Alpina, for the SS brake lines (w/rear disc), you posted the part # 46400-XLF-K1S0
but on RHDJapan, the part # for the GE8 w/rear discs is 46400-XLF-K0S0
MUGEN Micro Mesh Brake Line Fit
What's the difference?
Do they both work, just different brands? (Endless/Mugen?)


Also, any plans for the Beatrush pillowball mounts?

Honda CRZ Forum: Honda CR-Z Hybrid Car Forums - View Single Post - ITEM9's Build Thread: JR Supercharged PWP EX 6MT

 

46400-XLF-K1S0 (like I posted) = 6 lines (rear disk brake)

46400-XLF-K0S0 = 4 lines (rear drum brake)

Beat Rush Pillowball mounts = No Plan
Those solid mount will pass the shocks/harshness from the road more direct to the chassis,
it should be better for "the steering feel and make the car more precise" but I think it will have effect on ride quality
and
it will also stress the chassis front suspension mounting point...
I personally think our Honda Fit sheet metal is too thin and if
we use this Pillowball mounts,
I am afraid after 50,000miles or so,
the front chassis mounting point could deform or broke/crack.
I do read somewhere, where a user of this Pillowball mounts said how nice the ride is, he even term it "soft like a Pillow",
but then if the ride is still nice,
that mean it still have lot of rubber inside that "pillow mount"
and that mean it would NOT make it any better than the standard rubber mount in term of precision..., at least that is my logic...

Ok, the easier comparison is like you are using Rubber Hammer to Pound your chassis and then compare it with using Metal Hammer to Pound your chassis,... which one will have more impact power pass ? of course the Metal Hammer...

Oh,
even BMW had a factory option of strengthening plate for front strut tower suspension mounting point if you use a hard sprung coil over (high spring rate).
Here it is: (notice that this BMW installed on top over the mounting point/inside the engine bay and not below the suspension mounting point, effectively doubling the thickness of the mounting point),
now if someone make this reinforcement plate for our Honda Fit, then I will buy it.

E46 Strut Tower Reinforcement Plates (Pair) - Turner Motorsport


If I have extra money to upgrade my suspension for more precision and feel,
I would just sell my Bilstein and buy Ohlins Coil Over,
but that mean I would not be able
to have Bilstein sticker on my Front Fender anymore,
and
unfortunately Ohlins sticker don't looks as good as the Bilstein sticker
Yeah, I know it is a really silly reasoning from me,
but then...

here is Ohlins sticker (notice there are 2 kind of Ohlins official logo,
the one on the sticker and the one on that motorcycle Steering damper)...



and
here is Bilstein sticker on my car,
(I think an Ohlins sticker on that fender would NOT look as nice as a Bilstein sticker)




hmmm.....
but then again,
if I did have extra money and upgrade to Ohlins,
I think even if some "expert" see my car and they realized that my car
is using Ohlins instead of Bilstein for the suspension,
while the sticker still say Bilstein,...
I think they will NOT laugh too much and will NOT insult me since
they should know that the Ohlins (at least for this Honda Fit model) is the more advanced and expensive suspension compare to this Bilstein B14...
hmmmmmm hahaha silly me

but seriously,
you would be surprised on how many times people chase my car
(on freeway and local road), then drive close behind me,
then move to the side of my car just to check out my car, and after that
and when they are close enough, they start to get even closer to near the front fender, just to read what sticker is that

I never like sticker on my car,
but that Blue and Yellow color of Bilstein logo looks so nice on a Blank Canvass like Taffeta White,
even if I had Brembo brake and Mugen body kit later,
I would NOT put any Brembo/Mugen sticker on my car... so this Bilstein sticker is the only exception

 

Spent the entire Saturday researching to make sure the Front Brembo 6 piston kit from Subaru BR-Z will fit, because
I am ready to pull the trigger and buy the Front Brembo Gran Turismo Kit for Subaru BR-Z...
but
while studying the template of the Brembo,
turn out they require at least 15mm spacer to clear my wheel spokes... which mean I got to buy camber top mount so I can have more negative camber, added spacer and longer wheel stud (ARP),
also more fender pull,
and it also require to change the lower control arm to the new aluminum control arm from Honda Insight since one of the joint stick out more in the current still control arm, and will/might hit the deeper offset Brembo rotor...,
I might also need to buy smaller tire 215 vs 225...
and if all of that is not enough, I got to go to body shop to modify (cut and weld my fender)...
but no matter how hard it is,
no matter how much modification I had to do,
for sure I will make this happened !!!

