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JimmyEats
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Is there a way I should ask a Honda dealer or local auto shop to check my '06 Civic's suspension to see if it's working properly or needs tuning or maintenance?
I'm looking for something more specific than "can you check the suspension"? Or is that what I should say?
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CarPhreakD
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I'm not sure what exactly you're looking for. Are you noticing any problems when driving the car? Any clunking noises, is the ride too bouncy compared to what it used to be? There's no tuning or maintenance on this kind of stuff, as part of regular inspection at the stealership, they should be looking at your suspension pieces to see if there's obvious signs that bushings, etc. are worn.
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Mechanic
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CarPhreakD wrote:
I'm not sure what exactly you're looking for. Are you noticing any problems when driving the car? Any clunking noises, is the ride too bouncy compared to what it used to be? There's no tuning or maintenance on this kind of stuff, as part of regular inspection at the stealership, they should be looking at your suspension pieces to see if there's obvious signs that bushings, etc. are worn.
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^ this.
If you live in an urban/inner-city environment where the pavement regularly beats the hell out of your car that will degrade Macpherson struts and shocks significantly over time. Still, you won't really feel the difference until you have a chance to drive a similar vehicle that hasn't been exposed to miserable roads, and then it really comes home.
In my V-dub days when I lived in No. VA, I used to routinely replace my front struts with Bilstein cartridge inserts at 30-40k miles. Significant maintenance upgrade. Honda replacement inserts aren't nearly as effective, however. IMO, it's better to simply replace the struts with new ones. It's not that much more expensive. Depending on where you've been operating your Honda, replacement parts can make a world of difference.
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JimmyEats
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Thank you Mechanic.
Any strut recommendations. It looks like TireRack only has one for my '06 Civic EX sedan.
Anyone put struts on their car/Civic? If they vary, I'd prefer to smooth out the bumps, rather than increase the sport handling.
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cksi1372
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Not sure if the 06 suspension (front) is the same as an 01 Civic suspension (front, again), but I just replaced our Civic's last weekend. Bought ready-mount shocks (includes the springs and struts) which are basically plug n play and very simple to do. I'm not sure about the back, but assuming they may be a little harder to do because you may have to remove trim panels to get to the suspension top bolts...that was my experience when changing my 03 RSX-S rears with Mugen's about 8 years ago.
Also, check your lower control arm bushings. Ours are shot on the 01 as well, and while replacing the shocks helps the car ride better, the car steering wanders pretty badly because the bushings are mush. Going to replace them next weekend, as well. I will probably purchase the whole control arm as it looks like a real b$tch to get just the bushings out. If you can just replace the bushings, it will probably save you $70 bucks or so per side as the bushings are about $20/side compared to the control arms which are about $90/side.
Good luck.
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CarPhreakD
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cksi1372 wrote:
Not sure if the 06 suspension (front) is the same as an 01 Civic suspension (front, again), but I just replaced our Civic's last weekend. Bought ready-mount shocks (includes the springs and struts) which are basically plug n play and very simple to do. I'm not sure about the back, but assuming they may be a little harder to do because you may have to remove trim panels to get to the suspension top bolts...that was my experience when changing my 03 RSX-S rears with Mugen's about 8 years ago.
Also, check your lower control arm bushings. Ours are shot on the 01 as well, and while replacing the shocks helps the car ride better, the car steering wanders pretty badly because the bushings are mush. Going to replace them next weekend, as well. I will probably purchase the whole control arm as it looks like a real b$tch to get just the bushings out. If you can just replace the bushings, it will probably save you $70 bucks or so per side as the bushings are about $20/side compared to the control arms which are about $90/side.
Good luck.
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The 2006 and 2001 suspension are very different.
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cksi1372
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CarPhreakD wrote:
cksi1372 wrote:
Not sure if the 06 suspension (front) is the same as an 01 Civic suspension (front, again), but I just replaced our Civic's last weekend. Bought ready-mount shocks (includes the springs and struts) which are basically plug n play and very simple to do. I'm not sure about the back, but assuming they may be a little harder to do because you may have to remove trim panels to get to the suspension top bolts...that was my experience when changing my 03 RSX-S rears with Mugen's about 8 years ago.
Also, check your lower control arm bushings. Ours are shot on the 01 as well, and while replacing the shocks helps the car ride better, the car steering wanders pretty badly because the bushings are mush. Going to replace them next weekend, as well. I will probably purchase the whole control arm as it looks like a real b$tch to get just the bushings out. If you can just replace the bushings, it will probably save you $70 bucks or so per side as the bushings are about $20/side compared to the control arms which are about $90/side.
Good luck.
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The 2006 and 2001 suspension are very different.
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Thanks, CPD. Here's a nice little comparison by Honda of 01 to 06...
http://www.honda.com/newsandviews/article.aspx?id=2005083039848
From an installation standpoint, doesn't look to be that much different or harder, in the front at least, but haven't personally done work on an 8th gen Civic.
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CarPhreakD
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The fronts are a bit of a pain in the ass because you have to remove the covers right underneath the windshield to get at the suspension top struts.
Although actually that's still fairly easy. There's a significant change in the rear suspension, not the least is that the spring and damper are now separate entities rather than the "coil on damper" crap in the old Civic. It takes a bit more time, but still not that difficult- you can install everything on a weekend if you've got all your tools handy.
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