After reading all the posts about spring spacers being left in, I decided to check for them myself on my new S2000 even though I had the dealer put the car on a lift and check while I was signing the paperwork.

I read all the posts about the "2/3 finger test" stating that not more than two fingers should fit between the front tire and the wheel well lip and not more than three fingers should fit between the rear tire and the wheel well lip. So I did the test and got three fingers to fit in the front space and three fingers to fit in the rear space! The rear space seemed okay, but the front certainly did not! Needless to say, I started to panic because I had already put over 400 miles on the car. Were my fingers too skinny? Not likely. Was I inserting them at an angle?. Possibly.

There were too many variables involved, so I decided to put on a pair of Latex gloves, crank the wheel all the way over (to the left to check the driver's side and to the right to check the passenger's side), and reach in to "see" if I could feel any spacers on the front springs. I checked and checked and checked again. Then I crawled under the rear of the car and checked the rear spings too. And to my surprise, there were NO spacers.

So, to help everyone else out with this "unsure" situation, I devised the following device and took some measurements:



I used a piece of cardboard and a paper cutter (to make sure the cuts were straight) to make the "tool". The cuts may not look straight in the photo because of the shadows. Using cardboard gives a relatively sturdy tool that doesn't flex or bend that easily.

After inserting the tool into the space as illustrated below, I took the following measurements:



Left-front (driver's side): 1.875"
Right-front: 1.75"

Left-rear (driver's side): 2.0"
Right-rear: 2.125"

This is for a stock 2002 with approximately 450 miles on it. As you can see by my measurements, the left-front on my car has a little more space than the right-front vice-versa on the rear. Actually the front spacing is within 1/8" of each other and likewise for the rear spacing. That's pretty good in my book, and I'm sure it is within Honda's tolerances.

I hope this helps everyone out.

It would be nice to see measurements from other people's cars.

 

That seems like a pretty fool-proof way of getting a fairly accurate measurement. Can you send me a copy of the tool so I can measure my car?

 

Sure, the tool is only $0.99 but S&H is $19.95

 

Thanks for the info. I'm putting my car up in the air tomorrow for the summer rim swap. Gunna check then for spacers and put fears to final rest.

 

Does anybody out there have a picture of what these spring spacers actually look-like?

Thanks.

 

No pictures but the best description is they look like a hockey puck.

 

Here's what they look like.

As indicated by the red arrow.


A pair of them.


Multiplying like rabbits.

 

You should've manually checked the springs in the first place, don't be so lazy. I hope you don't check to see what's in a sandwich by poking the bread...

 

I also have verified that I do not have any spacers and I can get 3 fingers in on the front and rear also. I have 330 miles on my 02.

 

Group Buy!

Don't forget. Being parked on level ground (front to back AND side to side) is important, as well as tire pressure, tire wear. camber, different tires, etc. I also think it varies from s2k to s2k. My car seems to sit about a finger's width lower than other stock s2k's I've seen.