WOW...
so much more things to do...
and I don't have enough time to all of that now...,
and I only have one car now...,
so this got to be postponed until I buy another car,...
hopefully soon...

I also could not install my rear 12in brake before I install my Brembo front since it will over powered my front stock brake,...
and I don't want to install stock JDM RS rear brake since I want to sell the stock rear caliper and stock rear rotor anyway...

The good news is, I had done detailed calculation on the brake bias/torque today,
and turn out by having 6 piston 14in rotor Brembo front,
combine with the rear 12in rotor and LARGER Integra DC5 rear caliper,
the brake bias now will be almost similar to stock JDM RS brake bias,...
well it will move just slightly bit to the rear which is good since it would help with nose dive. and overall, the upgraded brake will have between 50% to 60% more powerful then the standard brake in term of brake torque, well perhaps will be more like 80% since the brake pads will have more friction too...
so this is all perfect...
I just got to find the solution for the rubbing issue that will happened once I add 15mm spacer !

actually there is another solution using Mitsubishi Evo 9 Brembo kit,
which will give me more space at the rear of the disk,
so I should clear the lower control arm easily, but then it mean I had to put 25mm spacer... which for sure would mean a front fender modified to wide body fender...
got to see the space behind the disk rotor first... and then decide which way to go...
Subaru BR-Z kit of Evo9 kit...

It's 3am Sunday morning now... I got to go to sleep hahaha

 

Check the link... it says for rear disc. MUGEN Micro Mesh Brake Line Fit
I can't find any pics of the 46400-XLF-K1S0 to see the 6pcs.


I don't think it's meant to be like a solid mount, Beatrush does some good research & engineering on their products. I think it is what is says it is - a pillowball mount. I've read here and other car forums (other makes & models), about people having some issues after installing coils (clunking, slight movement, etc)... for those who installed the mounts those problems went away and had a smoother ride. If I'm not mistaken on other car models the Beatrush mounts also have camber adjustment. I've also read some review on rakuten, and even with the translation glitches it seems as if most owners are very satisfied with them.


That is very good news... nice job on maintaining a very close to OEM brake bias.


As for the Insight LCA's would the J's work for you?
http://www.jsracing.co.jp/js2/index.asp?xMODE=SHOP&xSW=2&xBUNRUI=160&xPARENT=65& xSHASHU=32
http://www.jsracing.co.jp/js2/index.asp?xMODE=SHOP&xSW=2&xBUNRUI=66&xPARENT=65&x SHASHU=32

I can't translate from here but I wanna read up on them... especially this thing http://www.jsracing.co.jp/js2/index.asp?xMODE=SHOP&xSW=2&xBUNRUI=74&xPARENT=65&x SHASHU=32

 

Hi FitStir,
Trust me the K1S0 is the one you need for 6 pcs.
Some of those people made mistake during their listing.
If you check Mugen official site it will show that K1S0 is the one you want,
https://online.mugen-power.com/b2c/b...13qfo0n36pmbo3



FitStir, all those Pillowball mount are just a "fancy" name for Solid Mount.
It might get rid of the clunking noise/slight movement because it hold the top of the coil over bolt rigidly and it will result in smoother ride because now the coil over bolt is rigidly clamp (no movement).
but for car that don't have this kind of problem,
it will surely transfer more harsh from the road because it is made from solid aluminum(or other metal) instead of rubber like our standard bearing.

when you install your coil over, on the top of the coil over that touch the lower part of the chassis mount it will look similar to this:


and you going to replace this rubber mount above with this (specifically the one on the right, cause the one on the left is located inside the engine bay (upper side of the mount).


so you can see that there is no more rubber between the top part of the coil over and the lower part of the chassis mounting point.
I am sure most owner are satisfied if what they are looking is more direct handling, feel and response, but it will sacrifice the comfort,harshness and vibration for sure. and in some application actually RISE the vehicle height by around 5mm to 20mm for the camber adjustable kind.
so you need to lower your coil over more to compensate.
it sure will not damage your chassis mounting point fast,
but if you use it for 50,000 miles or more, it will have effect,
as you see from those BMW's mounting crack when they use lowered coil over with harder spring.
I mean, metal to metal contact vs. rubber to metal contact...

