4X4 tweak attempt idea, Honda Civic turned off road?

[PrairieDawg]

Re: 4X4 tweak attempt idea, Honda Civic turned off road?

20 or so years ago when I was in the automotive repair business we used to see a lot of vehicles "jacked up" useing air shocks. The shock bracket was then forced to hold all of the weight rather than the spring assembly. The end result was that the shock brackets would break off.

[casecutter]

Re: 4X4 tweak attempt idea, Honda Civic turned off road?

Airbags are incredible for temporarily jacking up something. It uses the spring mounts and actually holds the load properly. But jacking up the front suspension would really mess up the steering geometry to the point of it could be very dangerous to drive the vehicle.

[badasscivicbuilder]

Re: 4X4 tweak attempt idea, Honda Civic turned off road?

ok look! the swap from a 4th gen wagon awd to a 4th gen 4dr, crx, or hatch is really not all that hard. You will need the whole 4wd car to start out with. Then you will need to junk the whole rear suspension off your car. You will need to swap in the 4wd tranny (it bolts right up), as it has a transfer case built into it for the rear driveline. You will need to have a driveshaft shop make you a driveline. Then with very little cutting and weldilg you will need to put in the whole rear suspension and diff. Its not all that hard and it can be done. A custom exhaust will be needed as well. also to solve the simple ground clearance issue, adjustable coilovers turned all the way up.

[[email protected]]

Re: 4X4 tweak attempt idea, Honda Civic turned off road?

When will this thread ever end?

Why don't you just go down and buy yourself a truck. It's about the same cost as all those mods and it will save you a heck of a lot of time!

The End.

[casecutter]

Re: 4X4 tweak attempt idea, Honda Civic turned off road?

ok look! the swap from a 4th gen wagon awd to a 4th gen 4dr, crx, or hatch is really not all that hard. You will need the whole 4wd car to start out with. Then you will need to junk the whole rear suspension off your car. You will need to swap in the 4wd tranny (it bolts right up), as it has a transfer case built into it for the rear driveline. You will need to have a driveshaft shop make you a driveline. Then with very little cutting and weldilg you will need to put in the whole rear suspension and diff. Its not all that hard and it can be done. A custom exhaust will be needed as well. also to solve the simple ground clearance issue, adjustable coilovers turned all the way up.

Why in the hell would you even waste all that time when you can either buy that car and drive it (the 4wd one) even though that 4WD system is complete **** offroad and you'll get stuck on the first rock/mud puddle, or you can just buy something new with real 4WD and a 4CLY for economy.

This entire idea is STUPID AND WORTHLESS!!!!! Why would anyone every spend that much on a Honda car for offroad that won't be even remotely competent for offroad? There is a reason you don't drive cars offroad. THEY CAN'T!!!!

I wonder how many other dumasses will register to post in this stupid thread.

PS: Don't forget the Honda fartcan muffler. A Honda is not a Honda without a fartcan........

[Aguiluz]

Re: 4X4 tweak attempt idea, Honda Civic turned off road?

AGREED with casecutter. A car is a car. It will not be a 4x4 no matter what.

[mutantroosta]

Re: 4X4 tweak attempt idea, Honda Civic turned off road?

i dont see why you couldnt mess with a civic, i take mine one off road a bit and its quite good off road when you have mud tyres/tires attached, i have a set of 4 firestond "sherpers" or something like that

im also planning on doing what some would call impossable... driving it up a mountain path that no 2x4 has been before... unless you count bulldozers and the like...

ill have atleast one 4x4 for support... with any luck ill also have video footage to upload to youtube to show what happened


my civic is a slightly modified 1976 eb 3door, with the chrome bumpers, GT style bonnet/hood, used to be 1100cc 2 speed h-matic on 12 inch rims , itsnow a 1600cc 5 speed on 13 inch rims
ive also removed the rear seat for a future custom job ill be werking on in the summer

ok ill quit boring you now

[noobee]

Re: 4X4 tweak attempt idea, Honda Civic turned off road?

Zephir, I have three running 2wd 88-91 civic wagons and with some help, next year plan to demount them and make one good one and store the extra parts -- they all sit too low for the roads we have.
I am looking at a good alternative to their existing suspension, and anyway, all 3 floors are rotten.
My neighbour's brother has several suzuki jeeps including one needing a new motor so I am wondering what frame length and other requirements I am looking at to pop my best motor/trans and body parts on such a frame -- what years of CJ5 (jeep/amc/??) and other models are candidates?

Could you point me to some further reading either on the internet or something I can buy to get me started?

(I am also trying to find out what after market components would be required to upgrade to on-road AWD/4x4 using my existing 1.5L's and what might be cheap/smart pre-investments should I want to go further than upgrading the suspension later on)

Why not just get the chasis from a CJ5 and drop your civic shell on it. You can work the mounts on it from there....unless you start thinking of that Samurai jeep frame and I won't tell anyone.

[xXRaMpAgE611Xx]

Re: 4X4 tweak attempt idea, Honda Civic turned off road?

So I know this is an old thread but I came across it on google. I just had to let you guys that doubted it know this. YouTube - Wagon Attack 2 (if the link doesn't work just look up wagon attack 2) btw that's a stock Honda single cam, with a turbo, 99-00 si springs(gave it a 1 in. lift) but you could look all this up for yourself.

[casecutter]

Re: 4X4 tweak attempt idea, Honda Civic turned off road?

Noone ever said it couldn't be done, it was said how EXPENSIVE it would be. That car in the video probably has $20K+ dumped into it or it would not be able to handle that abuse at all. Those cars were not tough or able to handle abuse even when new.

[xXRaMpAgE611Xx]

Re: 4X4 tweak attempt idea, Honda Civic turned off road?

Oh quite the contrary, you are very wrong. Updates on my AWD turbo wagon! - Honda-Tech (<---there's a link to his car details on Honda tech. You will notice the few mods that he has are mostly 2nd hand oem Honda parts lol) you may also be interested in watching the making of the video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFuy0jYIT7Y&sns=em

[casecutter]

Re: 4X4 tweak attempt idea, Honda Civic turned off road?

Yay, you win.

[xXRaMpAgE611Xx]

Re: 4X4 tweak attempt idea, Honda Civic turned off road?

Yay, you win.

Yay me

[j.andrea]

Re: 4X4 tweak attempt idea, Honda Civic turned off road?

Would be nice as I love off road'n and I love my Honda Civic DX (2 door, 2 door Hatchback). I took it off road all over the Inyo Forest this summer. Looking for a Tacoma or 4 Runner as I had to routinely put the honda on a ramp of some sort and ck the exhaust, bend back parts or rehook things. I don't know all the technical terms for parts. I like my honda because it is what I call "chick friendly" (yup, I'm a chick that did not grow up working in garages so I make due with my fix it manual and tools) which is why I wanna keep it. I like being able to do my own breaks, oil change, tune-up, simple stuff. But I know after all the dings and damage (rolling onto it's side, climbing over big rocks and roots, hitting big dips)that while it can do it, going off road quickly puts a strain not only on the engine but the body and underside as well....Dahh, I know not rocket science to figure that one out. So how can you have an off road vehicle such as a 4 Runner or Tacoma and still get 30+ miles to the gallon while traveling cross country on highways??? Hum, I guess you have to just custom build your vehicle. I know what I want to build just don't have the garage or the builder with know how to do so...of course. Looking for such a person with garage and own tools to help.