DC2-ProdUcTiOnS

iTrader: (2)

So this weekend I started to put in my new Energy Suspension Hyper-Flex master bushing kit for my ’96 EJ6. I’ll start by saying that the kit looks awesome and looks like these Poly-urethane bushings are ready to take on a much more rigorous role than the O.E.M. stock rubber bushings. I’m super excited prior to getting my car into the shop to get these all changed because my car has just felt kind of “sloppy” all around. Little squeak here, little noise there, BUMP, little there….you know what I mean. So the bushing set that I got comes with the following:

- F/R Cntl.Arm Bush.
- F/R Shock Bush
- F/R Swybr.Bush
- F/R Coil Spr.Iso.
- R Trail. Arm Bush
- Trans.Shifter Stab.Bush.
- Rack/Pin.Bush.
- F Ball Jt./Tie Rod Bt




They are available in Black or in Red. Since my car is themed white, red, and black, I went with the red ones.

So upon getting my car onto the lift, I begin to do some inspection to see how things are looking underneath the beast. I started at the rear of the car checking my RTAB’s and there condition, also the rear lower shock bushings. The RTAB’s seem to not be too bad, but the nice brolic new ones will certainly make and improvement. However, when I went on to the lower shock arm bushings, my driver side was decent, but my passenger side was completely shot. I could twist and turn the whole rear shock from left to right with my hand…. So that is new piece number 1 to be ordered.

Next I moved up towards the front of the car to find some unpleasant sights. First and most obvious was that the boot on my driver side axle was cut and throwing some grease out of the boot. I haven’t heard any kind of clicking or noise or even any type of feel in the steering wheel at all. None. So upon inspection on the joints, and bearings it seems I will need a new boot, and not a whole new axle. Boot = new piece number 2.

While maneuvering around the driver side axle to get better views of how it is looking, we notice that the subframe bolt on my lower control arm isn’t screwed in all the way? WTF! no bueno…..after much confusion, and lengthy inspection, we realize that the weld inside of the control arm broke off and the receiving bung for the bolt is broken. NOT ******* GOOD this is a SERIOUS safety issue….this bolt being broke and loose allowed my control arm to travel too far and my suspension on my driver to side to get all fcuked outta wack…..SO…..we had to cut a 1” hole in the bottom of the control arm to get the bung back and to be able to repair. We were able to drop the piece out of the arm, weld it back to inside of the control arm to fit. All that is left now is to cover the hole that we made in lower part of the control arm. Not so much as a new piece, but 3 hours later a huge headache, and major disappointment, we move on……..


Continuing on with the job at hand, as we removed my wheels to be able to work on the control arm issue, we noticed that my rotors were on there way out along with my brake pads, ( I had a feeling I was going to need to change them anyway, so I already had them on order) and along comes expense of new pieces number 3 and 4. So new HAWK pads, and new slotted rotors on the way……

Of course, in the continuation of work, more is to be found…..while moving along and replacing bushings, the lower ball joints on both sides of the control arms are destroyed. The actual joints seems to be ok I think, but the boot is completely destroyed. But you know what?? Im going to buy new ball joints completely because no reason to start cheaping out now….SO…..ball joints for driver and passenger side = new piece #5.

KEEP ON MOVING ON!!!!!

And of course, as we do…..yes……there is more…..as im working on the passenger side of the suspension, (im rather tall 6’3”) and go to stand up, I hit my head on a piece hanging down……WTF…..ouch…..I look at what looks to be the culprit of my increasing pounding in my head and what do I see but my tie rod ends…..cool….but wait….THERE FCUKED TOO…..…….both sides seems to torn to bits….the boots are destroyed and dry…..as my wallet grows slimmer, “order me two new tie rod ends please!!!” I scream to the shop owner……new piece #6……


Thinking that this couldn’t get any better, I was right….going for my upper shock bushings, I start to remove the assembly from the car. As I do, I hear constant debris hitting the floor….crumbs…..everywhere….little orange and black crumbs….what do I find?.....my bump stops….crumbling off like there a piece of coffee cake….(mmmmm….coffee cake….) absolutely not even existent or doing anything close to what they are meant to do…..bump stops….new piece number 7…..