having said that, now I realized that
I might need (FORCED) to buy the one with camber adjustable kind simply because
I might need more negative camber since I had to put at least 15mm to 25mm spacer (depend on which brake kit I buy) for my front wheel.
This is the one that I need:
Tryforce company ƒgƒ‰ƒCƒtƒH�[ƒXƒJƒ“ƒpƒj�[�@�yƒtƒBƒbƒg�zƒTƒXƒyƒ“ƒVƒ‡ƒ“�@’²�®Ž®ƒsƒ�ƒAƒbƒp�[ƒ}ƒEƒ“ƒg


If after 50,000 miles, I cracked my chassis strut mounting point,
then I will deal with it by welding and and installing reinforcement plate then...
but I might had another solution without doing too much negative camber,
that is to have a CUSTOM Wide Fender for my car...
Will have to think about this later after I buy another car,
because all this would mean my Fit would be grounded for at least 1 months...


The J's Racing LCA, from what I heard is somehow reinforced / stronger than stock, but the most differentiating feature is that longer bushing arm which alter the geometry back to normal if you lower the car as much as they did for racing purposes...
J's racing LCA is also still Steel while Insight is Aluminum thus Insight is LIGHTER as much as 4 pounds per LCA, or 8 pounds total unsprung weight reduction.

but I the main reason why I need those Insight LCA is because of the end on the standard factory steel LCA or that J's Racing PROTRUDE more and
stay close to the Disk Brake.
in fact if you check your car, you will see that the Backing Plate of the Front Disk Brake were "cut" from factory to avoid contact with this protruding LCA end point.

Both the Mitsubishi Evo 9 and Subaru BRZ disk rotor is thicker and thus goes near or even behind the backing plate position, thus for sure will touch the protruding LCA part...

The good news is the Insight LCA do not have this protruding shape.

Here is the part that is protruding on the stock LCA,
and then compare it to Insight LCA:













Here are the position where the protruding part of the LCA is very near the disk brake rotor and backing plate that I am talking about (red circle):












by the way,
one Honda Fit Racer,
had install this Honda Insight LCA on his car,
here is his Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Flyin...04752213000672

and here are his pictures:

 

Thanks for the mugen web link..

Gotcha @ the Insight LCA... nice to see some one actually installed it (the fb links).

But for the pillowball mounts, I'm still unsure... I understand what you're saying and it makes perfect sense, but those who installed them noticed a slightly more comfortable ride so maybe solid mount w/ cushion? Item9's build thread has some great feedback on them.

And are these tower reinforcement plates? J'S RACING ID60ƒsƒ�ƒAƒbƒp�[ƒ}ƒEƒ“ƒgƒZƒbƒg - J'S RACING JAPAN
I can't translate from here, but will check that out tonight.

 

Hi Fit Stir,
those J's Racing stuff is NOT a reinforcement plates,
but another version of a Pillow Ball for their specific coil over,
notice it have the spherical bearing inside that plates.
Beside I think it is for GD only and Not GE...
check the safety notes for this parts from J's racing website (translated):

I don't think it can be used for other coil over, and only for springs with diameter 58mm...,
also note that this need to be tightened on REGULAR basis...
I guess the lack of rubber make the bolt/nuts lose easier...

I don't know if a solid mount can have rubber cushioning,
because then it will defeat the purpose of it being a solid mount ???

and logic say,
in order to feel direct,
you will have to replace the bushing with a more SOLID one,
like change bushing from rubber to polyurethane on swaybar,
or this coilover mount from rubber to metal,
or change change rubber suspension arm joint with metal spherical bushing joint...

most of the time,
we just have to trust what make sense to us than other people review,
or as I had said,
other user might had problem in the beginning
that can only be fixed with a solid mount...

still
if you indeed decide to buy the beatrush mount,
and if you still choose Bilstein coil over,
I am sure you will still feel comfortable enough though...
because our Bilstein will have a very low spring rate at the beginning of the suspension travel (close to stock) with the Bilstein progressive spring...
but
if you buy other coil over with straight rate spring, (and most likely harder spring rate from the beginning)...
then I am so sure you will feel the ride became much harder with a solid mount...


on the other hand, you also must check whether those Beatrush solid mount actually RAISE the car higher,
cause usually a solid mount is 5mm higher compare to the rubber mount,
that mean you just had to compensate by lowering your coil over 5mm lower...
but if you choose the solid mount with ADJUSTABLE camber plate,
then you are looking at 20mm RAISE height... which is almost 1in...
and in my Bilstein case, I will need to put the Bilstein to it's lowest height setting to compensate
if I buy those adjustable camber plate...

