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Trial fitting the rear CRZ trailing arm and wheels. There's no springs so I can experiment with different heights. The current junk tires are 215/45-17. A little taller than stock. I'm probably going to switch to 205/45 to try to get more clearance between the tire and rear fender.
I'm on the home stretch. Just need to re-plumb the brake lines and figure out which E-brakes cables to use. Stock lines are 66" long. I feel I need at least another 9-10 inches.
CRZ rear suspension. CRZ front suspension already installed.
1 - While the CRZ and Fit front knuckles look the same, the CRZ takes a larger heavier duty tie rod. Because I built the CRZ knuckles for this (new bearings) I didn't realize this till I was done and connecting the tie rods back up. After some research I found the 2010 Accord crosstour outer tie rods seem to work. They're within .025" of the length of the Fit tie rods. If I'd built the Fit knuckles with CRZ hubs, it wouldn't have been an issue.
2 - The CRZ only got the rear sway bar for some years. I didn't know this so I had to transfer the sway bar from the Fit to the CRZ trailing arm. Knowing what I know now I'd be more picky about what year CRZ I used.
This seems like such a natural idea, I'd convinced myself I'd run into problems that would make this fail but so far, everything seems to just work. The Fit and CRZ use completely different brake line routing so, I had to make some brackets and buy some custom length brake lines to make it all work. I could have made the brake lines myself but they wouldn't be DOT certified and technically illegal for road use. The lines are supposed to show up some time next week.
The CRZ front hubs are 5mm taller than the Fit hubs so, the track is pushed out 10 mm total. I'm not sure about the rear. You can see from my first pic that it doesn't seem to be a problem. You have to use high offset wheels just like stock. The wheels in the pic are 55 offset. AP2 S2000 front wheels would work as well. They just cost more than these. Maybe twice as much.
I'm using HRV brakes in the front but the CRZ brakes would have worked just fine too. HRV brakes won't bolt onto the stock Fit knuckles because of the shorter hub. HR-V brakes on GE Fit
Last edited by MasterKwan; Jun 13, 2021 at 12:43 AM.
I'm not totally surprised that this works, because the cars are based on the same platform. But for many years ppl didn't try it because part numbers mostly different. Good for you for jumping in!! The 3rd car on the platform is the Insight, which like the CRZ was low production, but more parts shared with Fit.
The Fit's steel front LCAs are identical shape to the Insight's aluminum ones - but if you get Insight ones, less unsprung weight from the aluminum. Were you able to use CRZ LCAs without changing suspension geometry .. ? (I am not interested in lowering, only weight).
I have been keeping an eye on Insight LCAs to see if the price would drop online, but I guess they're mostly chewed up in collisions, because the only ones I can find are aftermarket .... made of STEEL. Looks like if you have an Insight your insurance co probably doesn't go for the aluminum version. Might be aluminums available in junkyards but you'd be calling or emailing them one at a time to find out.
Were you able to use CRZ LCAs without changing suspension geometry ..
These are Insight arms. I was under the impression the CRZ arms were enough longer to cause camber problems. I picked these up off Ebay which is where I get most of my used parts.
Great to know. Those look like aluminum for sure. I am probably just not checking ebay nearly often enough to find them. I have seen a few but all beat up. It's OK, perhaps I will get to it eventually perhaps not
major shout outs to you, man.
thanks for all the info and pics! i luv seeing stuff like this, and people taking the initiative to try new stuff and "take one for the team''.
ive been keeping an eye out for aluminum LCAs for awhile now, as the price for them new from honda is insane. they really dont pop up often, and when they do in used form, i always convince myself to not get them because i worry if they are tweaked or if the bushings are trash. i finally found a set of brand new oem honda steel ones that i will be using. just trying to decide if to try fitting them with roll center adjusters, as im not sure about the clearance.
keep us posted on the progress with the conversion...cant wait to see how everything comes together.
I tend to make my own bushings. Out of Delrin or spherical bearings. I haven't for the Fit yet because the bushings are in good shape still. I'm thinking about big sphericals for the trailing arms. I just got EP3 e-brake cables in today to trial fit and the new brake lines for the rear brakes should show up today. Then I need to weld on a bracket and fab up some metal lines. It might be driveable some time next week. I got new tires for it but the place I use for mounting and balancing is swamped.
Was just out plumbing the new brake lines. I'll get pics tomorrow. I realize after the fact I did it the hard way. Oh well. You can learn from my mistakes
Anyone know where I can get a spool of the rubber coated brake line like Honda and Toyota uses?
I should have it on the road today. There are basically two ways to route the lines.
1 - Use the CRZ way where the lines mount to the body all the way to the upper spring perch. Then you can connect the stock soft lines to them.
2 - Use the Fit routing which is two softlines from the body to the trailing arms close to where the trailing arm bolt to the body.
