I think one sheet of 3/4" plywood will be the most I'll carry.

 

I have roughly 900 pounds of sound system when gigging with bands. Any other time will be way less than that.

 

Last entry before the holidays. Trailer won't be built till the new year, looking at a 4 week fabrication from Sure Trac.


In the meantime here is the final video in the trailer wire harness series. Hope it helps others who want to outfit their Fit (no pun intended) with electric brake controller and 5 way light harness for a full 7 way trailer connector.

 

I've found a few threads where others have outfitted Monroe Air Shocks to their GD and GE FITS with great results. Has anyone done the work for the GK to figure out the specs of the rear shock absorbers?

Monroe and Gabriel are the manufacturers that stand the best bet to provide an aftermarket solution. The main idea is to adjust ride when towing my new trailer. I'll reach out to my Honda contact and see if there is a stock strut to take measure of. Likely though that such a part is not normally kept in stock.

The stock part# for the rear shock absorber is 52611-T5R-A02

I would need to know the following specs below. Some I've been able to confirm for the GD body based on another thread who used a pair of Monroe MA811 air shock kit, cant be sure if it works for the GK, but can't imagine specs would be that radically different between the GD and GK

Compressed Length -
Extended Length -
Travel Length -
Stem Mount Code - S4? (Stem length 2.3/8" & Thread Pitch 3/8" )
Lower Mount Code - LS4? (Sleeve ID 10MM & OAL 1.3/8)


I realize that i will need to reuse some parts of the stock shock absorbers to make this mod work. Plus the fact that if I ever trade in this car down the road I'd want to reinstall the stock shocks in order to do so. Messing with the stock suspension parts I'll likeley need to get an alignment. Those rear shims will be needed just in case!


Can anyone help me with this new project?????!!!!!!!! I promise to offer videos, pictures and step by step tutorials for the GK!!!!!


I credit this forum YET AGAIN for making me (wanting me) to spend my money so gracefully!



EDIT: Extended Length is about 24.75 inches roughly from the lower eye to the top mount of the stem. When you include the bump stop the extended length is about ~21 inches. it looks like the Monroe MA811 or a Gabriel 49237 will work just fine. i think I'd side with the Monroe for sake that others have reported good results. There is not too much on the Gabriel brand.

 

For those worried about their rear toe/camber of the back wheels of the GK, fear not. You can purchase a RED 75800 EZShim kit per wheel and follow the instructions to correct Toe & Camber, or either one!!

Here are pictures to prove you CAN adjust toe/camber of the rear wheels. You will not have any Dealer do this work for you. However, if you get a base alignment reading first, shim, then have it aligned once more, you should have no issues correcting for tire wear/tracking issues!!!

I myself have not shimmed my GK as I have no tracking issues. If I start seeing abnormal tire wear then I will proceed to do the shim job.

Specialty Products EZSHIM Calculator

The spindle is held in by 4 bolts. Easy to access!

 

I wish it had discs on the rear. I hate changing drum brakes.

 

Me too but often you only have to change them once for the life of the car, sometimes never. Front brakes do 70% of the work and the rear 30%

There have been retrofits to have disc brakes in the back, but requires a great deal of modification from what I've researched.

 

Right. I replaced them for the first time on my son's Civic at 178,000. No fun at all.

Google found this for me.

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...onversion.html

 

Interesting thread. Seems like a lot of work just to have disc brakes when the stock drum brakes are more than adequate for the car's braking needs.

 

Nice job, great guides.

Wow you're in CT, how far down in CT are you? (Spfld area myself)

 

Thank you for the kudos! I live in the Southwestern area. I travel all around the state though, mostly for the various micro breweries we have around here and the occasional band gig.

 

Ahhh you're a NY neighbor more than a MA neighbor. Good job on all the write ups, might be doing the trailer mod too (harbor freight folder) if something ever happens to my car (the Fit is actually hers for now). Let me know how it tows and how it feels. I can barely feel my trailer behind the crown vic.
On another note, you don't happen to still have the side molding install templates do you?

 

Yeah, CT is a battleground state. You wont see me taking up ranks though. I'm a non sports fan period. I find baseball, football, hockey, soccer, etc to be an excuse to drink beer. I can care less bout the teams (Honestly!) However, if you ask me about NASCAR or the NHRA, I'll be all over that drinking beer, hootin and hollerin!

I'll certainly be doing a write up,video & pics of the trailer towing once I get it in February. I've made this my thread to update on my mods.

And yes I still have the side molding templates

 

Video is half done, I'll upload once everything is on the car. Here are some pictures of the MA811 Monroe MAX-Air struts. I've been following the thread below as an initial guide. Seeing how this has not been done before on the GK, I hope to be the first on the forum to blaze the trail for others. Its a learning experience for me as well.

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...-w-photos.html

A few things:

1. The air line kit is cheap and shitty. Made of plastic, doesnt look reliable. Swapping it out with some brass 1/8" NPT compression fittings. This includes the tee fitting and includes a shut off valve to one side to prevent a "see-saw" effect during hard turns.

