Lifting a wagon for dummies
503Wagon
moderator
Lifting a 1988 RT4WD Honda Civic Wagon For Dummies
Alright, I am going to do my best to give you all the necessary parts to buy as well as some ones I would recommend to do the job "right". I'll include estimated costs and I'll put together a rough "tools required" list for the install. This should make it an easy 3-4 hour garage install for anybody else who wants to lift their civic wagon.
PARTS LIST
DA (1990-1993) Integra REAR suspension. ~$60 from a u-pull yard.
DA (1990-1993) Integra REAR LCA's (Lower control arms) ~$25 from a u-pull yard
EF/EG CIvic REAR UPPER adjustable camber arm. I used an EG arm because I had one and it fit. I'm not sure if EK arms are the same. ~$75-$150 depends which one you want. (mod edit - EF, DA, EK, DC and DB are all the same so any will work)
1990-1993 Honda Accord FRONT suspension. ~$60 from a u-pull yard
Four new 12x1.25 bolts to replace the ones that bolt the REAR trailing arm to the frame. Honda apparently uses grade 10, I used grade 8 because I've never had that grade fail on me. ~5$ per bolt. $20 total.
Poly bushing kit from local parts store (need 1"-1.5" worth of bushing per bolt, four bolts total) ~$25 for two kits. That was enough to do all four bolts.
Steel tube wide enough to just let your four new bolts slide through. This tube will be shoved down the middle of the bushings so they will not just crush when the suspension moves. ~$2 for a small section of steel pipe from local hardware store.(I'll post pictures of my home made bushing setup when I do my drivers side over again)
RECOMMENDED PARTS
Adjustable upper control arm for an EF civic. $75-$150 depending on brand/style. I recommend this because it will give you camber adjustment when alignment time comes. I'll be purchasing this soon.
Longer brake lines or stainless lines. Price all depends on what you choose to do. This is not needed bit recommended if your brake lines look trashed like mine lol.
TOOLS NEEDED
Jack
Jack stands
Basic socket set
Ratchets
Wrench set
Breaker bar/cheater bar
BFH (big fucking hammer)
Pry bar
Cutoff wheel/hack saw
That's all I think of off the top of my head, I'll add more as I think of them.
Once you have got all the necessary items for the lift, its tear down time. I started in the rear. I have an 88 RT wagon so i had to replace the lower control arm as well. I am not sure if the integra lca is necessary on the 89-91 wagon or not. I had to notch the lca to get the strut to fit, just used a cut off wheel to cut a notch in the lca. You need to detach the trailing arm from the frame. there are two bolts going up into the frame, take those completely out. Then detach the upper arm from the hub Next you can take out the suspension. install the DA suspension and bolt in the lca.
This is where i recommend the adjustable upper camber arm.
Now its time to put those bushings in. I'll get detailed pictures of how i made mine when i make my other two soon.
once you get everything tightened up you're done. the rear is super easy. On to the front we go.
FIrst you need to start by compressing the springs on the accord suspension because you have to swap over the top hat from your wagon strut. i recommend using 3 spring compressors because the spring wants to sway/twist with only two.
once you have it compressed enough just undo the top screw and swap the top hats over. remember you must remove the rubber on the underside of the wagon top hat. the accord top hat is slightly bigger than the wagon so the rubber has to go before it will fit.
Now that the top hats are switched, you basically need to take EVERYTHING loose on the front. Take the sway bar loose first.
next take the bar that connects the LCA to the front subframe
next you can release the upper joint. you're going to need a BFH (big fucking hammer) to beat on the upper join until it releases..
now that all of that is loose you can install the accord/wagon hybrid front suspension. once you have it bolted in on top. re-attach the upper ball first. then re-attach the front bar. then finally hook the front sway bar back up. look at that, you're done and you have a ~2.5" lifted wagon!
It's your call wether or not you put an adjustable upper control arm on the front or upgrade your brake lines...i have not done either yet but i plan on it very soon. if there are any questions/comments or you need/want a photo let me know. I may have it, if not i can take some. I'll continue to update this post if i run into any issues.
I also recommend when you finish this you check your bushings frequently. I have no idea how quickly some of the worn out bushings in the suspension will wear out for good with the lift.
Updated with before and after photos. Some pix of Jane before the lift on regular RT wheels
And lifted with regular RT wheels.
And photos with 15" wheels and 205/65 tires on her. I'd wager to say this is as big of wheel/tire combo you can do without rubbing.
Alright, I am going to do my best to give you all the necessary parts to buy as well as some ones I would recommend to do the job "right". I'll include estimated costs and I'll put together a rough "tools required" list for the install. This should make it an easy 3-4 hour garage install for anybody else who wants to lift their civic wagon.
PARTS LIST
DA (1990-1993) Integra REAR suspension. ~$60 from a u-pull yard.
