Help.....CRX Suspension for dummies!

I’ve just bought two 1st generation CRX’s, I’m prepping the DX for ITC. I road raced motorcycles for several years so the basic prep is alike, light and fast! I’m good on most aspects of the car except the suspension. The front doesn’t use springs and the rear is not independent. I’m a little confused where to stat as you really can’t depend on manufactures to tell the truth. Who here runs a 1st gen CRX or similar car and what success have you had with various springs/struts manufactures? Thanks for your help.

Give either ground control or opm a call. Either place will give you a steer in the right direction.

I'd stay away from the carrera coil overs sold by OPM. They don't come with locking rings. And yes, they DO move.

Either place should be able to set you up with a "kit" to make your car pretty quick.

I don't have a 3rd gen car, mine's a 4th.

Jon

The front is torison bars. You need 27mm in the front. OPM sells all of the stuff you need. Coilovers in the rear. A rear swaybar and some bushings for the front and back. i have a itc civic.

Beef up that panhard rod connection point. They tend to break. You can also lower your front suspension by repositing the torsion bars in the control arms. There is a master spline on the control arm end where you are suspose to align the bar when installing it. We rotate the bar to the new desired position and persuade it into place with BIG hammer. Mark the new position with paint so that when you reinstall it, you will know where to put it in.

Also, those coil over adjustor kits that don't have locking screws can be easily locked in place by placing a small dab of silicone under the screw collar on the treads. If you want to reposition the spring seat, just pull off the silicone and reapply.

Unlike the second gen CRX, the 1st gen can use shock/strut tower camber plates to adjust the camber/caster.

"woolie" - call Tom Fowler at OPM Motorsports at 770-886-8199 or go to www.opmmotorsports.com - they have a package for the first gen CRX that will give you everything you need. They've also got all the performance stuff you'll need like brake pads, ss brake lines, etc. They're great to deal with and can tell you everything you need to know about how to set up your car.

I've bought a number of things from them for my Teg since my first-gen and your Rex's have the same suspension. Highly recommended..

C Ya
Richard

Thanks guys for the input. I’ve already checked out opm and a few other shops offering civic performance items. I wanted some racers first hand before committing to a purchase. Racer-025 that was my next question, where to start with the front end to lower it correctly. I saw several places that sold larger torsion bars. With a larger front sway bar is it necessary to get larger torsion bars too? I figure there is a happy medium between the two. Anyone experimented with different combinations?
Thank for the replies!

You definately require the larger torsion bars. They are the equalivent of stiffer coil springs. We have experimented quite a lot on different types of setups on the old Civic when we used to race these cars. We have also actually used 2 sway bars on the front. The stock front upper bar as well as a thick race lower bar. Most of the Civics that we built, we just used one, but larger.

By backing off the torsion bar nuts, it will lower the front end, but make sure you don't back off the nuts too far. You still can't get the front end low enough without repositioning the torsion bars.

footnote: keep in mind that the CRX will handle differently than the Civic. 7" longer wheelbase will make quite a difference in handling characteristics between the two cars.

As always.... I refer people to the pics of my car in the tech section of the IT site for ideas. :-) (BTW The car is for sale). I run the 27mmm tosion bars at the front. Like one of the guys said, a way to alter ride hieght without using up all the travel of the adjusters is to file off the key on the tube that the bar goes in and then mount the bar one or two splines off it's normal position. I don't run a front bar, you can if you want but that's weight on the front end that it doesn't need. it also means you don't have to go as stiff int the rear to get an equivelent front/rear stiffness ratio. Dampers are shortened Koni's. (double adjustable) Camber plates are from Ground Control. Watch your measurements (Shock rod diameter and length , etc) carefully when specifying parts because every setup is essentially custom. At the rear I run a 500lb spring although you could go a little stifer and use less sway bar. I use the OPM sway bar but modified because with the mounts provided for the axle they can, under some conditions, bind or make contact with the sway bar itself. Dampers are Koni's but not shortened and only single adjustable. The big deal to me at the back is the panhard rod. It can help get you more grip at the front as well as strengthening what is a weak mount. I've seen three break before. Look at the pictures of my car for idea's but basically your trying to get some adjustablity while also making sure that the bar is parallel to the ground when the car sits at normal ride hieght. The adjustablity allows you to move the roll center at the rear which can affect what happens at the front. Hope this helps.

King Motorsports knows how to set these cars up also. Give them a call- 262-593-2800

I run Tokico Illuminas with 600#/in rear Eibach springs and currently stock torsion bars. Have an adj rear sway bar from King and the car handles very well.

OPM now sells 29mm torsion bars which are 33% stiffer than the 27mm ones or 23.7% stiffer than the 27.5mm they are replacing on my car.