Did you check wheel travel and trim the bump stops for your particular setup? I'm guessing you didn't because you didn't mention rear extended top hats.

These definitely aren't underdamped for those light rates, bet you're actually into the bump stops quite a bit and have a LOT to gain by by trimming and getting extended hats. Last car I setup we gained nearly 2" of rear bump travel over out of the box FCM stops.

 

the integra stops are 46mm I think, and I cut the lower section to use on the tophat. That probably made it close to 36mm. Anyway, I used the NB OEM hats for now, and I'll probably get some extended rears down the road. Didn't check the travel either. For sure there is some optimization to be done with the setup, but I really wanted to see how it all felt before investing too much time, effort and $$ on it.

 

Well you're only half way there and like what you have don't stop now.

 

I had to cut the **** out of integra bumpstops, even with my extended tophats all around.

I don't think there's a good way to "guess" bumpstop length on a DIY setup like this. Do it the right way, remove the spring, and cycle the suspension and see where the bumpstops engage. You want them as small as possible, but to engage before the wheel comes in contact with the tub or any hard parts.

I had an issue where I had guessed bumpstop lengths, I think I did the same as you and cut the first ring to use on top of the tophat. Anyways, long story short, I had snap oversteer issues which ended up being in part due to rear bumpstops engaging under track use, causing spring rates to spike to near infinite, and lots of oversteer when that happened.

 

Appreciate the input. I do still want to get these revalved before too long, as theres still plenty of room for improvement, and I'll likely spring for some extended hats when I do that. At the very least I'll be taking your advice to properly measure those stops.

 

Wheel and tire setup are going to be the biggest variable. 275s on various offset wheels have a lot less possible bump clearance than 205s.

 

I just came to this thread because I am having this exact same issue and installed helper springs to remedy it. But as easily as the springs move around even with the helper springs, I am afraid the helper springs are not going to fix it.

As you can see from the picture below, my springs are able to get way out of alignment. In addition to the sleeve wear, mine are wearing where the shock shaft contacts the tophat. I have only had these installed for 1 track day and maybe 500 street miles. I think if the wear continues at this rate I am going to have a punctured shock or broken shock shaft at some point. Am I way off on that?

My car gets jumped regularly and repeatedly. My home track is Summit Point and I run a lot of track days on the Shenandoah course. If you are going fast, you are airborne going into the carousel and almost airborne coming up under the bridge.





and here is my build sheet for fun...

 

I glued my isolators to the top hats. Has held up for a couple years and prevents the spring rubbing against the threaded body that you have pictured.

 

So, are the days of $50 collars and springs dead?

searching "Miata coilover sleeves" doesnt lead me to anything but sleeves for the civic on ebay. I see a lot of you are using Allstar sleeves and Summit springs. With the BOM going up to $900+

I feel like just buying tecnas might be more fruitful in the short term (~3 years), with the DIY billies only proving more value after you are well comfortable with knowing how you want your shocks re-valved.

Either way, just wanted to know if there are any $50 collars and springs left anywhere. Cheers.

 

Nope.

 

@capitalcrew

No as in not dead, or no as in theres no $50 sets of collars and sleeves left anywhere?

 

"Either way, just wanted to know if there are any $50 collars and springs left anywhere. Cheers."

No. There are not.

 

I found some on ebay, just not marketed to NA/NB. Weird. You'd have to verify the sleeve id, spring length and rate. Didn't look on ali or temu. I imagine there are some there.

 

Interested, any links?

I found some on aliexpress. ID seems to work at 2", but cannot find any specs on the springs.

So, i imagine we'd buy one of these kits, throw the springs away, and buy some new springs for $20-$60:

EMUSA Coilover Lowering Coil Springs Sets Fit for 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Nissan Sentra - AliExpress 34
2PCS Custom Coilovers Springs 3kg/4kg /5kg/ 6kg /8kg /9kg ID 62mm(2.44inch)/135mm /160mm/180mm/190mm/210mm/220mm/235mm Length - AliExpress 34

This seems to be a good set with 50mm ID (1.96in?), however the springs seem a little short at 160/150mm. (& the shipping is $100)
Adjustable Suspension Coilover Kit Spring Red Springs For 88-00 Honda Civic EG EJ EK For 90-01 Acura Integra Lowering Scaled - AliExpress 34

Not sure if the .04 in tolerance is significant.

 

Way back when in the early days of this thread there were several links shared of people using Honda parts. I believe someone did some measurements and the rates were roughly 450/350. You can buy some of the Honda kits for $40, it's hardly a large risk you're taking financially. A few wraps of tape around the shock help stabilize the cheap sleeves that are a bit oversize. Someone else shared a larger circlip that would reduce the risk of the stock circlip coming out. I'm going off of memory from my own research back then, because this is a 10 year old 37 page long thread.

The market has changed too much for a ~$1k Bilstein coilover setup to be as popular as it was 10 years ago. If you start going for all new, high quality name brand parts, the value argument goes out the window fast. So do it cheap, or get an off the shelf coilover IMO.

Or take that $1200 you want to spend on coilovers and get 3-5 track days worth of seat time, then revisit the question. At the end of it you'll be faster than the guy who spent the same money on coilovers, and you'll have had a lot more fun than worrying about machining tolerances on parts made with zero quality control.

 

You're absolutely right going with cheaper parts like Honda kits can work if you’re on a budget, especially if you’re adding small fixes like tape or a larger circlip to improve stability. The market has definitely shifted, and the value proposition for expensive coilovers isn’t what it used to be. Sometimes, it’s better to spend that money on track time and skill development. You'll likely end up faster and have more fun, rather than stressing over perfecting your suspension setup. It’s all about finding the right balance

 

Always good to have such helpful and authoritative input from an esteemed poster, particularly given it is his(?) first post. Chatgpt rules, right?!

 

I'm a mechanic and I wanted to share my knowledge. Just because this is my first post doesn't mean I'm writing with ChatGPT. I just wanted to help and share my experience. Chill

 

Glad to hear you are a real person, wanting to contribute here. I take back my comment above, and issue a more friendly 'welcome', and suggest that you make a post in the introductions thread, maybe spell out a bit more of your background and interest in these cars. I have also reversed your negcat, and given you a poscat for standing up for yourself!

 

Thanks for the tip. I’ll do that