2002 Honda Odyssey "The Ody"

[Darkrider]

Finally got out on the first expo style trip with the van this past weekend. It gave me a good idea as to its abilities plus it got us to and from the campsite where our wedding supper and dance was held with no issues.

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

 

[Darkrider]

Bit of an update. Not much has happened to the van itself other then getting a set of steel wheels and winter tires for it. Also picked up a set of summer highway tires for now. Just recently got a quote to get springs to lift it 1" front and rear as i had found out from an Odyssey forum that it was possible to do so. Got the quote from a company that does custom springs for all sorts of vehicles including vans for the handicapped. So that will gain me some much needed ground clearance. I have also figured out just how i am going to do some skid plating under it to protect its underside. Basically i will be doing an angled skid from the bumper to the lower portion of the rad support. There will be two tabs extending past the support to attach the actual underside skids to. Still working out how i will mount them at the rear. The angled skid will more then likely be aluminum with holes punched through it to maintain cooling. The Skids under the van will more then likely be heavy duty plastic puck board or similar.

 

[shenrie]

Do the 02's have the honda wishbone or macphearson style suspension? What kinda money was the spring quote?

 

[Darkrider]

Do the 02's have the honda wishbone or macphearson style suspension? What kinda money was the spring quote?

From what i recall after looking under the van for a different reason, It has the Macphearson style strut front suspension and an A arm style set up in the rear. Could the wishbone type you mention. Front springs were just under $250 and the rears were just under $240. As one of the duties of this vehicle will be to tow an aluminum trailer to haul motorcycles i may look at adding a bit of weight capacity to the rears. Either that or look at helper bags or a solid rubber weight helping kit.

 

[shenrie]

Honda was straying away from their version of a double wishbone suspension in the early 00's. So wasn't sure what they were using then. The Japan car manfs are good at parts sharing and I was told that the oddessy was built on the same chassis as the accord/tl. If it were me I'd look into if parts on your van are interchangeable with the same year accord. If they are and it was me I'd call a company like ground control and order some coilovers with taller springs. It would basically work the same as lowering a car, but instead of slamming down with the standard springs they offer, you could request longer springs and lift it up. I suggest this cause you wouldn't be stuck with a static lift and could go up as high as you could and still be able to correct camber (likely with camber correction kits) and make sure you axle angles aren't too out of wack. Most of the coilovers kits allow you to lower the car 3", so I don't see any reason why you couldn't go up 1.5-2" without causing any serious issues. I've been lowering hondas for 20 years, so I don't see any reason you couldn't go the other way...if there's something I'm missing please let me know.

 

[ducktapeguy]

Nice Odyssey. I wasn't too excited to be driving one for a daily driver since I took over minivan duties, but the practicality is growing on me. Interior space is enormous compared to the similar sized SUV. Since I'm driving it, I figure I might as well make the best of it, so I've been slowing modding it to make it more trip friendly. The end goal is to turn it into the ultimate road trip vehicle a la the Wagon Queen Family Truckster (Chevy chase movie reference for the young people). Here are some of the additions I've done,

1. When the kids were young I had added some aux rear view cameras on the interior, so it allowed me to see the infants in the rear seats without having to use a bunch of mirrors. Since they're no longer needed I've been thinking about moving the cameras to under the vehicle to use as "spotter" cameras but really haven't found the need or motivation to do it.
2. Also added some extra 12V power ports under the passenger seat and rewired a few of the aux circuits so the stock cig lighters stay on independent of the key. This way I can leave stuff charging in the car even when it's turned off, and I can keep the 12V freezer powered in the rear circuit on long road trips.
3. Extended the USB port inside the glove box to the ashtray console. Makes connecting a phone or ipod easier for the driver.
4. Put some generic roof rack on so I can mount a RTT or cargo carrier, depending on the trip.
5. I have a couple of small inverters to charge laptops on the road. I'm about to install a 1000W inverter, but I can't find a spot to mount it in the engine compartment.
6. Airlift airbags on the rear to counteract the sagging. Instead of custom springs, you may want to look into these. They stiffen the rear suspension, and as a byproduct it lifts the rear about 3/4" with no load. With load it's probably more than an 1" higher.

I looked into getting some more agressive tires, but honestly with the low ground clearance and horrible approach angles on a minivan, I figure tires are not going to be the limiting factor.

Since i just figured out how to embed pics, here are some "overlanding" pics

Here it is getting strange looks in the middle of SF

Camping trip to Carrizo plains

 

[Darkrider]

Nice Odyssey. I wasn't too excited to be driving one for a daily driver since I took over minivan duties, but the practicality is growing on me. Interior space is enormous compared to the similar sized SUV. Since I'm driving it, I figure I might as well make the best of it, so I've been slowing modding it to make it more trip friendly. The end goal is to turn it into the ultimate road trip vehicle a la the Wagon Queen Family Truckster (Chevy chase movie reference for the young people). Here are some of the additions I've done,

