Great update! Keep us posted...I love the idea of air ride, just need the funds to justify it! Props to you!

 

i was referring to just rolling around dumped... poke wheels are wack as fuck doode.

 

Again to each their own. All I really care about is how the car sits and the wheels its on. As an enthusiast, I appreciate everyone's work they put in to whatever their build is. The only thing I can't stand are half ass builds.

Anyways, quick update (no pictures, I'll post them after everything is 100% complete, which will hopefully be tomorrow)

I'm about 90% done.

Fronts were straight forward. I had to flip the locking collars, and dremel some notches to fit the bolts and fitting. I also had to chop the top mounts to fit the bolts as well. I removed the sway bar end links as they were busted already, and I'm probably going to get the FSB removed completely. I did end up popping out the axel again, stupid new honda bullshit. SUPPORT YOUR HUBS!

Rears were pretty easy, I have 2 different sized cups (brackets) and I ended up running the taller bracket so I didn't have to modify the lower perch. I cut off the top spring mount thing to make it flat so I could run no top bracket to get lower - I'll come back to my thoughts on the rear in a bit.

I ran the lines. This was the most time consuming part of the install. Since I'm only running 2 vavles (FB only, i don't need FBSS), I need to make sure the lines from left to right are the same length so that they fill and dump at the same time. I first ran the farthest side, pulled it out, measured an equal length line, then ran the line again this time using zip ties to secure it. I didn't fully tight the zip ties yet. Once this was done on all four corners, I went through a third time, adding some protection to where rubs might occur, cleaning everything up and securing tight.

My boy John did a quick wire job so we just get the system up and test for leaks. All the switches were placed in the rear for the time being. We took it off the jacks and bam first leak was a biggie. Luckily for me it was just the push to connect fitting not locking the line in. Quick 2 minute fix, and it's actually pretty solid. No major leaks, I can't hear any leaks, and I'm not losing pressure that fast. If you are going to use teflon tape, be sure to get the tape designed for gas. It's thicker, and is probably the reason I don't have any major leakage. I filled the tank to 150psi and filled the bags. I'm doing the leak down right now. We'll see what happens tomorrow morning.

So here's the new problem. I'm running big ass tires. 225/40/18s. They're huge for the fit, I pulled the fenders to bloody hell to get them to fit. I know I can easily sit the mugen front on the floor, but the bumper/fender bracket is sitting on the tire. The rear I know I can get bumper to sit on the floor, but I'll need to modify the bag setup. Problem with this not geting it to sit on the floor, but when the bag is full, I'm going to be riding super low. I hope that makes sense. I haven't decided what to do at the moment. Thinking of either mexipoke 16s because I can lay frame, but doing that will make my rolling height super low. Option #2 would be tucked 19s, but it would have to be a skinny ass 19. Oh and I forgot to say that my front tires are touching the bag as is. Big tires, high offset is a no go for bags. If I do 19s, they will have to be a high offset as well. Well I just thought of option #3 and that would be to flare the fenders. I'm OK with this idea, but I call it cheating.

Sorry for the long post, thanks for reading.

 

haters gonna hate.

sounds good daniel, can't wait to see the end product. bet it's gonna look crazy

 

not hating g, just think it looks retarded. but yeah to each there own.

 

these things need to be done in a right way (if there's such a thing) coz you are fucking the car's geometry up.

bippu style?

 

^^^^The Evil One, always just laying his thoughts out there...I'm sure he knows this.

danielg - I would think 19's are too big on the GE. There is another member that has 19's and it just simply looks like the wheels are way too large in my opinion. I would say stick with the 17 - 18" range and get a narrower tire 215 perhaps?

Excited about your progress and can't wait to see pics! Stay the course, man! Don't let the negativity get in you way!

 

19's look dope when you're tucking like crazy, I just dont know how it'll look while rolling since you'll have to raise the car up a bit.
16's poking would be dope as long as your slammed, but like you said, it might just be too slammed to daily at that height
(thats actually the route im headed soon)

and if you figure anything out with the rear for negative camber, please post!
ill be looking under there in a few weeks when I take the fit to a shop.

Gonna keep an eye on this thread, love where you're headed!

