention anything about cutting the bumpers either.....

 

jmercado - when you drilled out the OEM front struts to install the Koni inserts, did you clean out the oil that was in there? Or just stuff the new inserts in the greasy old strut?!

Just wondering what I will be up against when I get around to replacing the fronts.

How do you like your car now? Was it worth the pain?!

I just drained the struts. I left whatever oil was stuck to help reduce rusting. One thing I feel I should have done and recommend is to put a bead of silicone on the bottom screw to seal off water.

I would also use rust protectant paint at the areas that were cut/drilled. Also, Seal the top of the strut area with silicone to seal off water.

The reason is to be able to remove the shocks in the future. Otherwise the rust inside may seal them in eventually.

Feel free to contact me if you need help. Once you do the first one the next goes very quick.

As for the like and dislike... It is hard to tell if the shocks made the diference or the Ground Control springs. The car is very predictable(i think) and manouvers nicely thru turns and twists. I have done many adjustments that have contributed to my increased handling capabilities so I am not a good person to ask if the shocks were worth it. since I did my shocks, springs and now have falken 615's 225/45/17. These tires are quite sticky.(I was surprised). I also have negative camber adjustments. Which help a lot in turns and contribute to some of the wheel spin.

If I were to choose again. I would have done, Quaife lsd, tires and front camber then suspension. (since money is an issue)

As for the Front Koni, I felt the best adjustment was full soft setting front. The reason why, is that when any firmness is applied, the front wheel spin will happen very easily while turning and accelerating thru a normal street spirited driving turn. The adjustment is only for rebound, which if you set to firm will slow down suspension/tires from going down quickly or keeping as much contact as possible.

I will need to purshase the larger rear sway to control some of the body roll further and hopefully keep more front tire contact.

The Stock RSX 05 rear shocks seemed pretty stiff on compression and rebound. I almost felt like the Koni rears were softer. I have them set to full firm now. I have not had a chance to open the rear panels and make adjustments, plus the weather has been cold and rainy.

Hope I did not say too much...

 

No, not too much said at all. I have noticed as well that the rears seem softer than OEM (I don't really know what they are set to - it has been cold here and I have been too busy and my hands are still recovering from the install!) yet the car handles better than before. I don't know if it's the magic of Koni engineering or the fact that the OEM had 53,000 Michigan miles on them. Maybe both.

I thought leaving the oil in the front strut might be good.....might also attract moisture though. I'm surprised Koni doesn't include better materials for sealing the top and bottom of the strut!

I purchased Falken Ziex ZE-512, to save money both at initial purchase and when filling up at the pump! I would like bigger tires but gas is so expensive....

I am confused by your statement about the front firmness. If the adjustment is for rebound, wouldn't a firmer rebound mean the tires would maintain greater road contact? Firm rebound = pushing the tire/wheel back down faster?

I'm eager to get my fronts on. I know they bear the brunt of driving and are in worse shape than the rears. There are some popping noises too that might be caused by the strut and/or bearing. I want to follow your advice and use a bench-mounted vise. My dad has one, maybe a pipe cutter too and he'll be back from his snowbirding in Florida soon. Maybe I'll have the money for the fronts by then too!

Now I am craving Innovative mounts as well. Where does it all end?! Seriously, though, these "mods" that I have made so far are pretty much limited to replacing things that need to be replaced. I might just be replacing them a little earlier than absolutely necessary........

 

Want to save gas? Try this for a week. Drive as much as possible at lower rpms. I tried it for about two weeks and the gas lasted so much longer.
It is really hard to do.

I am back to my vtec driving... lol.

The front firmnes setting on the koni only controls how fast the shock releases (going down). To me, the faster the better. I am still learning about these things.

I just read the innovative mounts review... that sounds like a great product.

This modding thing is absolubtely a black hole!! Especially since I am hooked on autocross(solo) and some track.
I have to admit looking on my basement for stuff to sell so I do not use my regular income... it is crazy. My car is new and I have already replaced the suspension, tires, hood, and more before it hit 12K miles.

I have not had it for a year yet.

 

LOL! I can't keep my foot off the accelerator, so I try to compensate by not modding in any way that will use more gas!

Black hole.......lol....at least my car is 3 1/2 years/53,000 miles old - gives me an excuse to swap parts! I only paid (only - ha!) $15,000 for my car, so I expected to have to replace worn out parts sooner than a new car.

I sold the ugly moonroof wind deflector on Ebay for some pocket change (I bought the car used) and I tried to sell the stock rear spoiler but didn't succeed. Damn thing costs around $300 from Acura .......maybe I should try finding a buyer for it again!

Wonder if there's a market for used OEM struts...........Ha ha!