Like em or hate em, the Ground Control / Koni Yellow combo is one of the most popular and widely used in the Honda Civic aftermarket world. I got a great deal on Koni Yellows (Sport shocks with adjustable damping) and decided to throw on a Ground Control kit, since it comes with a fantastic warranty and Eibach springs.
Even when you think something's a sure-thing, whenever you modify a critical/safety part on a car, always check your work and make sure what you're doing makes sense.
Which, in a long-winded fashion, brings me to my point... Ground Control tells you to cut the bump stops (also known as secondary springs), and I wanted to know why.
After the car was on the ground and the ride-height was set to a point that made me happy, I wanted to see how much suspension travel and clearance I had. Doing a visual check, my shock had about 10-15mm clearance to the bump stop, which made me think I was riding on them at some points.
As a reference, see the below pictures.
My *desired* rideheight, an old-man-safe 2.5-finger gap.
At my desired rideheight, clearance from shock to bumpstop / secondary spring... about 25mm.
Keep in mind, from the previous post, that I was riding a sh*t-ton lower than the 2.5-finger gap that I had pre-loaded the bushings at.... and so my shock-bumpstop gap was also much less.
STEPS:
(1) Jack up the front of the car (using the pad on the core support) and wrap a brightly-colored ziptie around the shock shaft. The shafts are hardened steel, so a plastic zip tie isn't going to scratch it.
(2) Aggressively drive around (of course obeying traffic laws). This step is less work and more fun than the rest.
(3) Check how far the zip tie is from the bump stop. For me, the zip tie was buried in the bump stop and I had to jack the car up to see it and then remove it from the shaft.
(4) If your zip tie has clearance from the bump stop, you're free to go. If, however, your ziptie is buried in the bump stop, deeply consider how to fix the situation. For me, the zip tie was buried in the bump stop.
(5) Jack the car up (you can't fit your hand in the wheel well because you just slammed your car, remember?) and cut off the zip tie with any implement that won't scratch the shock shaft.
NOW WHAT?
Going back to Step (4) and deeply considering how to fix it, I went back to the Ground Control website and ordered the Extended Top Hats. This car is nickle-and-diming me a couple hundred dollars at a time.
Let me explain how these work, since my internet research has shown that there is a lot of confusion about these.
On your coil-over, briefly consider the spring and damper as independent entities. The spring exerts a force, and the damper exerts a resistance to motion.
Many people think that the extended top hats might change your ride height by 1", since that's how much the tophats are extended. This is not true. The ride height is controlled by (1) where the spring is fixed to the body, and (2) where the spring is fixed to the wheel / knuckle / a-arm / etc. The threaded Ground Control Sleeve adjusts the spring's relationship to the lower A-arm, and that's how you set the ride height. The Extended Top Hat doesn't change the spring's relationship to the body (well, maybe by a negligible amount), so it won't change your ride height. The top hat does change the relationship between the shock shaft and the body... by 1". So, essentially, you have an additional 1" before you bottom out on the bump stop.
Back to checking your work... you need to be sure that your newly-extended shock shafts won't hit anything that sits above them... namely the hood.
Using the body, measure the base shock shaft height:
Create some extension (in this case, a socket adapter with masking tape stacked to reach 1")
Mark the top of the extender with red Sharpie Paint Marker. I know you have like 5 of these because I already told you to go to Joanne's fabrics to buy some.
Gently close the hood and check the driver's side clearance.
No red marks above, so no clearance issues.
Now check the passenger's side
See the red mark? That's where you need to cut a relief in the hood frame (that's what it's called in the biz).
Use a center-punch to mark corners, and drill a small hole at each corner. Connect the corners using a Dremel with a metal-cutting wheel. To prevent rust, shoot it with a little paint, or never drive the car in the snow or rain.
I don't think that I took any pictures of the hood frame, but I may update later.
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