CleanGSR Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 (edited) For cheap people here's the solution. (If I had thought of this I would have done it while saving for my shocks). Ground Control Coilovers = $300 Stock Struts = Free Extended Top Hats (4) = $100 Run Extended Top Hats and go with 1.25-1.5 inch in the front and 1.75-2 inch in the rear. Then Drop the coilovers to about a 2" drop all around. As far as your stock struts are concerned you'll only be dropped half an inch in the front and none in the back so you won't have to worry about blowing them. Edit: If you want to go even lower on stock shocks then here's another thing. Since you are running stock shock travel in the rear per above then you could easily go another half inch (to a 2.5" drop) in the back......on the front that's pushing it though since you are going to have the shock travel of a 1" - 1.25" drop in the front with a 2.5" drop. So......modify the lower portion of the front shocks where the shock sits in the fork. There are write ups on how to do this and basically you drop it in the fork another inch. What this does is drops the car in the front by and inch therefore letting you rasie back up and get your shock travel back. If you don't want to raise, then it will lower you an inch without losing any extra shock travel. I did this with my illumina's and have since run probably 30,000 miles on them with no problems. In an afternoon you could easily drop your car nearly 3 inches with stock shocks and never worry about blowing them....just takes a little extra DIY....so if you don't care about performance and just want a mild-heavy drop without blowing the stock shocks then this is the solution. Edited June 11, 2008 by CleanGSR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleanGSR Posted June 11, 2008 Author Share Posted June 11, 2008 (edited) Here's a quick walkthrough of how to drop the shock in your front shock fork. I wish I had taken pictures when I did this, but I didn't, so here's the best I could come up with. This can be done with stock shocks as well to get extra travel in the front.....THIS WILL LOWER THE FRONT THOUGH....so don't do this mod without coilovers otherwise the front will be much lower than the rear and look dumb. If you are just going for extra shock travel and don't plan to lower anymore....then measure the ride height before doing this. When youi are done, just raise the coilover back to that same ride height and whoala....you have the same ride height with an extra inch or so of shock travel to keep away the fear of blowing the shocks. Also, you have no worries about the loose brake bracket. When reinstalled into the shock fork, the fork will keep it snugly in place and it will be a plenty tight fit. Edited June 11, 2008 by CleanGSR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lceah Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 genious awesome write-up! this has to be stickied and there will be less people with crazy-bouncy-bouncy cars (with blown shocks) hehehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH6TunerDaniel Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 My shocks are about 146% blown. I want to make a set of extended top hats soon. When I get suspension though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrIaN EG2 Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 (edited) that is some damn good information Edited June 30, 2008 by CT9A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dohc1991integra Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 that is some damn good information weeeeeell that is great info...however im going to ask a nooooob question... wat are the extended tophats and how ill they work? this isnt for...me...i just...thought...everyone ELSE should know ahaaaaaa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleanGSR Posted June 30, 2008 Author Share Posted June 30, 2008 Extended Top hats. Well, first....the top hat is the top portion that the shock bolts to before installing the assembly into the car. When you extend them it gives the shock additional room to travel beyond the normal point. Notice how much higher the top hat is than a normal one? Front Rear If you notice the welds around the top hat....that is where it was extended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dohc1991integra Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 so do these tophats need to be welded? or is it a bolt on? and i realized that i shouldnt worry to much about blowing my stuts since my current neuspeed springs how dropped the car so much that i cant touch the top of the rear tires...so its about 3/4 inches below the tire line so tecnically these coil overs will lift the car from the current stance... ? but id still like the tophats...were can i get them? >_< im an idiot. haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleanGSR Posted July 3, 2008 Author Share Posted July 3, 2008 so do these tophats need to be welded? or is it a bolt on? and i realized that i shouldnt worry to much about blowing my stuts since my current neuspeed springs how dropped the car so much that i cant touch the top of the rear tires...so its about 3/4 inches below the tire line so tecnically these coil overs will lift the car from the current stance... ? but id still like the tophats...were can i get them? >_< im an idiot. haha You don't buy them...you make them by welding a piece of pipe to extend them up. If you notice the weld that goes around the top hat toward the top......the pipe section below that was added to the original top hat. The top hat was cut and that pipe welded in. Doing this will give you extra shock travel by letting the shock extend past the original point. Extended top hats will not change your ride height at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TS John Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 Nate, you are my hero. This is undoubtedly what I will do with my sol, since I wanna keep it mostly stock to sell it but also wanna upgrade the suspension. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dohc1991integra Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 You don't buy them...you make them by welding a piece of pipe to extend them up. If you notice the weld that goes around the top hat toward the top......the pipe section below that was added to the original top hat. The top hat was cut and that pipe welded in. Doing this will give you extra shock travel by letting the shock extend past the original point. Extended top hats will not change your ride height at all. hey man i believe that u cant buy they but check this out...it has ground control top-hats...can u buy them? or is this just a replacement? ive heard a guy buying gc tophats the other day too... just curious :-p teeeeeg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TS John Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 You can buy them but they look way easy to fab... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dohc1991integra Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 You can buy them but they look way easy to fab... thats the thing...i cant fab >_< haha so it might be easier to buy them depending on the price than to find someone to fab it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dohc1991integra Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 thats the thing...i cant fab >_< haha so it might be easier to buy them depending on the price than to find someone to fab it! ok sooooo these say u have to use them with ground control coil overs...does it matter that i just have sleeves? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleanGSR Posted July 7, 2008 Author Share Posted July 7, 2008 ok sooooo these say u have to use them with ground control coil overs...does it matter that i just have sleeves? I don't know....that's the reason I got a set of fabbed up stockers....just in case. Plus they were a ton cheaper. I paid $40 for all 4 top hats extended from a guy on Honda-Tech. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steadypimpin Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 sounds dangerous. Maybe you should just do it the right way and pony up for the right materials and equipment to get the look you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raley Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Since proper extended tophats are better than any lowering strut, i think you sir are an idiot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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