***Without a way to isolate both shocks from each other, one shock compresses, the other expands from the difference in air pressure from the other shock. This can potentially create a saftey hazard in handling. The shut off valve isolates both sides while still employing the tee fitting to evenly fill each shock at once. The alternative is to simply use on schrader valve per shock.

2. Will need to use the stock rubber bushings and washers from the OEM struts. The Monroe ones are simply too small.

***There is a bushing from the threaded upper stud that will need to be reused. My only concern is not causing damage to the stock strut and/or this bushing which MUST be used on the air struts. I'm still researching if I can buy this bushing separately without removing it from the stock strut. One less thing to break or go wrong.

3. Lower flange bolt is part# 90172-SAA-010 which is an M10 x 73mm. Its an odd size, my local hardware store carried an M10 x 70mm. I still need to determine if the thread pitch is the same. According to the diagram the lower flange has a welded stud, no nut. I should be able to reuse the same bolt, however the bolt is a special order from Honda. I may just order two extra for insurance...JUST IN CASE!

4. The MA811 lower mount is slightly narrower than the stock one (see below) Reusing the intended washers for the upper mount to take up this slack happens to be the perfect size for the job.

5. Tire clearance of the strut looks good doing a quick side by side comparison. The air struts are a larger diameter on the outer tube compared to the stock strut. The OEM sport rims look to have enough clearance. If you have custom tires you may run into problems.


Thats all for now. Likely will not tackle this project till the weather gets better. I need to figure out the length and outer diameter of the threaded bushing on the upper stud mount. I'd prefer to not remove that from the stock strut. I'm sure its standard. Once I find the size I'll just purchase it. Unfortunately unless someone can tell me I won't be able to determine this till I physically remove the stock strut to look at it.

 

Decided to give Sirius LED a shot. Spent $153 for a pair of LED H4's with converter boxes and H8 LED foglights. They claim its 6400 lumens (3200 per bulb) for the headlights and 800 lumens total (400 lumens per bulb) for the foglights.

http://www.siriusled.net/collections...-led-fog-light

http://www.siriusled.net/collections...-lumen-9003-h4



I'll let everyone know how it goes! Worst case is they told me I can return within 30 days minus the cost to ship it back to CA. Hopefully I won't have to do that!

I'll do what I can to compare light output. They claim 6400 lumens. I'm more curious as to the lux output. This is more important metric to observe rather than lumens. Lux is one lumen per square meter. Hoping the stock halogen reflectors will focus the light close enough to the stock pattern. The more focused a light source is, the more lux output for a given projection area will be. Supposedly these are some of the biggest H4 LED's you can buy with converter box and fan assembly.

Hears to hoping!!!

Bass

 

I found the worst part of putting in replacement HID headlights was dealing with that stupid wire spring clip that they use to keep the bulbs in place. I'm referring to a Civic, but I think they're all the same. Of course, it's the same whether they're HID or regular headlights.

 

Best to have nimble fingers when messing around with it then!

 

Got my new LED headlights and foglights in on Friday. I did test them with a 12VDC deep cycle battery outside the car first. I test fitted them in the car and no issues there.

Discovered a few things.

The Good:

1. These things I'm very encouraged are much brighter than the stock halogens!!


2. I've confirmed that the Sirius LED headlights will run on ~6-9VDC by using a small 9V battery.

3. High and Low beams work as normal.

The Bad:

1. The DRL circuit is running at a very high frequency using pulse width modulation. O-Scope says somewhere around 120hz and 50-60% duty cycle. Likely some sort of oscillator circuit with 12 volts from the battery to achieve 6-9VDC RMS.

2. Due to this PWM, the LEDs will flicker/strobe when the DRL circuit is on. This confuses the converter box to turn on the LED circuit. I've emailed Sirius LEd if they some sort of anti flicker harness. be willing to bet no...


Solutions:


1. The easiest alternative is to pull the DRL fuse and not have them anymore. The user manual lists two fuses. I got to figure out which one (or both) need to be pulled to disable it.

Fusebox A (under hood) - Fuse 17 (7.5A)

Fusebox A (under dash) - Fuse 25 (7.5A)


2. I do have some switchback LED strips that I will likely try to make DRL's. See video below for the proposed mod. They will go under the headlight lenses.


3. I could mod out the foglight covers like the JDM style and install an LED strip on the side of the foglight

***Options 2 & 3 I need to confirm the PWM controller circuit for the DRLs is BEFORE fuse 17. (ie PWM--->Fuse---->DRL Bulb/DRL relay)

If this is the architecture then installing a dummy fuse on the powered side of the fuse and running it to the LED strips without issue. Whether its to the bulb or a relay will determine if I need to add a separate relay that triggers much lower than 12 volts with a capacitor in parallel to activate the separate replacement DRL's proposed.


KEEP EVERYONE POSTED!!!!

 

Perhaps a better more cost effective solution ~~~Honda OEM JDM Disc Brake Caliper Conversion

 

Interesting. I hope they're standard parts, so replacements would be readily available.