Top Mounts & suspension upgrade

[Archbish]

Okey chokey,

I've been told my Top Mounts are going on my front suspension. What's that then?

Also, what options are available for 3rd gen suspension upgrades? Any suggestions??

Cheers

OJ

[Archbish]

So I post a serious question, and all these 'techies' with 'serious' posts who complain about 'silly' posts that OJ makes can't answer it.:confused: :confused:

Well??? someone bite...:cool

[boltoa]

Well, I can tell you what the top mounts are at least - they are the bits of metal that the top of the suspension attaches to (spring seat and shock absorber post). These then bolt to the car.

As to what to replace them with - no idea. I'm sure there are plenty of manufacturers that make replacements, often with camber/castor adjustment built into the top mount, or just get OE ones.

As to the rest of the suspension, I'm sure there are loads of options there to. There was a website I found listing about 12 makes of springs for the 3rd gen, but can't find it now. Probably a similar number of shocks makers too.

Andrew

[Archbish]

Cheers dude. I'm kinda torn between going for the Koni's, or just replacing the top mounts, and that's that.

Anyone any idea how tricky this is (last time I played with top mounts was 10 years ago on a 1980 honda accord...)

[boltoa]

I've not done it on an FD, but I did replace suspension on an Evo. Not too difficult if you have the right tools. Jack up as high as you can get to make it easy, unbolt the top mount bolts from under the bonnet and it should drop down enough to be able to get to the top mount from under the arch. Careful with the springs tho - depending on how much spring travel is, you'll probably need some spring compression tools (fairly cheap from Halfords/wherever) otherwise you won't get the top mount back on, and the spring will do something fairly nasty when it pops off [boboiiiinnnggg, argghhh, dent, ouch] :eek:. Replacing the strut/spring itself is not much more difficult if you've got this far, but make sure you use a decent torque wrench so you can torque up the top and bottom bolts correctly. You might also need to remove the brake caliper to make things easier to get to.

Oh, and if you do replace the suspension, let us know what the new stuff is like - I'm thinking of doing mine, although I doubt I'll get it any more comfortable while it's got 18" wheels :).

Good luck!

Andrew