bfraley
Active Member
I saw that you used Moog suspension components on the second go around after the failure? How are those working for you as when I go over my suspension and brakes, I plan on replacing all the moving joints (ball joints, tie rods, etc..) I'm planning on an Si front sway bar(26mm), CTR rear sway bar(22mm), lower rear brace, Koni yellow struts, oem Si springs, and possibly polyurethane bushings. It currently has Tokico illumina struts with Tokico springs and NGR front and rear strut bars, it sits way too low for my taste anymore. Going to retain the strut bars from that. For brakes, I just want drilled/slotted front discs and retain the rear drums along with stainless hoses. I think that suspension/brake setup would be perfect for me. For wheels I'm picking up a set of oem HX wheels (light and look decent).
The Moog front suspension parts are doing great. I have 0% confidence in almost any new part listed on ebay. I am a huge advocate of genuine Honda parts but I had to have a price break after the ball joint debacle.....I researched Moog and I believe the parts were made in Japan and Spain. A lot cheaper than Honda. Your swaybar upgrades sound good. The rear brace plate is a must so you don't end up tearing the rear swaybrace mount points. I couldn't believe the handling difference after the rear reinforcement plate and swaybar were installed. Tightened it right up. I tow a teardrop camper with my Civic so I needed adjustable coilovers to get my ride height dialed in with and without load. I'm extremely happy with the current setup. I read a lot about drilled and slotted rotors and stayed away because of cracking issues between holes. Brembo makes stock stainless rotors which should work great with ceramic pads and not warp from heat. I'll look for that upgrade in the future. My front wheel bearings started to go around 240,000 miles I think. I grabbed EX larger rotor knuckles from the junkyard and had new bearings pressed. Now I'm running Honda EX 10.3" rotors and semi-metallic pads instead of the hatch stock 9.5" rotors. Less fade for sure. I looked at the HX wheels but I didn't like the offset. Love the wheel though.....light and great for lowering room. I settled on a set of 2003 Si wheels I found on Craigslist. The offset puts the wheels more flush with the body panels and gives the car a cleaner look. They weigh a ton though....lol Great for highway driving. I took the teardrop and hatch on a trip to PA a couple weeks ago and had one of the camper tires blow out on me. The Civic was so stable I barely felt the trailer tire go. I'm very pleased with the setup and I was able to do the work myself. Just be detail oriented and take breaks before you get too frustrated. It's a great little car.