H&R springs installed

[S800Racer]

I installed the H&R springs on my Silver '02 Si this weekend. Tirerack said they would give 1.25" drop on the front and 1.0" at the rear. I measured 1.75" at the front and 1.5" at the rear. I really like the way the car looks now. Just enough drop to get rid of the tall, nerdy look.
I had problems with the steering arm ball joint. I could not get it detached from the strut. I had no trouble getting the nut off, but that's as far as I got. I hammered on it with a ball joint spreader with no results. I finally just replaced the springs without completely removing the struts. Anyone else have trouble with these?
Only downside to the job is a slight rattling noise from the front struts over small bumps. I don't know if I did anything wrong in the installation. Anyone have any advice on this?

[chunky]

got any pics?

where did you order them from and how much? I know hte tirerack.com has them for 162 + shipping

that will probably be my next mod :-D

[cazzy]

pics! :D

[HondaMan]

I hope you got he ones made for our cars...last I heard H&R had not come out with springs made exactly for the EP. The '01-'02 Civic springs are not a good idea for our cars...mine didn't work and I went with EP Progress springs afterwards (see my honda URL below in my sig for more on my spring install adventures).

[ssvr6]

That's what I was thinking. I had called H&R to see what they had out for our car and the answer was "nothing yet". That was about 3 or 5 weeks ago.

I'm waiting on their cup kit or coil overs, sometime late this year/ early next.


Steve

[S800Racer]

So I guess Tirerack is not being 100% candid with us. Buying through their web site, I was certainly led to believe that the H&R springs were made for the EP. I certainly have all the banging & clunking that you describe with your experience. I probably made all the same mistakes you made, too. What were the things you did to eliminate most of the noise? Is it worth the trouble or should I just order the Progress Springs and live with the noise until i can install the new ones?
Also, how did you get the sweet price on those Progress Springs? The Options Auto website lists them at $149.00.

[Whooopasss]

Call H&R tollfree 888.827.8881 ask for the part number for the spring for the EP then Call tirerack .. better yet call Jim 800-428-8355-364 @ tire rack.. he has been very helpfull when I had my s2000 concerning stuff with tire rack.. tell him your story and get the part numbers from H&R then the part number of the springs they gave you.. I am sure they would be more than happy to replace it..

[HondaMan]

Originally posted by S800Racer
So I guess Tirerack is not being 100% candid with us. Buying through their web site, I was certainly led to believe that the H&R springs were made for the EP. I certainly have all the banging & clunking that you describe with your experience. I probably made all the same mistakes you made, too. What were the things you did to eliminate most of the noise? Is it worth the trouble or should I just order the Progress Springs and live with the noise until i can install the new ones?
Also, how did you get the sweet price on those Progress Springs? The Options Auto website lists them at $149.00.

I would order the Progress Springs and live with the noise until you or someone else can install the new ones (that's exactly what I did). I redid the install and packed them full of new bearing/auto grease like my "How To" mentions, but not long afterwards the noises started coming back. I got the Progress springs for $127 before OptAuto raised the price to $149...one good thing about my spring install adventures. :) Good Luck!

BTW, the Progress springs are 99% noise free and have a nice ride. I hope to get the Progress anti-sway bars to match sooner or later.

[S800Racer]

Thanks for the advice. H&R confirmed that their '02 Civic Si springs are still in development. I called Tirerack and it appears that they put these springs up on their website because H&R's catalogue said "Civic Si - 99 & up"

NEWSFLASH UPDATE!!

They are all changing their stories! Tirerack calls me back & says he has spoken to H&R and this product is right for the '02 Si. I call H&R back and they say "Well, it is the same spring we sold for the older Si, but it is also our product for the '02 Si and it will work just fine." No matter that the new Si is heavier & has a different front suspension design.
I have very little confidence in this product. Call me a conspiracy theorist but I wonder if Tirerack and H&R decided they needed to cover up a mistake and avoid some recalls!