 

I found a direct comparison picture of a GE8 Coil Over with rubber and solid mount (I think it is the BeatRush one):

 

I translated the J's page.. yah.. I know.
Thanks for the comparison pic.

I'm still undecided about the pillowball mounts, I think I might give them a try... just trying to gather up the parts for the next chapter (hopefully early spring) brakes/suspension.

 

Kuo's Garage EBMC (Engine Bay Master Cylinder) Upper Strut Bar

and Battery Bracket

just arrived from Taiwan

I bought them 2 weeks ago, and both of them in RED color


Below are several detailed pictures,
but I have not took them out from the plastic yet, don't want them to scratch
cause I don't plan to install them until:
1. I bought Adjustable Camber Pillow Mount (needed to clear the Brembo from lower arm and the spaced out wheel from the fender)
2. I bought Number 24 Denso Spark Plug and the tools to install the spark plug
3. I bought 1in Civic Type R Brake Master Cylinder

This way, I don't have to open that plastic wiper cover several time
and can do all the above modification all at once...
so it is going to be a while before I install this Kuo's Garage EBMC upper strut bar.

oh, take a look at the 2 large bolt connecting the main straight bar to the 2 left and right bracket, notice they are SOLID connection without any kind of flange or joint,
this mean this bracket will provide a more RIGID support compare to the upper strut bar with joint design.

and take note that at the back of the straight bar, Kuo's make a mounting for some of the hose in the center,
so they clearly pay attention to details !

but what amazing is the design of the Brake Master Cylinder Reinforcement Bracket,
it is so much better than the usual Brake Master Cylinder "Stopper", this one look like a Mini Racing Cage hahaha !



































They even give me a BONUS:

 

The only other nice "PURE" Upper Strut Bar design that I can think of,

(but without the Brake master Cylinder bracket) is the TryForce model



which connect directly on top of their Pillow Ball coil over upper mounting,



unfortunately,

the TryForce one will NOT fit Left Hand Drive USDM model (only for Right
hand drive car),

beside the main reason I bought this is not because of the Upper Strut Bar function but for the Brake Master Cylinder Reinforcement Bracket function...,


well, the Tryforce design do have weakness, cause the joint between the straight bar to the left and right bracket is using the "joint/hinges" design with only 1 bolt,
so this will have tiny movement and not as rigid compare to the Kuo's design.
The Kuo's design might not be directly on top of the strut, but they attached, holding on to the side of the strut chassis mounting housing, so they are close enough



here is the TryForce pictures:

 

Mods should change the thread title to BMW ALPINA Build Thread.

Sorry if I missed it, but where exactly did you order that Kuo's Garage strut bar from? I actually think it's superior to the TryForce since it looks like there are no hinges AND there is a third mounting point besides the strut towers (right?) As of right now that's the only one i'd consider buying that i've seen.

M&M Honda (Japan) has some interesting rear bar setups for the Fit since you've got so many interesting parts on your car already

I am going to point this out though because it caught my eye:
Will the rearward bias effect nose dive at all? I think that is a function of suspension more so than brakes since both front and rear wheels are attached to the same chassis. Incorrect?

I really like those Tryforce "camber plates" you are planning on getting. I've had similar pillowball or hard mounts before. They were not particularly uncomfortable or noisy, but they did transmit some vibrations that weren't there before.

On the subject of the LCAs, I was planning on getting the Buddy Club or J's RCA's sometime in the future, so I suppose it'd be worth it to just go ahead and get the Insight LCAs and have the RCAs pressed into those and not have to disassemble my stock ones. Just an idea for you if you decide to do that instead of getting the longer J's LCAs you could still correct the geometry with height instead of length. If you are getting the Insight LCAs anyway it makes sense I think.

