Precautions when lowering to avoid blowing a CV Joint

SiMPLV

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I really want to lower my Si, but the last thing I want to do is blow my axle or tear it in any way. Seeing how many people blew an axle or tore it scares me and is honestly preventing me from lowering my car. Is there any precautions I can take to ease my mind when lowering the car to avoid that hassle?
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I really want to lower my Si, but the last thing I want to do is blow my axle or tear it in any way. Seeing how many people blew an axle or tore it scares me and is honestly preventing me from lowering my car. Is there any precautions I can take to ease my mind when lowering the car to avoid that hassle?
Yes, only lower it by 0.0 inches.

Seriously, if you think you are typically going to be driving in condition where tearing away your lowered axle is a possibility, then why even consider lowering ??
 

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The CV boot tear is not from driving a lowered car. It is from the actual spring install. There is a sharp bracket on the lower control arm. When you take out the front strut, the CV axle drops down right on top of that bracket. If you aren't careful, the boot will get sliced. Many people have experienced this. @bahndrvr fixed his himself after discovering it. @Kon3_Kilr used a small piece of wood to protect the CV boot from the bracket when he did his install.

There are many MANY people driving a lowered 10th gen Civic, some with upwards of 50k miles on lowered springs, with zero issues. If you plan on dropping your car 1.0" or more, you will have tire wear and alignment issues if you just install springs. You need to install rear camber kits and get the car aligned, if you don't want worn rear tires after a while.

Additionally, if you plan on slamming your car, you will want to look at coilovers or bags, since the stock struts will wear out very quickly with a significant drop.

That being said, you can lower a vehicle correctly, safely and effectively. You just have to do it the right way with the right things.
 
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My mechanic friend used the official Honda instructions (attached) to install my eibach springs. Basically he removed the entire hub assembly for the fronts. But no issues with cv boots getting shredded.
 

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So this bring a up a question I have had in the past but thought I had answered. The consensus on lowering I had seen was that it would invariably result in massive wear rate increases for the stock dampers. However your comment suggests that while some increased wear does occur as one would expect, conservative drops do not result in the world ending wear I have been warned of.
 


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So this bring a up a question I have had in the past but thought I had answered. The consensus on lowering I had seen was that it would invariably result in massive wear rate increases for the stock dampers. However your comment suggests that while some increased wear does occur as one would expect, conservative drops do not result in the world ending wear I have been warned of.
If you drop your car excessively, the struts will wear out quickly. If you have a conservative drop, there is very little increased wear on the struts.
 

ayeitsmikko

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My mechanic friend used the official Honda instructions (attached) to install my eibach springs. Basically he removed the entire hub assembly for the fronts. But no issues with cv boots getting shredded.
Thank you for this. I ordered the Eibach Pro-Kit Lowering Springs and I wanted to know what exactly did I have to do to avoid damaging the CV boot. Been reading a lot of issues with that lately, so it's best to have something like this as a reference.
 

Imnotorginal

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Thank you for this. I ordered the Eibach Pro-Kit Lowering Springs and I wanted to know what exactly did I have to do to avoid damaging the CV boot. Been reading a lot of issues with that lately, so it's best to have something like this as a reference.
There was a couple of things that I did to prevent damage to the CV boot:

1) I stuck some wood shims between the sway-bar and control arm. This help limit how much the control arm can raise and contact the cv boot.
2) I wrapped a couple towels around the lower control arm to cover the tab that causes the tear. That way, when you get the knuckle off the strut, if it falls, it doesnt hit the sharp edges of the tab.
 

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Yes, only lower it by 0.0 inches.

Seriously, if you think you are typically going to be driving in condition where tearing away your lowered axle is a possibility, then why even consider lowering ??
Typical snarky forums response. The risk is associated with install, not use lol.
 

ayeitsmikko

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There was a couple of things that I did to prevent damage to the CV boot:

1) I stuck some wood shims between the sway-bar and control arm. This help limit how much the control arm can raise and contact the cv boot.
2) I wrapped a couple towels around the lower control arm to cover the tab that causes the tear. That way, when you get the knuckle off the strut, if it falls, it doesnt hit the sharp edges of the tab.
Gotcha I'll take notes of this as well. I watched videos on how some install springs and there was one that I saw just used force to knock the strut down and that nearly gave me a heart attack knowing about this issue. lol

Thanks man!
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