Front Stopper Link Maxed out after Lowering?

[GSR916]

Hi All,

I installed Eibach Sportline springs on my DE5. Ever since, I have had clicking noises at low speeds while turning sharply (especially like entering my driveway). Seems like a fairly common topic, can find similar complaints even on FL5 forums. Have tried everything suggested that I can find (retorquing everything with suspension loaded, make sure springs seated right, top hat torque, sway bar end links, etc). Anyway, I am fairly certain the sound is from the springs themselves… just really hard to reproduce or pinpoint.

However, there is one thing that still bothers me… and this does not seem to be a common topic since i cannot find literally any info about it. After installing these springs, my “Front Stopper Links” are basically 100% maxxed out. The part I am referring to is item #14 in the attached exploded view.

Anyone that has lowered their DE5/FL5, what are you doing with this part? Is there some adjustable version out there and I am just horrible at searching?

Thanks!

-Matt

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[Victorofhavoc]

What does it look like when the suspensions is loaded and not near the end of travel? Those are intended to articulate relatively extremely.

For your noise, did you have spring silencers on the springs? Are they well in position? Any signs of contact on the springs or any suspensions parts?

 

[Weud]

An adjustable version does exist, though you'll be moving to spherical bearings and not rubber. Could exacrbate your noise issue.

Hardrace Front Lower Stopper Links (Adjustable Caster) for Civic Type-R FK8 – Velocity Shop https://hardraceusa.com/collections...-links-adjustable-caster-for-civic-type-r-fk8

 

[GSR916]

What does it look like when the suspensions is loaded and not near the end of travel? Those are intended to articulate relatively extremely.

For your noise, did you have spring silencers on the springs? Are they well in position? Any signs of contact on the springs or any suspensions parts?

Even with suspension loaded it seems like the ball joints on the linkage are at their limit of articulation. As for the springs, it does have silencers installed. The springs seem to unclog the silencers over time from binding. I am likely going to switch to coilovers. When I called eibach tech support the guy I talked to was a total jackass and rude, said he had never heard of such an issue despite similar complaints all over fl5 forums.

 

[GSR916]

An adjustable version does exist, though you'll be moving to spherical bearings and not rubber. Could exacrbate your noise issue.

Hardrace Front Lower Stopper Links (Adjustable Caster) for Civic Type-R FK8 – Velocity Shop https://hardraceusa.com/collections...-links-adjustable-caster-for-civic-type-r-fk8

thank you for this info!

 

[GSR916]

Even with suspension loaded it seems like the ball joints on the linkage are at their limit of articulation. As for the springs, it does have silencers installed. The springs seem to unclog the silencers over time from binding. I am likely going to switch to coilovers. When I called eibach tech support the guy I talked to was a total jackass and rude, said he had never heard of such an issue despite similar complaints all over fl5 forums.

un-click not unclog… like it unsnaps them off the springs over time

 

[Victorofhavoc]

Even with suspension loaded it seems like the ball joints on the linkage are at their limit of articulation. As for the springs, it does have silencers installed. The springs seem to unclog the silencers over time from binding. I am likely going to switch to coilovers. When I called eibach tech support the guy I talked to was a total jackass and rude, said he had never heard of such an issue despite similar complaints all over fl5 forums.

From the photo, that articulation looks normal. Both ends are tilted the same direction, so it's not "binding". If one was totally one way and the other pointing the other direction you'd be out of range.

Slide the silencer up and make sure it's pinched up into the progressive area as much as you possibly can. You can use some high strength glue under it to keep it in place.

Welcome to aftermarket suspension parts . Oems spend millions developing cars and parts... No aftermarket company will truly deliver "better than oem" in all areas. They all come with tradeoffs somewhere. I'd love to say coilovers are the easy answer, but I've done everything from basic b bilstein pss10 and ohlins to high end moton/ast on other cars and they are okay as long as you don't change anything else on the suspension. The more expensive the coilover and the more adjustment it has, the more time it takes to setup, tune, and get right. My last mcs setup took almost a year to get right and the first 6mo the car was nearly undrivable... I got great support, but shipping coils back and forth leaves your car stranded on a lift a lot.