 

Hi Wanderer,
All US customer who interested in Kuo's Garage product can only order through:
TDMimports Store



Wanderer,
Thanks so much for pointing out about the M&M Honda,
This is because I now thinking of buying (in the future) a rear strut bar to match the front,
but I always unable to find the type that is attached directly on top of the rear shocks and had joint/hinges
(yes, this time I am willing to sacrifice full rigidity as long as it can be taken out easily when I need the cargo space).

The J's Racing and the Cusco do have joints/hinges but NOT attached to the top of the rear shocks,
the Ultra Racing do attached to the top of the rear shocks,
but made of solid design (no joint)...

now your M&M Honda do have joint/hinges, so this is PERFECT,



it is just that it also required to buy the REAR Solid Mount too (so more money hahaha,)



but again your guidance on this M&M Honda rear strut bar is PERFECT for my needs,
THANK YOU Wanderer

anyway,
I just found out that Cusco make this quick release bracket now !!!
I think this is PERFECT !!!

so whenever I need the cargo space, I can take out that M&M rear strut bar in just 1 minutes with this
cusco quick release lever

here is the Cusco product:
Quick Release Lever Type-OS Strut Bar Parts & Products English page CUSCO






Well, I indeed test this theory long time ago on my motorcycles and my bicycles which have suspension hahaha...
I try to brake hard with rear brake only, and the motorcycles do dive a little, but it is much less dive compare to if you brake with front brake only...
but yes, if you brake with rear brake it did nose dive,
still if you combine both front and rear brake at the same time,
that mean the rear brake help the front brake and now the front brake do not have to work as hard as if it is working alone,
thus a little bit less nose dive...
also remember that our hydraulic circuit that power the front and rear brake are "combine and same line" (yes 2 line, but it is diagonal connected)...,
so when you have more rear brake bias Meaning larger rear piston,
the hydraulic pressure now have to move a bit more to the rear,
thus making the front work a bit less, which mean help just little bit with nose dive.
I know this is kinda confusing, and if you read on the internet, everybody have their own theory, so the easiest method that I always took is to test it myself.
so if you have a bicycle with at least front fork suspension,
or a motorcycles,
actually testing on bicycles is better since the front and rear brake of bicycles usually are the same type so same power both front and rear...
try to brake with just rear tire and then with just front tire,
and feel the different in the nose dive

I NEVER have a car with solid pillow ball mount, so I am going to find it out later hehehe...
I do hope I don't have to use them, but today, I spent more time looking at my suspension geometry, space between tire and fender,
space between front rotor and front lower LCA, etc etc etc,
and the only way I can do this is to buy that Tryforce camber plate.
I had email them a couple of days ago,
but they are so unable to speak English, I think they are confuse with what I am asking...
but I do find some blog that had used this camber plate,
and also by looking at the installation manual PDF files,
and I am pretty sure, this plate can accommodate coil over that used the OEM Honda Top plate (that black plate above the spring)...
This is because my Bilstein still use that part from Honda Original suspension on top of the Bilstein spring...
if this Tryforce camber plate don't fit, than I have no choice but to buy Ohlins...
I do hope I don't have to buy Ohlins because not only it is expensive,
but the standard Ohlins spring rate is 7k front and 4k rear !!!
(with J's Racing Ohlins even have higher spring rate up to 9k to 12k front)...
I think no matter how good Ohlins damper design (with that dual valve things), that 7k spring rate will NOT lie and it will be a very FIRM ride...
so I do prefer my softer Progressive Bilstein...

There is another camber plate made by TopFuel but this one for sure (the adjustable one) will not fit OEM type coil over top,... and TopFuel model increase the height by 25mm (vs 20mm of Tryforce)...
so Tryforce is better (although TopFuel looks Beefier)...:




now related to the Lower Control Arm,
the Insight Lower Control Arm, I think had different type of Ball Joint compare to the ball joint used on the steel LCA...
so J's racing ball joint most likely will not fit the Insight Aluminum LCA....

beside, that J's racing longer ball joint will actually make it worse since
it will create a little bit of more positive camber resulting in even closer distance between the rotor and the LCA.