So after thinking I was going to be able to install this new bushing set and be good to go….heres what I ended up doing in addition to the bushings….

1. Rear Lower shock bushings ( Not included in kit )
2. Driver side Axle Boot
3. Brake Pads
4. Rotors
5. Ball Joints
6. Ties Rod Ends
7. Bump Stops

8. ALSO, the issue with the driver side control arm…..


So although I am completely content with doing all of these things because they need to be done, I just feel like WTF…..im still not completely done and don’t know what other things I may find, but ill tell you one thing, I am SUPER excited to get back into my car to see what she is going to feel like now….

Needless to say, obviously the person who had the car for the couple years before prolly didn’t care enough to change any of these things. Ive had the car for 3 years, but had been at college and this is the first year ive been able to really put my attention towards it.

So not only the new bushings but all these other new parts should have her feeling like new again and I cant wait…..

Ill have some pictures of how things are looking later tonight or tomorrow so others can see some of the things ive been talking about and how damaged they are……



I guess what im trying to say by posting this is to always be prepared for much more that what you plan on doing when you are working on a car that has some miles on her….I know in the end once I get her on the ground and back on the road, I will certainly be happy and confident in everything that has been changed.

Thanks for viewing!

Dc2

90Rexx

enjoy your new suspension.... let us know how you like it!

deschlong

iTrader: (8)

Hear, here .... I really sympathize. Kudos for knowing how to diagnose all these things. I am still pretty green on the suspension/brakes side of things - who knows what I'll miss. That said, I did just have a mechanical inspection and passed with mostly flying colours (need new brake pads & rotors - already knew that - and it's probably time to change the shocks and struts, as they are 150,000km overdue. Hrm.) CV boots fine. All bushings fine.

DC2-ProdUcTiOnS

iTrader: (2)

Im going to get some pictures tonight, and youll see that a couple would be damn hard to miss if you were inspecting....the lower ball joints and tie rod ends are right in plain view, but the bump stops and the lower rear bushing i had to find.

however, keep in mind....something may look like it is just fine and dandy when its all together, but once you disconnect it, its plain as day....<-----thats what happened with the tie rod ends, they looked fine when they were connected, but when disconnected you could see the whole boot was shot.....

soup06

do you think you could do me a favor.
i was planning on doing the exact same thing your doing
with all of the suspension work
and i was wondering
how much this is gonna cost when its all said and done
thx for your time.

teamworxek9

iTrader: (5)

the kit is a nice upgrade but it is a pain in the *** to install. enjoy

DC2-ProdUcTiOnS

iTrader: (2)

I certainly can get you the prices I paid for everything, but im doing most of the work at my friends shop, so my labor cost is going to be next to nothing. And seeing how much of a pain in the ballz this is, it could get costly. Once i get all my receipts and totals ill put em up....


Oh trust me....i know its a true pain in the *** to install....It seems like it is definitely ALOT stronger than the old bushings....there is very minimal play in comparison to OEM rubber. My only concern is everyone is telling me they are going to be really squeaky.......i know once they break in they wont be as bad, but im nervous about how it will sound....

but whatever, i would rather be squeaky and and be able to handle turns significantly better than to be as loose as Jenna Jameson on prom night.....

DC2-ProdUcTiOnS

iTrader: (2)

So here are some pics i told you guys i wold get to show you how things were.....

first....here is the kit.....





here is my axle boot that was obviously shot....




my tie rod ends that were completely shot.....





my bump stops......can you see it?>




maybe a little closer.....





heres the hole we had to cut in my sub frame to fix the bung on the control arm....all better now!