Originally I'd planned on going the CRZ route but, I really didn't want to use non-Honda brake lines and didn't want to poke holes in the body for brake line clamps. So I went with modified fit routing. The passenger side is stock fit right up to the Russell braided brake line on the passenger side. The driver's side, I made a bracket, mounted it to the trailing arm exactly opposite from the one on the passenger side then mirrored the passenger side setup. It ended up being a clean install with no additional body holes.
I'm still working in e-brake cables. RSX cables seem to be a bit too long but I might try shortening them before I look somewhere else.
It feels good. I think I need a couple more rounds of brake bleeding. The pedal is still a bit spongy. I was able to lock them up pretty easily though. I broke one of the ABS wheel sensors so I need to replace it before the ABS works again. It's nearly impossible to get the sensors off the knuckles without breaking them. The older style sensors weren't as brittle.
I might see if I can get an alignment tomorrow. I kinda feel like the front wheels could use more negative camber. I'm thinking it would look better if it was an inch lower all the way around.
The stock front Fit and CRZ specs for camber are 0 +- 1 degree. I noticed one wheel is zero, the other has a slight amount of camber. The camber probably comes from the slop in the strut mount bolts. Struts really need more camber than that for any performance. "Spec Fit" racing kits usually come with a pair of camber bolts per front wheel so you can dial in camber. I don't particularly like camber bolts and want more camber so, I looked into CRZ LCAs. From my measurements, the CRZ LCA's are 4-5mm wider than the Fit/Insight LCAs. I thought I might try them and see how they work. Other people claim using CRZ LCAs, the track width is increased by 20mm and which is so much the stock Fit CV's are too short but, I don't see how 4-5mm wider equates to 20mm wider track. I ordered one from ebay to make measurements from. Have a second one coming now. I have a feeling the slightly wider LCA will give a camber gain but not a huge one.
I install CRZ front controls arms this evening. My Fit is now 100% CRZ. The CRZ control arms are about 4 mm wider than the Fit/Insight arms. I was hoping for more camber. I got it but not a whole lot. It added about 1-1.5 degree of negative. I was hoping for more like -2+.
I'd read on here that the CRZ arms wouldn't work so I was leary of doing this. What I was worried about was that I'd run out of axle so the axle would pop out of the inner cup. The combination of the CRZ hubs and CRZ arms meant the axles when compressed were about .23" recessed in the hub. Hasport says that anything under .25" is OK so I think I'm good to go. The total track in the front is probably 18-20 mm wider than the stock fit. It looks like I'm going to need camber bolts if I want more camber.
I just want to report that the HRV brakes on the Fit feel wonderful. They apply smoothly and having amazing bite. I am wondering if the rear brakes are doing much anymore?
I install CRZ front controls arms this evening. My Fit is now 100% CRZ. The CRZ control arms are about 4 mm wider than the Fit/Insight arms. I was hoping for more camber. I got it but not a whole lot. It added about 1-1.5 degree of negative. I was hoping for more like -2+.
I'd read on here that the CRZ arms wouldn't work so I was leary of doing this. What I was worried about was that I'd run out of axle so the axle would pop out of the inner cup. The combination of the CRZ hubs and CRZ arms meant the axles when compressed were about .23" recessed in the hub. Hasport says that anything under .25" is OK so I think I'm good to go. The total track in the front is probably 18-20 mm wider than the stock fit. It looks like I'm going to need camber bolts if I want more camber.
I’m going the other way with my fit; doing a CR-Z transmission with 4:68 finial and LSD. Axles have been my biggest concern, I’m going to try running the CR-Z stock axles, just hope they won’t end up to long, or I’ll have to pick up the CR-Z lower arms too
One difference between the two is whether they have an intermediate shaft or not Manual Fits don't have an intermediate shaft, the passenger side shaft plugs directly into the transmission. The automatic fits have an intermediate shaft and short shaft to the wheel. Manual CRZ's on the other hand use an intermediate shaft which is much better. This seems like a decent setup. I guess something to keep in mind if you might need to use the Fit intermediate shaft to make it all work.
How do the hybrid bits impact this? Do they space the transmission away from the engine or is it all encompassed in a standard sized bell housing?
I’ve actually already purchased the cr-z intermediate shaft. The ima housing I’ve taken all the windings out and I’m only left with the center rotor assembly. I’ve also got cr-z oil pan, motor mounts, torque mount bracket, flywheel assembly, shift cables and shift it self. The transmission is physical bigger even without the ima. Cr-z engine is shifted to the passenger side about 2” more then a fit, which I’m hoping that my aftermarket downpipe can take up for. I’m about 95% sure the transmission could be run without the ima spacer, with fit clutch/flywheel, but at that point axles would have to be custom made.