[HondaMan]

Yep, screw H&R and go with Progress...they work just fine. :)

[chunky]

Originally posted by S800Racer
Thanks for the advice. H&R confirmed that their '02 Civic Si springs are still in development. I called Tirerack and it appears that they put these springs up on their website because H&R's catalogue said "Civic Si - 99 & up"

NEWSFLASH UPDATE!!

They are all changing their stories! Tirerack calls me back & says he has spoken to H&R and this product is right for the '02 Si. I call H&R back and they say "Well, it is the same spring we sold for the older Si, but it is also our product for the '02 Si and it will work just fine." No matter that the new Si is heavier & has a different front suspension design.
I have very little confidence in this product. Call me a conspiracy theorist but I wonder if Tirerack and H&R decided they needed to cover up a mistake and avoid some recalls!

wtf.

someone doesn't know what the fuck they're talking about. or someone is telling lots of lies.

i'm almost 100% positive that the spring coil diameter on the EP's is much wider in the front than on the previous civic si, and that hte rear spring diameter is narrower on the new si than on the older one.

secondly, the drop for the 99-2000 si is 1.75front/1.5 rear, the springs listed on tire rack are 1.25 front, 1.0 rear.

what a crock of shit.

i'd be so pissed if h&r fucked me like that.

[S800Racer]

Originally posted by chunky


wtf.

someone doesn't know what the fuck they're talking about. or someone is telling lots of lies.

what a crock of shit.

i'd be so pissed if h&r fucked me like that.

Definitely a big crock of shit. At this point, I don't know what these springs really are except that they were NOT developed for the '02 Si. And I'm getting double-fucked because Tirerack is going to stand by H&R's bullshit and not offer to take these springs back. I guess I can try to sell them on Ebay.

[chunky]

Originally posted by S800Racer


Definitely a big crock of shit. At this point, I don't know what these springs really are except that they were NOT developed for the '02 Si. And I'm getting double-fucked because Tirerack is going to stand by H&R's bullshit and not offer to take these springs back. I guess I can try to sell them on Ebay.

It makes me mad when a reputable company like h&r does something dumb like this.

have you called them up to verify? Supposedly they have very good customer support.

[HondaMan]

Originally posted by S800Racer


Definitely a big crock of shit. At this point, I don't know what these springs really are except that they were NOT developed for the '02 Si. And I'm getting double-fucked because Tirerack is going to stand by H&R's bullshit and not offer to take these springs back. I guess I can try to sell them on Ebay.

Yeah, you can sell them on Ebay with no problem...mine went for about $115....maybe you can get more for them than I did.

[S800Racer]

Originally posted by chunky


It makes me mad when a reputable company like h&r does something dumb like this.

have you called them up to verify? Supposedly they have very good customer support.

I called them twice. First time I called, the girl that answered the phone looked up the part # and told me it was their spring for the EX and the "Civic Si '01 & up" (there was no '01 Si, right?). I'm pretty sure that is what she told me. The point is that it was NOT listed as "Civic Si '02". She also told me that the spring for the '02 Si is still in development. Then I called tirerack and told them that it was not a spring for the '02 Si. Tirerack called H&R, called me back and told me that after talking to the H&R tech people, that this spring will work fine on my car! I called H&R again and was told by some guy in their tech department that even though this spring was designed for the earlier Civic ('01 EX?), that it will work fine on the Si. He also told me that they might do "an evolution" of this spring for the '02 Si.
I really feel like Tirerack and H&R got together and decided that they will not refund sales of this spring on the '02 Si. They just want to capitolize on the opportunity to sell springs to '02 Si owners without going to the trouble of properly developing the right product. They have something that almost fits so they said, "Here sell this one to them".
They have ruined their reputation with me. This was the first time I ordered anything they made, & it will be the last. Meanwhile, Tirerack is right next to them on my shitlist.