I installed my ground control coilovers and kyb shocks on thursday and had them set all the way down on the lowest setting. about 2.75 down in front and 2.5 in rear. i was a little surprized at how harsh the ride was, since my civic had stiffer springs on it and wasnt this harsh. anyhow, today i raised the front about .5 inches and the rear about 1 inch because it was just plain too low looking, like i had hydro's or something. after setting the car back down... i noticed something very disturbing, and the reason for the incredibly harsh ride... i had less than .75 inches of clearance between the top of the shock body and the bottom of the bumpstop! HOLY CRAP... that means before i raised the front a half inch i was basically on my bumpstops all the time!!! no wonder the ride was so horrible. my bumpstops are cut in half, about 1 inch long now instead of the stock 2" or so. im going to cut the bumpstops in half again, and raise the car another inch, because just raising it a half inch helped matters considerably (for obvious reasons). So, to anyone that is considering Ground Controls and read my previous post about the incredibly harsh ride... the reason for the harshness is because i'm an idiot and didnt check the clearance between bumpstop and shock body, and i had my coils set all the way down. the rears are fine, and have plenty of clearance.

Now, for my questions: how much room do you guys with Eibach or H&R or Sprint (or whatever other brands of springs there are for the max) between the bottom of the bumpstop and the top of the shock body (assuming your bumpstop is stuck to the upper strut mount.

Question 2:
in the front there is a bearing which sits atop the upper spring perch, its made of black and gray plastic, and is shaped like a donut. i managed to destroy one of these, apparently it wasnt seated correctly when i took the car off the jacks. how important is this bearing? i have not noticed ANY ill effects, no weird noises or shudders or anything, but its got to be there for a reason. anyone?

Thanks for reading through this whole post, and yes, i know i'm an idiot for not checking my shock to bumpstop clearance in the first place... it just never occured to me that i could actually be riding on the stops.

Neal