 

x2 on the negative rear camber! =)

 

Ok here's the update. Sorry it's taken so long. Life is busy

Leak down test went fine. Tank lost some pressure overnight. Nothing huge enough that I can't drive it around everyday. I mos def have some fittings I'll need to redo. My friend who's helped me (big ups to John!), told me to work those leaks. The system he built was leak free, and would hold pressure for 2 weeks with out a needing to turn on the compressor. I think my rear valve is getting stuck open when I inflate. I know this because the rear bags will continue to fill when the compressor is on. I'm thinking that there's a piece of teflon tape that not allowing the valve to close all the way. I need to remove it and check.

Passenger axel popped out (i thought it didn't but it did), i'll fix it next week. I can't believe both axels popped out again! Damn you honda, damn you.

Because of the tire size (225/40), the tires are rubbing the bags, but only when when not full. It clears fully inflated,but not by much. When I first checked for clearance, I had set for max camber. This allowed me to clear the fender, but it totally hit the bag. Then I tried to set no camber, and it gave me a finger space between the tire and bag. Upon further inspection i had positive camber. I then tried to zero out camber (eye balling it), and that's where it's at now. This is going to cause problems when I'm going to lower the front more. I bought some cheapie 5mm spacers to fix the problem, but with that I'll be hitting the fender. I'm at that place where you adjust something, and you hit something else. Don't worry, the end result with be absolutely ridiculous.

Oh and the fucking brake light turned on. Yay for that one.

So now, here are the pictures because I know you all hate reading.

For the rear, you should not run a top bracket. Well let me rephrase that, you should only run one bracket (cup). Whether it be top or bottom, thats up to you. If you run both, I guarantee you will not be dumped at all. Even with one bottom bracket, I'm not dumped.

I decided to run only the bottom, so I needed a flat area to have the bag sit. Here's the modification I made.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5212732107/http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5212732107/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/37686115@N05/, on Flickr

And here you can see how the bag will sit with that piece removed.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5212732927/http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5212732927/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/37686115@N05/, on Flickr

There were also some areas I was afraid the bag would touch, so I cover those up just like I did the front. If any of you are wondering, I'm using heavy duty hook and loop tape (velcro), but only using the soft side. Sorry about the angle, but you can see it a bit.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5213327772/http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5213327772/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/37686115@N05/, on Flickr

On the passenger side, I was really scared of the exhaust. I decided to wrap it, but I ran out of wrap near the flange. Hopefully I don't melt the line or bag. I ran the line near the RSB, so it's somewhat protected.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5213330380/http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5213330380/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/37686115@N05/, on Flickr

and here's a quick video just so you guys can see it in action. Please remember this is the first shakedown. There's a lot more modifying to do. Air is easy to do and figure out, but it's a lot of work to do right and do well.

Click the link.

So here's the next big thing in my mind, getting as low as possible. Air'd out, here's how she sits.

FRONT BUMPER, bout 3.75"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5217310590/http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5217310590/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/37686115@N05/, on Flickr

FRONT OF SIDE SKIRT, little less than 3.25"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5216722541/http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5216722541/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/37686115@N05/, on Flickr

REAR OF SIDE SKIRT, little less than 4.5"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5217311700/http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5217311700/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/37686115@N05/, on Flickr

REAR BUMPER, just about 6.5"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5217312262/http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5217312262/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/37686115@N05/, on Flickr

For the front, I think I'm going to spin the coilovers down 3", maybe even the whole 3.25". (Gotta love adjust strut mounts and perches!). I can't do the whole 3.75" because the side skirt will hit the floor first. Plus, because of the rear (no matter what there will be rake, you see why in a bit), the car won't be flat, so the 3.75" won't look like 3.75" when done. I'm also contemplating making a rubber home depot lip to lower the look of the car, but not having to lower the actual car all way. This will happen if I find I can't drive at the height I want to be the car to sit air'd out.

Another thing I have to remember is tire size and height. Because I'm running super huge 225/40, I think when I switch to 215/35 the difference will be around .5". If I run 16s that's potentially more. So I'll have to make some adjustments to the height as well. Just some food for thought.

