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Complete suspension refresh for the 06 PWP

4K views 11 replies 4 participants last post by  RedCelica 
#1 · (Edited)
So with 246k on the clock, constant vibration and misalignment from a very tired car, I finally decided to start a significant refresh of the suspension and chassis.

Parts list:

All new OEM rear multilink arms (8 total)
Fortune Auto 500 with Swift springs (via springrates.com; 12k/9k spring rate)
Progress rear sway
K-Tuned UCAs (front)
SPC UCAs (rear, with camber adjustment)
New OEM A-Spec front lip (last of two in the country...needs to be painted PWP [currently silver])

To come:
Wedsports TC105Xs 17x8 +42 (NASA H2 compliant spec); 949racing lugs
Some high performance all-seaons in 225/45/17
Toyo RRs (H2 spec tire) or Federal 595s for track (HPDEs)
SS brake lines (brand?)
Maybe some seats of some sort? (Thinking either Sparco sport seats or swapping the Buddy Club race buckets in my s2000 into the TSX, but need to have a harness bar for that as they are not compatible with stock seat belts)

I apologize as I didn't snap a "before" pic before getting the car in the air.

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All the new parts. Just missing one rear bar which I have ordered

New A-spec lip...hope this one doesn't get trashed :/

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Goodbye old parts!
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Progress bar is WAY thicker than the OEM. I set it on soft for now. We'll see how she does. PLEASE NOTE, I had to cut off an exhaust hanger (unoccupied strangely) to get this to fit.

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Go ahead and make fun of my half-assed cotter pin job...it's gonna be alright

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Zero pre-load on these and raised both front and rear to nearly as high as they can go (don't want to be slammed)

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#2 · (Edited)
As she sits waiting for Wednesday for a full corner balance, ride height adjustment, and the shop to check my preload on the UCAs. As you can see, the rear has a lot more height adjustment than the front! I think I like where the front is sitting, so will propose to keep it near where it is and to do 1/2" rake in the rear (advice welcome on that). Eventually, this car will get gutted and caged, but that's a ways off. Still have some w2w prep on the s2k to do.

Took it around the block last night. Kinda bouncy (preload?) and makes a faint tire screeching noise on left hand turns. Maybe something is rubbing. Just need to make it to the alignment shop in one piece! Good news is that the steering wheel finally tracks straight and all the vibration is now gone. Even after 246k miles, the bushing in the rear arms didn't look terrible, but the ball joints were ALL completely shot. Glad I finally got around to replacing all this stuff.

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Pot hole 1, front lip 0

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So the rear needs some adjustment :D
 
#3 ·
Car finally back from corner balancing and alignment. Went modest and set front camber to -1.5, rear to -0.5, 0 toe all around (can anyone recommend a "track" alignment?). Shop suggested new tires, so ordered Conti DWS+ in 225/45/17. Tirerack called to recommend another tire for recommended load rating specs, but I am quite fond of this tire for street driving and went with it anyway.

Car feels absolutely amazing. Corners like a dream; slightly jittery but now that the preload and alignment are all right I'm having a lot of fun with it so far. Car sort of dances on the road like a 911.

TC105Xs on order from Phil's Tire. Gonna pair with 949 racing lugs and find me some SS brake lines.

Honda Odyssey for the wife coming soon, and once the car seats are switched over, I'll feel more comfortable getting the new front lip painted and installed.
 
#4 ·
-1.5 camber front and -0.5 camber rear and 0 toe front and rear are good track settings.

Ideally one has a track alignment and a street alignment but that is a pain to change every time you track the car.
A good compromise is -1.0 camber all around.

-1.5 camber on the front is going to be noticeable on inside front tire wear if you drive the car regularily on the street.
Excess negative camber can reduce braking effectiveness as the tires are not sitting totally flat on the pavement.
It's compromise.

0 front toe makes the car turn quicker but it can cause the car to be squirrely and darty cruising down the freeway.
Also a compromise.

The stock narrow 7"wide stock wheels are holding you back. Those wheels are too narrow to support wider tires for track use.
Perhaps that is your next upgrade?
 
#5 ·
I have similar setup as yours, just that my Twin CST coilovers are much softer (8/5). Perhaps you want to use higher performance tires? When I tried out Twin Flex Z (12/7 I think), I felt the car was asking for grippier tires, at that time I ran Hankook Ventus V12.

For cambers I run -1.5 all corners, as my car likes negative cambers. The downside with more negative front camber I learned is that you lose a bit of front grip when the wheels are at an angle, e.g. WOT when you merge into the lane from parking lot or red light.

My car has 1.5" drop I think (about 1-1.5 finger gap front).
 
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#6 ·
New OE ASpec lip fresh from paint shop. Mounted this evening. Out with the old and in with the new.

And a fun fact, OEM wheels with 225/45 Conti DWS+ weigh 44.5lbs.

Still waiting on my wheels from Phil's Tire. Import shipping appears to be severely backed up
 

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#7 ·
Got the email last night that the wheels are FINALLY in the US. Should have them next week or the week after. Now to decide to drop some summer tires on them or move the DWSs over to the Weds. S2000 is down (cly 1 and 3 are toast) so I might have to have the TSX do track duty in October.

Set of Goodridge SS lines ordered and will be installed next weekend.
 
#8 ·
Wheels arriving at shop tomorrow. Will pair with a set of 225/45/17 RT615Ks. Going to gut the AC (which has been dead for about 6 months) and power steering.

www.navtool.com anyone used this to project phone screens onto the nav system? Looks like the DVD for nav is on its way out (probably didn't like the new coilovers much! :D ) so I need to gut that too.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Car back from wheels/tires/new alignment/gutting of AC and power steering. Wheels look fantastic and paired with 225/45/17 RS4s and 949 lug nuts (7075 forged aluminum). Shop informed me that the belt they actually found to fit after removing the AC compressor and PS pump was for an APR supercharger (good for at least 10whp I'm sure)! The new bracket for the alternator is actually off a 07-08 TSX. They did have to fabricate the steering rack a bit, as the tech said that just leaving the system in an open loop would lock the steering out. Very strange...which leads me to my inquiry:

Every car I've driven with a gutted PS was hard to turn at low speed, but at high speed it was fairly close to stock. Here however, the steering now is still very heavy at high speeds. Any tricks to lighten it up at high speed or shall I suck it up?
 

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#12 ·
Well I've just turned this into a generalized built thread...so be it.

Last month I blew out the #1 spark plug, which then beat the damn threads right out of the head. A friend recommended that instead of replacing the entire head, I could install a helicoil and fix it without such a costly repair.

I bought this: https://www.amazon.com/Heli-Coil-He...6&sprefix=helicoil+spark+plug,aps,187&sr=8-16

Along with new seals and gasket, two new ignition coils, and new spark plugs

Old:



Followed this dude's instructions:



Now I just need to stake the helicoil and get the new plugs torqued and I think I'll be good to go.

Also replaced my old broken clips with these and it worked really well: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08CGX82SM?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
 
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