Many people on HondaTech forum had this problem of rotor hitting the LCA after they change their ball joint to that longer ball joint,...
so for my application I can not used the longer ball joint from J's racing.
also if you thinking of combining Insight aluminum LCA with J's racing longer ball joint, I think you can not do it...
because the mounting part of the Insight aluminum LCA are much thicker than the original style steel LCA used by J's racing...
(remember steel plate on that LCA is thin, but the aluminum LCA are thick)...

also check J's racing page and you can see the special tools sold by J's racing to took out and install the ball joint from and to the LCA,
and I think it will make it more clear...

Yes, the longer ball joint is good for correcting the geometry of a lowered suspension,
but it would actually works against me in this application to accommodate the Brembo.

The TryForce camber plate on the other hand will provide needed negative camber,
and this negative camber will give even more distance between the end of the LCA to the inside surface of the rotor,
if that is not enough the spacer behind rotor trick is my last trick

I already do some calculation (simple circumference of 18in wheel and tire and degree conversion)
and I need around -4 negative camber for 10mm more clearance
and -6 negative camber if I need 20mm more cleareance...
but I think I can get away with just maximum -4 negative camber,
(hopefully -3.5)... and combine that with a little bit more fender pull...,
I think my front wheel should not rub...,
and the LCA should not rub the rotor too...
I really don't want to have -6 negative camber cause I think it would make my car look "silly" hahaha...

I was already doing research on some body shop who can make custom wide body fender,
but this is only if I am unable to get the camber plate work on my car...
which I think I should able to...

now I really need to make as much money as possible and as fast as possible, so I can buy another car, so I can afford to let my Honda Fit
sit doing nothing while I install all this custom work...
well, this is a good motivation to make more money

Please kindly Wish Me Luck

 

I've been thinking that for a few years now... really want a CR-Z, even though I'll probably wind up modding that too.

As for the pillowball mounts.... I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I saw/read this yesterday... rigid collar - Honda-Tech
thought you'd get a kick.

 

Always good info, thanks ALPINA. I didn't think about + camber being introduced by the RCAs, I am used to stacking RCAs under the steering knuckle (older suspension designs) and not the ball joint type. I assumed (incorrectly it seems) that the Insight and Fit would use the same ball joints. Perhaps when the time comes I will get those Kuo's camber plates + RCA on stock LCA to negate camber gain (+camber bolts).

Yes -6 camber will be silly my friend's AE86 had about that and chewed up inside tires pretty fast.

Thanks for links and those Cusco bar quick releases are cool! Why didn't I think of that? M&M makes a regular rear bar as well that doesn't use the rear solid mounts but I think is not what you're looking for.

Yes as far as wide body I do believe at this point you would be best to just have a body shop fab some sheetmetal flares if a serious fender pull won't cut it (I think it will). It's unfortunate the JDM fenders don't swap over to ours easily

 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...7860655&type=3

INSIGHT Discs conversion +5lug

hi i'm stanley from taiwan

 

Would this one work?


JDM Concept - Honda Jazz GE6/8 [08-12] : J's Racing Strut Brace

not sure where you would get it?

 

^^ I have that front strut bar sitting in my garage along with the rear. The rear one fits our car, but I never got around to test fit the front. I'm pretty sure the reservoir tank would need to be relocated, I still have my cusco bracket I could use to make it work.

Here is why I like the rear strut bar, you don't have to cut the panels like with the cusco:

 

The reservoir tank does look forward on the picture never noticed that.

 

still trying to sell my stock JDM rear disk rotor, caliper and pads (all PAIRS) WITHOUT the axle of course hahaha....

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...otor-pads.html

and I just lower the price,
Price updated, $350 only for all the parts for
anybody in Southern California willing to came and pick up

come one guys, I know many of you want to have your car with rear disk brake,
if you buy my rotor/caliper/pads, all you need to do is custom made /machined a bracket so it will fit your USDM stock rear axle, buy a pair of Honda Civic Si parking brake cable,
and buy an adaptor (cheap) for the fitting from your current steel brake pipe to the flexible brake line to the brake caliper. that is it.
(I will give you the rubber brake line too, so you can use it again, unless you want to buy some custom stainless steel braided line of course)

come on, help me have some extra cash so I can buy the 1in master cylinder and Integra Type R DC5 rear caliper for my 12in rear rotor