Now the big problem is the rear. Ever since I laid eyes on the Mugen rear, i thought to myself, "that damn rear bumper is asking, no begging, to sit on the floor." So I got it, in hopes that I would do it. As it stands, I don't think I'll be able to. The rear sits at crazy 6.5" above everything else. I already took off the top bracket. Granted I am using the larger rear cup, but even with the smaller on there's not much of a difference.

Here's a picture of the difference of the brackets. You can see how tall they are, and use that to calculate height. If you ran two of these, you might as well just use lowering springs.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5217313010/http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5217313010/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/37686115@N05/, on Flickr

So next week, I'm going to run no bracket at all. I'm going to drill in the rear perch to solid mount the bags, and then use hole saw to drill a hole for the fitting. This will give me an extra 2.25" drop with no cup. With the 215/35 swap this is almost a 3" difference. If I run 16s with low pros, that's maybe 3.5" (depending of size of course) lower in the rear. That still leaves me with a 2" difference - assuming I run 16s. So here's another reason why running a home depot lip in addition to kit would help. Getting that extra couple inches is going to be tough. I could also run a different bag, but I don't know of a bag that will be deflate lower and raise higher.

One of the biggest concerns is being air'd out as low as possible, but inflated to a reasonable driving height. I know for a fact that I can get uber low with all the tricks I can think of, but at driving height I think I'm still going to be super low. I actually think the air'd up height is going to be like being SUPER SLAMMED on coilovers. So to the dood that said driving low on coilovers vs air, this probably fits the bill. We'll know next week! hahah. There's also the teeter totter effect when you adjust one corner/side the other side is also effected.

Hope you enjoy the long post, and learned a thing or two. I can't wait to get the height dialed in and swap tires. Then I'll be LOW. When I get new wheels I'll have the fitment I want as well. Hopefully I can become the first (and only one that I know of) that gets as low as I want to get. Part of me even wants to get rid of the entire mugen kit just so I can get even lower!

Sry if there are typos and what not. I'm tired and it's late.

 

I'm not racing, so the handling isn't a big deal for me. Since both of my end links are busted, I've been running no FSB for a while. Not really a big deal imo.

And by fucking up the car's geometry, what do you mean? Any suspension mod you do is changing things.

 

I think 19s would be pretty big too, but if I can pull it off, i think it would pretty awesome. The fit would probably end up looking like a toy car at that point. 18s are OK. I like mine, but I'm not in love with them. 17s with aggressive fitment is fucking fantastic, but I dont think I can get low enough on them. If I do the math and figure out I can, 17's is where I'll be at. Now that I think about it, 17s on a stretched 40 series might do the trick!

I dont care about the negativity bro. I'll always do whatever I want for me. Thanks for the support though.

 

I agree with the 19s comment. Just a tucking fitment is going to be with no concave face and/or no lip either. and to top it off, no stretch either! Damn this narrow, high offset bullshit.

I'll let you guys know about the hubs later this week. I checked the front brake sensors, and it's the same as it was before (one ABS sensor out, yellow ABS light on). I don't see anything different. When I check the rears and drill the holes in the perch, I'll check the hub. I've read that you can use shims, but I've also read that it's welded. Trust me, if I find a solution, I'm making it.

 

Daniel you are my inspiration!! I really need to get on my Air build...seems like everytime I want to start it I have funds tied up else where

 

So here's something you may not know, but every single picture in this thread was taken on my iphone 4. So while it's uploading, I figured I'd get started with the post.

So for the fronts, I ran into some clearance issues. I had to adjust the camber maybe 4 times to get to it clear the bag. I have maybe 1/3 of an inch (+ or _) of clearance at ride height, and it sits on the bag when dumped. I've confirmed with several people that this is OK, but it still freaks me out. Will see what happens when I get a true allignment and get new wheels/tires.