1. When the kids were young I had added some aux rear view cameras on the interior, so it allowed me to see the infants in the rear seats without having to use a bunch of mirrors. Since they're no longer needed I've been thinking about moving the cameras to under the vehicle to use as "spotter" cameras but really haven't found the need or motivation to do it.
2. Also added some extra 12V power ports under the passenger seat and rewired a few of the aux circuits so the stock cig lighters stay on independent of the key. This way I can leave stuff charging in the car even when it's turned off, and I can keep the 12V freezer powered in the rear circuit on long road trips.
3. Extended the USB port inside the glove box to the ashtray console. Makes connecting a phone or ipod easier for the driver.
4. Put some generic roof rack on so I can mount a RTT or cargo carrier, depending on the trip.
5. I have a couple of small inverters to charge laptops on the road. I'm about to install a 1000W inverter, but I can't find a spot to mount it in the engine compartment.
6. Airlift airbags on the rear to counteract the sagging. Instead of custom springs, you may want to look into these. They stiffen the rear suspension, and as a byproduct it lifts the rear about 3/4" with no load. With load it's probably more than an 1" higher.

I looked into getting some more agressive tires, but honestly with the low ground clearance and horrible approach angles on a minivan, I figure tires are not going to be the limiting factor.

Since i just figured out how to embed pics, here are some "overlanding" pics

Here it is getting strange looks in the middle of SF

Camping trip to Carrizo plains

Thanks, Yours looks great as well. This build has come to an end in terms of being a possible expo vehicle as it has become my wife's daily driver with the purchase of a Dodge Avenger for myself. May still end up doing the lift springs just because of the poor roads here. I myself will be moving towards working on a pair of Chevy pickups for expo duty.

 

[Darkrider]

So plans changed on this. It was briefly my wifes DD till i bought her a Kia Soul for christmas and i ended up replacing my Avenger with a Jeep Patriot. So i will be looking at what i can do with it again. Lift springs are likely to give it some much needed ground clearance. Actually in some areas of the city they have turned out to possibly be mandatory. I was leaving a club meet in the fall and slammed the front rad support into the pavement due to the angle of the driveway. Not saying lifting it will completely eliminate the problem...but it sure as heck will help! Have kicked around the thought of just lifting the front to level it out but remembered why vehicles like this sit "*** high" to sit properly when loaded. Now that it is no longer a DD for either of us i can take the time to properly figure out what upgrades need to be done. Granted it will never get to the same places as my Jeep or hell even the Astro i am working on as well. But it will be a nice alternative rig for areas that i will not need 4wd for.

 

[Darkrider]

Honda was straying away from their version of a double wishbone suspension in the early 00's. So wasn't sure what they were using then. The Japan car manfs are good at parts sharing and I was told that the oddessy was built on the same chassis as the accord/tl. If it were me I'd look into if parts on your van are interchangeable with the same year accord. If they are and it was me I'd call a company like ground control and order some coilovers with taller springs. It would basically work the same as lowering a car, but instead of slamming down with the standard springs they offer, you could request longer springs and lift it up. I suggest this cause you wouldn't be stuck with a static lift and could go up as high as you could and still be able to correct camber (likely with camber correction kits) and make sure you axle angles aren't too out of wack. Most of the coilovers kits allow you to lower the car 3", so I don't see any reason why you couldn't go up 1.5-2" without causing any serious issues. I've been lowering hondas for 20 years, so I don't see any reason you couldn't go the other way...if there's something I'm missing please let me know.

Cannot believe i missed this post! I will def look into this route. One thing i do recall from looking at the suspension when i swapped wheels during the summer last year was that the axles pointed upwards. I suspect that lifting 1 inch will put them level while going 2 inch will put them in the opposite position to what they are now. I will def see what is out there for other Honda's that i might be able to adapt. One other idea i have already considered is a spacer lift in the front end. Something similar to what is done with the Trailblazer and I believe the RRO lift for the Patriot. What i will need to do this summer is get the van into the driveway again and jack it up at the front cross member or something so it lifts the front evenly. Just to see what the axles sit like when the vehicle is 2" over stock. The rule of thumb with the GMT400 trucks i am used to is if more then two pleats of the CV boot are touching it is cranked up too much and has too much angle. So bearing that in mind i want to see if i can get at least 2" safely..hell 2.5" would be awesome. Slightly uprated for weight as well to reduce sagging. The goal here being say it is lifted 2.5 to begin with...but after it settles and sags from use it sits around the 1.75-2" mark in the end.

 

[Darkrider]

Did a bit of research to find out what other vehicles shared critical components in the suspension and learned that the Pilot and Ridgeline do. A quick search netted a lift kit intended for the Pilot which i am 95% certain will work since the Pilot and Odyssey share the entire suspension at least in the Fwd pilots case. different hubs and knuckles on the Pilot with different bolt pattern which is shared with the Ridgeline. However i have heard of the Pilot parts being used as a budget big brake kit on the Odyssey.

 

[chilliwak]

Did a bit of research to find out what other vehicles shared critical components in the suspension and learned that the Pilot and Ridgeline do. A quick search netted a lift kit intended for the Pilot which i am 95% certain will work since the Pilot and Odyssey share the entire suspension at least in the Fwd pilots case. different hubs and knuckles on the Pilot with different bolt pattern which is shared with the Ridgeline. However i have heard of the Pilot parts being used as a budget big brake kit on the Odyssey.

It will be cool to see what you do with this rig my friend. Who knows? Maybe we will see it with 33s and 6 inch lift...:Wow1: