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Rick, the OEM strut is on backorder from the Honda warehouse. I can't wait that long. I ordered a replacement KYB Excel G strut from rockauto for $67. It says it fits 15 and 16 model year Fit's, so i'm hoping it's fine. If i notice a difference, i'll replace the other front strut as well. Either way, one OEM strut was going to be $160 + shipping, so I can replace both for less than that. I paid for 2 day shipping, should be here Wednesday to install that night.
I purposely hit some large bumps on the way to work today and got the rear to bottom out. I did not install the eibach supplied bump stops though, as I am missing the dust boots. I have a feeling that will fix the issue because the bump stops are substantially shorter than OEM, which should give more stroke. That will be on the agenda for this weekend. I won't give anymore feedback yet, since i'm still on a 3 legged setup, haha. Everything seems great so far tho.
Aftermarket strut is on the way still, but decided to try to make the OEM one work. We're going to weld a piece to the top of the strut to be able to break the nut free. I turned down a piece at work so a ratchet wrench should still fit over it after we tack weld it to the strut rod. If not and we weld it crooked, we'll just cut if off after we break the nut free. So basically I'm going to weld my own hex key socket to the top of my strut tower, hahaha. COME AT ME HONDA!
I'll report in tonight, hopefully with pictures of the drop once I am successful.
I also ordered dust boots from Eibach.. $13.99 each plus shipping.. ouch. Still saved $50 or so by buying the springs on eBay though. Those should be here Thursday, and then this weekend I will install the bumpstops and dust boots on the rear.
I'm taking it to the dealer tomorrow to make a case for them having to give me a new strut. I looked up torque specs and it should be 33 ft/lbs. Obviously it is either cross threaded or torqued to 3,333 ft/lbs.
Where do you get those 15% off coupons? Damn that's a good deal...
This is what it took to get it off. Luckily everything is fairly soft. It was cross threaded from what my eye sees.
Car looks great. I’ll post pics tomorrow after I give her a good wash. I’m feeling much better this Friday than I was last Friday.
KYB Excel G strut fit up just fine to replace the oem one we cut. I replaced the top nut pictured and the wave washer that goes underneath it. $28 from the dealership. So basically $122 to fix Honda’s mistake. I’ll be calling customer service to complain but I don’t expect to get anything out of it.
yep, unless it was cross threaded shouldnt need to do dis. you can thank da mexicans for dat.
well, da factory is flooded (karma) so hope dat makes u feel better. lol
GJ take it off, hope the rest of the project went smoothly. GJ!!
Car looks great. I’ll post pics tomorrow after I give her a good wash. I’m feeling much better this Friday than I was last Friday.
KYB Excel G strut fit up just fine to replace the oem one we cut. I replaced the top nut pictured and the wave washer that goes underneath it. $28 from the dealership. So basically $122 to fix Honda’s mistake. I’ll be calling customer service to complain but I don’t expect to get anything out of it.
Tough break; glad you got it worked out. I look forward to those pics and your driving impressions. My Eibachs will be here on Monday...
well, it was a good outcome. I do hope honda feels bad and gives ya some money or vouchers or something. cant wait to see the car with all 4 corners on springs/new struts
Living that low life. Actually got two compliments today at Discount Tire when I stopped by to have them check my pressures. I love it. Next is HFP wing and mugen mid wing. Also want an exhaust but just for looks. This is not a race car. I have the CVT and it is a practical Honda that I love the shape of. No intentions of making it go fast in the short term.
Baby will be here the end of October, so need to get this yellow roller skate looking how I want before then! I have a baby on board sticker ready to slap on it.
Anyway, here’s a pic of how she sits. Which, IMO, is perfect.
Living that low life. Actually got two compliments today at Discount Tire when I stopped by to have them check my pressures. I love it. Next is HFP wing and mugen mid wing. Also want an exhaust but just for looks. This is not a race car. I have the CVT and it is a practical Honda that I love the shape of. No intentions of making it go fast in the short term.
Baby will be here the end of October, so need to get this yellow roller skate looking how I want before then! I have a baby on board sticker ready to slap on it.
Anyway, here’s a pic of how she sits. Which, IMO, is perfect.
In the immortal words of Chuck D, "Bass, how low can you go? Death row. What a brother know. Once again, back is the incredible..."
The car looks great. Looks like it's low enough without being too low. I presume there is no tire rubbing? Congratulations on the baby. However, if you "slap" a baby on board sticker on your car I may have to come slap you...
Thanks Rick. You are correct no rubbing. I do need to install the Eibach provided bumpstops and dust boots in the rear. There is no noises or issues when it's just me and my wife in the car, but I was running errands with my mother in law in the back and on bad roads the rear was bottoming out. Unfortunately, the dust boots I ordered from Eibach came on Saturday... but they're bumpstops. So something got mixed up during my phone call with them, and they're not open until Monday. I already had the bumpstops, but the eBayer i bought the springs off of had misplaced the dust boots.
The whole car feels much more solid and planted. I'm very happy with Eibach. I had H&R Sport springs on my 93 Hatch which I loved, and these Eibachs are just as nice. I had Tein S-Tech on my CRX and they road a little too stiff for my liking. The Eibach's let you feel the road and keep the body more stable, but at the same time they're not murdering you over poor roads.
Eibach is making good on their mistake. There was an error at the warehouse, and they are overnight shipping the correct dust boots to me. +1 for customer service. I don't think people realize that if this was a no-name Taiwan brand there's not much to be had - hopefully they have a US rep, that's about it. That's why we need to support the brands that support us.
Second item... how do we all feel about wrapping the rear tail garnish in metallic red? I got the idea from the Spoon Fit... and I'm really liking it. I'm also considering the Mugen tailgate garnish, but that's obviously a bit pricier than just wrapping my existing one. Here's a pic from the Spoon build thread... thoughts?