DA (1990-1993) Integra REAR LCA's (Lower control arms) ~$25 from a u-pull yard
EF/EG CIvic REAR UPPER adjustable camber arm. I used an EG arm because I had one and it fit. I'm not sure if EK arms are the same. ~$75-$150 depends which one you want. (mod edit - EF, DA, EK, DC and DB are all the same so any will work)
1990-1993 Honda Accord FRONT suspension. ~$60 from a u-pull yard
Four new 12x1.25 bolts to replace the ones that bolt the REAR trailing arm to the frame. Honda apparently uses grade 10, I used grade 8 because I've never had that grade fail on me. ~5$ per bolt. $20 total.
Poly bushing kit from local parts store (need 1"-1.5" worth of bushing per bolt, four bolts total) ~$25 for two kits. That was enough to do all four bolts.
Steel tube wide enough to just let your four new bolts slide through. This tube will be shoved down the middle of the bushings so they will not just crush when the suspension moves. ~$2 for a small section of steel pipe from local hardware store.(I'll post pictures of my home made bushing setup when I do my drivers side over again)
RECOMMENDED PARTS
Adjustable upper control arm for an EF civic. $75-$150 depending on brand/style. I recommend this because it will give you camber adjustment when alignment time comes. I'll be purchasing this soon.
Longer brake lines or stainless lines. Price all depends on what you choose to do. This is not needed bit recommended if your brake lines look trashed like mine lol.
TOOLS NEEDED
Jack
Jack stands
Basic socket set
Ratchets
Wrench set
Breaker bar/cheater bar
BFH (big fucking hammer)
Pry bar
Cutoff wheel/hack saw
That's all I think of off the top of my head, I'll add more as I think of them.
Once you have got all the necessary items for the lift, its tear down time. I started in the rear. I have an 88 RT wagon so i had to replace the lower control arm as well. I am not sure if the integra lca is necessary on the 89-91 wagon or not. I had to notch the lca to get the strut to fit, just used a cut off wheel to cut a notch in the lca. You need to detach the trailing arm from the frame. there are two bolts going up into the frame, take those completely out. Then detach the upper arm from the hub Next you can take out the suspension. install the DA suspension and bolt in the lca.
This is where i recommend the adjustable upper camber arm.
Now its time to put those bushings in. I'll get detailed pictures of how i made mine when i make my other two soon.
once you get everything tightened up you're done. the rear is super easy. On to the front we go.
FIrst you need to start by compressing the springs on the accord suspension because you have to swap over the top hat from your wagon strut. i recommend using 3 spring compressors because the spring wants to sway/twist with only two.
once you have it compressed enough just undo the top screw and swap the top hats over. remember you must remove the rubber on the underside of the wagon top hat. the accord top hat is slightly bigger than the wagon so the rubber has to go before it will fit.
Now that the top hats are switched, you basically need to take EVERYTHING loose on the front. Take the sway bar loose first.
next take the bar that connects the LCA to the front subframe
next you can release the upper joint. you're going to need a BFH (big fucking hammer) to beat on the upper join until it releases..
now that all of that is loose you can install the accord/wagon hybrid front suspension. once you have it bolted in on top. re-attach the upper ball first. then re-attach the front bar. then finally hook the front sway bar back up. look at that, you're done and you have a ~2.5" lifted wagon!
It's your call wether or not you put an adjustable upper control arm on the front or upgrade your brake lines...i have not done either yet but i plan on it very soon. if there are any questions/comments or you need/want a photo let me know. I may have it, if not i can take some. I'll continue to update this post if i run into any issues.
I also recommend when you finish this you check your bushings frequently. I have no idea how quickly some of the worn out bushings in the suspension will wear out for good with the lift.
Updated with before and after photos. Some pix of Jane before the lift on regular RT wheels
And lifted with regular RT wheels.
And photos with 15" wheels and 205/65 tires on her. I'd wager to say this is as big of wheel/tire combo you can do without rubbing.
Comments
YeH I'll get them posted. I passed out before I got to adding them.
oh wait this one is very useful on here ....
yall figure it out one day
nice write up on it 503wagon, now everyone needs to lift there wagon and have some fun
now one of us needs to get serious about lifting a civic and do this
it was my buddys 89 Subaru wagon when we were lifting it and putting it on yota axles with 35in tires
Link:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2185291/1988-honda-civic
It sure does look like it would give you a little bit... and help with that clearance issue 503Wagon had that required all the cutting. Still not sure why he had to cut and others didn't though.
Maybe I'll try pulling mine out and flipping them over sometime to see what it looks like...that's a real quick easy job...
Your picture and description made it look a bit more drastic than a slight grinding down with a grinding wheel...
im running 2 1/2 inch from Cat all the way to a Flow Master that has a dump truck stack welded on it ....
:shock:
How's your lift holding up? Blown out any bushings yet? I'm replacing my front sway bar bushings soon cuz they look hella haggard.
but i have these end links to install....
Im hoping to find more yellow bushings for our wagons..... up not i did find this...
Front
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/08-09-10-WRX-Whiteline-19mm-Front-Sway-Bar-Bushings-/250616088826?pt=Race_Car_Parts&hash=item3a59e208fa
Rear
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Sway-Bar-Bushing-BLUE-THERMOPLASTIC-SET-2-NEW-16-MM-/150590694181?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item230fe7a325
Still looking to find a stock wagon to park and take pictures with.
Do it!!