More front travel.

INFORMATION Articles / Teg Tips
1

I read on here a week or so ago that you could use EG/DC forks as drop forks. So I bought a set from the junkyard and installed them yesterday. Here is how you can do it for yourself.

Goal:

You want to go from this:

to this:

You gain a good 3/4" of travel (maybe more) with this mod which is much needed on a lowered car.

This little project took me 4 hours. But I was moving slow. After I figured it out I did the 2nd side in about 30 min.

Process:

1) First go buy some forks. Mine were off an EG because thats what I could find. The EK ones looked the same but I didnt want to take any chances. Mine were $20 at the junkyard.

EF fork on left EG fork on right:

See, they are a little different shape but it happens. They are the same height and the EG ones have a bigger inside diameter. The EF/DA forks have an ID of 1.502" and the EG ones were 1.650".

Bigger dia of the EG fork on the right:

2) Measure:

Next you have to measure the dia of the brake line bracket (where the fork slips over). Mine happened to be 1.71". But they do come in different sizes. My stock teg ones were around 1.6" and the stock EF ones were about 1.8". This determines how much you have to “bore” out the forks.

3) Grind:

Now its grinding time. I used our little air die grinder with a stone bit. I tried a bunch of different bits like drum sanders, and different gnarly looking metal bits. None worked except for the stone bit. If you have a dremel with a little stone bit this will take a LONG time.

I clamped the fork in the vice and ground the top 3/4" of the inside diameter to about 1.71". I measured the ID with a caliper periodically and test fit occasionally. Grinding takes a while because the forks are very hard.

3) The spacer:

The fork is only clamping to the shock with the top 3/4" and I didnt want anything wobbling around so I made a little spacer. Now the bottom of the clamp has someting to grab onto. I took a piece of 1/16" aluminum that was 4.5" long and 3/4" wide and bent it around one of my old stock shocks.

It slides between the fork and the shock like so:

4) The bolt:

I didnt want to viod my shocks’ warranty so I wasnt about to put a little divit (sp) on the shock. Instead I ground the bolt down. I put the bolt in the fork to where it starts to get tight and, with the die grinder, made the bolt the same shape as the inside of the fork. Then I took the bolt out and made it the same shape all the way around with the bench grinder.

5) Assembly:

Put the spacer on the shock. Then put the fork on the LCA (first) and connect the shock to the fork. You have to rotate the shock about 2 degrees from its original position because of the clearance between the fork and the brake line brackets. Tighten the bolts and you have more travel. Easy, eh?

If you were greedy you could probably get an inch or more out of this mod by taking .25" or more off the top of the fork and sliding it up on the shock more, but i’m not going to try it.

If you have any questions comments or corrections let me know. Ogle6@hotmail.com

Ben

2

cool idea. i get confused with shock travel sometimes tho. if you lower the fork, doesnt the shock lower, hence the spring lowers, hence teh car lowers? the only way i can think of to increase travel is to shorten the shock body?

i need like a diagram or something showing which forces do what.

3

I had to raise up the coilovers. I gained 1/2" of travel and am lowered another 1/4". My coilovers are now pre loaded.

Ben

4

doh coilovers. well ill remember that if i ever get gc’s…

5

Ben,

check your mail sir, I have some questions for you

6

I didnt get your e-mail. Try again, yo.

Ben

7

Damn Ben, killer writeup!

8

sweeeeeeeeet… love g2ic and all the people for all the great ideas… :up:
thanks guys…
:: off to find a EG at pick ‘n’ pull soon someday… ::

9

if you want more travel, just switch everyting to air. i have about 7in. in the front and 6in. in the back. you can see it at my home page

10

Originally posted by roblopez
if you want more travel, just switch everyting to air. i have about 7in. in the front and 6in. in the back. you can see it at my home page

great googa mooga
damn that thing is high

11

i dont think thats the kind of suspension travel we’re talking about lol

i think its preparing for ludicrous speed

12

Originally posted by XDEep
[B]i dont think thats the kind of suspension travel we’re talking about lol

i think its preparing for ludicrous speed [/B]

but all that really matters is how it rides. No matter how rough the road is, it always feels like you are floating on a cushion of air.

13

This is such a dumb idea. The suspension will now collapse on the strut tower instead of the bump stops. Not only that but the axle will now also get sliced up by the end of the shock. Making a sleeve by utilizing plate aluminum may be okay but there is no precision in it. You really need the DC shocks. Also removing the shoulder around the bolt to provide the clearance that the “sunk” shock needs is going to weaken it to the point that it will break and cause to to fall into the axle.

If you are going to use the DC forks get the Tein RS and get a custom billet rear lower arm made for it.

Joe.

14

Yeah, well it works and its cheap. Its just like having shorter shocks. The axle is nowhere near the shock. And if you dont like it, dont do it.

If the bolt breaks the lip will stop it. It wont slide down. Its pretty obvious if you look at the pics.

Ben

15

Also

The dc shocks dont look any shorter. Even if they were (maybe the shaft is a lot shorter) the suspension would have the same probability of hitting the fender.

And who cares that there is “no precision” in the spacer? It does its job.

Not everyone has money to get custom arms made or teins RS’ (which are $2220, yep thats almost 3x more than I paid for my civic). I glad you’re rich.

Ben

16

werd ben
yea dood, we’re not all rich here… and idea’s like ben’s here are great to us people who want improved setups who dont have the money or the actual parts to have the “professional” setup.

17

Originally posted by tegboi
idea’s like ben’s

I think you should take peoples ideas more with a grain of salt and less as gospel. I am in no way denying how creative ben is creating something. However creating something is one thing, and creating something that works is another. And yet again I am not saying that Ben’s ideas in particular are incorrect. I am saying that just because he did it does not necessarliy mean it is good. And the same goes for Tein or HKS or any manufacturer, even honda for that matter. Just take someones ideas with a grain of salt.

:bow:

18

It works for me, yo.

Ben

19

I think it is a well thought out process for the man on the budget (which classifies roughly 97% of us)

Mike

20

So uh, dumb question, but wouldn’t just using DC shocks on the EG/DC forks work best? That way, you won’t have to do any machining or making of spacers… right?