I finally got some track time at VIR (albeit on the Patriot Course, baby steps...) and it has inspired me to make some more tweaks to my car starting with the springs.

It has always been my goal to make this a fun, reliable car for the street and auto-x/track use without spending tooo much $$$... so Eibach springs on stock struts seemed like a no brainer (cheap and highly recommended).

I am gathering parts for this project to do it right the first time and one thing I noted is that my bump stops and bellows and completely decimated. Hanging on by a thread. Struts appear to be damping fine despite high mileage and age.

It looks like I can't get the strut bellows or bump stop separate from the strut mounts. Strut mount assemblies would pretty much double my budget for this project. Seems unnecessary when I can get universal bellows and bump stops for next to nothing.

What I want to know is are the mounts really a wear item besides the stops and bellows? They don't appear to swivel or have bearings for steering like mcpherson setups. Are there any rubber parts that blow out in the actual mount besides the bump stop or is it just a metal plate?

 

Nope, nothing else to wear out. I'm pretty sure it's just a solid rubber mount.

Depending on how tight your budget is, I would consider finding some lower mileage stock shocks. Like you said, you want to do this the right way, the first time. Seen it happen time and time again. Swap out springs, shocks blow out shortly after and you have to do it all over.

Suspension upgrades make huge improvements to an already great stock setup. Remember, when starting out, seat time alone will make you faster plus you will learn what really needs to be improved! Good luck and have fun!

 

The rubber strut mounts are kind of maintenance items. The top part where the spring goes into can deform over time causing the car to sag a bit lower than it would normally sit. It's pretty common on stock cars to see the front driver's side a good half inch lower than the front passenger side.

The bellows aren't totally necessary, bump stop definitely is. My car had the rear bump stops totally disintegrate and I've seen a buddy's car in a similar state. For my friend's car, I found some yellow Honda bump stops that slipped over the stock shock and so far seem to be working great. Found them on Ebay, pair for $15 or so. I cut one section of them out since they were pretty damn big.

Might be worth doing just the front strut tops, they see a LOT of wear, moreso than the rears. If the rear bump stops are gone, fix as stated.

Dale

 

Thanks for the replies. Lots of good info and advice. I have noticed my front sitting pretty low relative to the rear more that you mention that.

I do like the smell of new parts. I Guess my budget just increased

 

FYI, I couldn't find any wear item in the upper strut mounts other than the rubber donuts at the top. Mine were all in great shape. As were my struts according to my advanced dyno techniques (pushing it in and out).

As far as aftermarket bump stop and dust boot replacement, I found these work perfectly:
Got all four shipped for the price of 1 stock upper strut mount. Popped out the existing bump stop and slid these guys on the strut. The bump stop is just about the same length as the original. Cut off the last small accordion section and it fit perfectly over the stock strut top.

 

I still get confused about the bump stop the the dust boot. are they the same thing? What exactly is the bump stop? the little donut or the one piece spring mount?

thanks,

 

The upper shock mount is all one piece. The upper shock mount consists of the dust boot, upper rubber mount, and the bump stop.

 

Thanks Matt, so the bump stop is the little rubber donut piece mounted on top side of strut under the hood?

 

You can't see the bump stop with it installed in the car. It's a foam rubber piece under the strut mount, it limits the suspension travel. At full compression it hits the bump stop to limit suspension movement.

Dale

 

thanks Dale.

I just got new upper and lower rubber spring mounts from Ray. The upper ones being the assembly with 3 studs coming out and the dust boots attached. So the bump stop is a part of this? I am away from my car now so can't look at the mount to find out.

 

Yep. If you look inside the dust boot you'll see it. It has a hole just big enough for the shock to go through, it's pretty obvious.

Dale

 

Just an FYI - the FD doesn't have struts.

 

I've always called a damper with a spring over it a strut and a damper by itself a shock absorber... care to enlighten me with another term to call it?

By the by, I have run a couple Hyperdrives at VIR full course after the springs on stock shocks/stuts/dampers/dohickeys and love this setup. The car felt great and I got some serious passing done out there.

I'll be sticking with this setup until my driving skills catch up with the car's capability. Now I just need to get my MBC's tuned right so boost gets over 8 psi. That and some cosmetic maintenance are on the list for spring work.

 

The FD has shocks. Strut means it's a MacPherson strut setup, like the FC had.

The generic term is damper.

Dale

 

Ohhhh, so I guess that means that a "strut" implies that it serves as an actual suspension member (in place of upper control arm) rather than just a spring/damper to resist movement.

 

Yeah, that's the technical difference.

 

I remember when it was time to tackle my suspension, I priced out a set of new rubber top hats...have you done that yet?

I ended up saving my money and buying a set of coil-overs.