The response and tone you got from eibach is fairly consistent with almost all of them. Last time I got a custom kit from ground control they were convinced my factory new gti actually had the suspension from the rs3 and that's why 70% of their kit didn't fit. I ended up having to trim collars, buy my own metric bolts from ace, and they shipped me helper collars on 3 occasions with one being entirely custom cut. All in, I dropped over $10k on suspension parts on my gti via 3 different spring kits and two coilover kits before I gave up, sold it, and got the its. The factory its suspension is more aggressive than the bilstein pss10 I had at one point...

 

[GSR916]

Well, it seems the clicking/popping issue I had when turning at slow speeds and going over a bump (I.e entering my driveway at an angle) was definitely coming from the eibach Sportline springs.
These came with spring silencers already installed and glued in place when I got them. Since the last time I looked, I can now actually see the points of contact on the springs… and the silencer was not in the ideal location. I had to basically slide it down the spring about 3”… used a heat gun to remelt the glue to hold in place.

No more clicking/popping sounds, and no longer suspicious of the front stopper link. Thank you for the help!

 

[optronix]

Yeah I've experienced similar issues but I have the Pro-kit. It seems to have solved itself because I don't hear it anymore... or perhaps just don't notice it.

I've been flirting with the idea of coilovers since before I bought these springs. I'm not sure if it's the right move or not. I'm itching to try out this DSC controller I've had installed over the winter but if I'm not blown away I'll move to coilovers eventually.

I've also started investigating roll-center correction as I've started to notice bump steer, but honestly haven't gotten very far because this suspension design is so "bespoke". Can someone explain it to me like I'm 5 years old? Let's just reference this part right here- does this replace the tie rod end? Or the ball joint? It's for the FK8 but presumably also works for the FL5/DE5:

https://whitelineperformance.com/us...-honda-civic-type-r-10th-gen-9986-kca525.html

 

[Victorofhavoc]

Yeah I've experienced similar issues but I have the Pro-kit. It seems to have solved itself because I don't hear it anymore... or perhaps just don't notice it.

I've been flirting with the idea of coilovers since before I bought these springs. I'm not sure if it's the right move or not. I'm itching to try out this DSC controller I've had installed over the winter but if I'm not blown away I'll move to coilovers eventually.

I've also started investigating roll-center correction as I've started to notice bump steer, but honestly haven't gotten very far because this suspension design is so "bespoke". Can someone explain it to me like I'm 5 years old? Let's just reference this part right here- does this replace the tie rod end? Or the ball joint? It's for the FK8 but presumably also works for the FL5/DE5:

https://whitelineperformance.com/us...-honda-civic-type-r-10th-gen-9986-kca525.html

Got you.

Look under your car from the front and look for the lower metal arm that goes to the hub. You want that arm to be either flat or pointed slightly downwards. When you lower a car, often that arm goes from parallel to pointing up. That changes roll center, which is often moved too far when a car is lowered.

When you're 10,
When that arm is in a neutral position, that's your static camber. As it gets loaded it will transition from arm pointing down to arm flat, which increases negative camber. Then beyond that it goes from arm flat to arm pointing up and starts to gain positive camber. Max tire contact in a lateral g scenario will likely occur around the arm flat to slightly positive scenario. This is why a beefy front bar helps maintain grip on a fwd mcstrut car. It prevents too much positive camber gain. What happens when you start out with the arm already flat or pointing up?.. You get only positive camber gain and you're definitely going to get some compression...

The solution? Increase static camber and expect the reduced straight line grip, but have lateral grip for days. Raise the car, but people like low and that hurts aero. Or add a ball joint that increases distance to the lower arm and drops it closer to the ground to get back to a parallel or below parallel state.

There's your mcstrut crash course . It gets much deeper into setup that I can give you some great articles on, but they are DENSE reads.

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