Also on the front, I didn't think the coilovers would be my stopping point for me to get any lower. I have the strut spun almost all the way down, and the threaded part is about 1/2" away from the half shaft. I wanted to give it some room for travel, although some people said I can put it all the way down as long as it's not hitting the boot. Better safe than sorry. I'll probably play with it later. I also removed the FSB end link mounting ring, and spun the perch down another 1/2" inch. I couldn't get any lower because then there would be play on the nut for the top mount. This is also going to give me less suspension travel for daily driving. My solution might be to get a spacer for that. As with most things with this build, only time will tell. I might be able to get an inch out of the front - by lowering the strut and perch together. If not, I'm going to do a home depot lip to make it look a little lower. We'll see.

For the rear, I decided to run no bracket. I had to cut off the bottom volcano piece that holds the spring in (just like how i did with the top). I then had to grind down room for bag bolts and air fitting. So now the rear bag is bolted directly to the beam. There's about an inch left on the strut to spin down, my boy john think that should equal a half inch more drop. Sorry folks, that rear bumper isn't going to touch the ground

Well look at that, the pictures are done uploading.

First off, sorry it's dirty, it's dark, and there are poor angles. In in my garage, too bad so sad.

I don't have anything good of the front sorry.

Shoe size (I love the shoe test sry)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5228238414/http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5228238414/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/37686115@N05/, on Flickr

Front height

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5227634921/http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5227634921/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/37686115@N05/, on Flickr

Front side skirt

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5227636331/http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5227636331/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/37686115@N05/, on Flickr

Rear side skirt

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5227637769/http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5227637769/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/37686115@N05/, on Flickr

Rear (just noticed it's blurry sry)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5228235814/http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5228235814/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/37686115@N05/, on Flickr

And just some shots of the rear. Remember guys this is a 225/40!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5228241116/http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5228241116/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/37686115@N05/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5228242834/http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5228242834/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/37686115@N05/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5227649157/http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5227649157/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/37686115@N05/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5227650881/http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5227650881/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/37686115@N05/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5228248444/http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5228248444/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/37686115@N05/, on Flickr

Finally seems like it was worth it.

To Do:

Build top for false floor.
Possibly switch to hardlines in the rear.
Maybe move the tank, the drain plug is mounted sideways, can't really drain it there.
Put air line for air tools in car
Drive for a week and pull off suspension to check for bag rubs (no homo)

Tomorrow I'm going to test fit some wheels, and drive it around to see how things work out. I'm not going to lie, I'm scared as shit. haha

Wash and real shoot with a dslr coming soon. If I get lucky, dave might let me rock some nice wheels.

 

wowww. looks crazy! te37's look nice too

 

I love you Daniel! all homo! pm what you what you used for the bags front and rear please, management, tank, compressor etc

 

Well that was short lived. Fail for me.

John and I went down the street for a test drive. Mind you, first test drive the new height. I previously drove it to the liquor store when it was higher up.

I literally got down the block when we hear psssssssssssssssssssssssss. SHIT! small leak, turns into a big leak, i can fill and try to roll, but the bag is hitting the tire. Nothing I can do. We decide to take the short trip back to the house instead of parking it on the street. It was pretty bad, but we made it home, burning the SHIT out of the clutch coming up the driveway, and working the bumper and fender like theres no tomorrow.

Anyways, bag as a hole.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5227904915/http://www.flickr.com/photos/37686115@N05/5227904915/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/37686115@N05/, on Flickr

When I tightened the bolt for the camber, I held the nut with a ratchet, and hit the bolt with the impact gun. I thought it was tight, but it moved, negative camber came in, rubbed the bag, and that's what caused the hole. fuck balls. If I was running a 215/35, a lower offset wheel, or torqued the bolts it would have been OK. I thought it would have been tight using the impact gun. Lesson learned here from me. Yes i fucked up. Nothing left to do but order another bag (actually going to get a spare), and try again when it comes in next week.

 

UA bags on coils (aero sport i think) for the front with matching brackets.
SS RE5's in the rear, with big brackets (same size as bag, they fit but tall as fuck), small brackets (usually for MKV VWs, fit but need to modify for fittings), but now no bracket.
2x EAI vavles
1 dual needle air gauge
3 gallon tank
Viair 480 comp

The bags are 1/2" and so are the valves. I have reducer bushings to 1/4" PTC to run 1/4" line all around. (I'm not a fan of fast valves).

 

i think im lower than you in the front and just a hair higher in the rear, and im static haah