I wasnt able to get before pictures of my ball joints, but they were dunzo.....heres the new ones installed....





my control arm with its new bushings!



my new RTAB's......(Rear trailing arm bushings)



new bushings up top on camber arm!



my new tie rod ends....thanks Honda



my new rotors....





i didnt get pics of the brake pads, Honda is still waiting on the new bump stops and a couple misc. parts to finish her up....

heres how she sits ATM.....




i still have some more bushings to put in....(shock tower tops, rear suspension bushings....and some other lil guys) but im waiting on Honda to get me the couple little special nuts and bolts, AND THOSE DAMN BUMP STOPS!!!!

kozanatos

Heh, I have a white coupe too <3
I bet my suspension looks that bad at 200k+ miles.
That thing is going to ride nice eah?

That bushing kit is like $138 on their site. Pretty good

With some air tools It shouldn't be too hard to do that all right?
More worried about the bigger bushings like the rear control arm
did you use an extractor or something?

DC2-ProdUcTiOnS

iTrader: (2)

i got my parts in from Honda today.....car should be done tomorrow....


new bump stops.....




new axle nuts vs old ones




new nuts for the end links





rear lower shock bushing




axle boot

Jimster480

sucks that you have all that work. The car is going to ride hard with those bushings. My friend had them in his Z32 300ZX and it rode like a beast.

DC2-ProdUcTiOnS

iTrader: (2)

yea all the work is definitely time consuming.....its takin a while but it will be worth it....

i know its going to hard going over bumps and pot holes and stuff but when im driving and powering through corners its gonna be a hell of a lot better....when you say it rode like a beast does that mean beast as in good????

Jimster480

well it depends on how you like your car to ride. It was pretty stiff.

ej1love

ill need to do this eventually, thx for the pics of the process...

P-CRIDER

LOOKING GOOD

ferio252

Glad that you caught all this stuff. Your car will be alot safer, thats for sure Updates on how it rides

andoxviii

iTrader: (1)

Good work. I'm in for updates.

lponcian5799

you do work

dohcdelsol

It took me 18 hrs straight to put in my ES kit. every single bushing i replaced. w/o a lift. dude i know what ur going through. but it is a hugh difference.

g230sport

i want to do this come spring time. post up how it rides.

joelmatt89

I got it done in maybe 5 hours but when i went to put the last half axle in it would not line up. After messing with that for five hours I eventually got it in but come to find out it was broken which was why it wouldn't go in...i was pissed but too tired at 5 am to be mad. I didn't really notice a huge difference driving but the quality is much better than oem

DC2-ProdUcTiOnS

iTrader: (2)

yea me too! im getting really anxious about getting it back...im beginning to think the noises i would hear previously were the problem with the driver side control arm and the strut collar....if so, those are both fixed, and wont be making much noise..im easily confident to say my safety rating went up 2 fold.....





^^^^ Thats what i like to hear!! yea its certainly taking a while, its been a week and a few days at the shop....i have a daily so i told him im in no rush. Also, he's got ALOT of other work going on, so although i was there for 6 1/2 hours on Saturday, theres just a few more things.....heres my honest guesstimate:

Time actually working on car: 17 - 17 1/2 hours

Time waiting on Parts: 4 days for first batch of parts, 2 days for 2nd batch

We had never done anything like this however. So even though we had a lift, we took our time making sure we didnt cut too far when taking out old bushings, plus we spent probably 4 1/2 hours just finding out what was wrong with the control arm and fixing that.


^^^^ did you do the entire ES kit i got? ive also added a couple of other bushings as well that werent included in the ES kit, as well as other new suspension components, and brake upgrades....


.....im getting nervous just talking about how different its gonna be.....dklafdsjfa;lkjdfjd;lkfjkgjhiruonvrprjn!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DC2-ProdUcTiOnS

iTrader: (2)

i have some more pics to update as well......since we were under the car for a while, my buddy did some work to the under carriage for me!!

dohcdelsol

yeah i dunno bout 5 hrs. it took me 2 hrs just to remove all the arms/shocks/shift linkage using air tools. then again i dealt with some tough rusted-*** bolts. i did have a shitty press to use which helped alot. but i had to burn out the trailer arm bushings. that alone took an hr or 2. but i tend to slow down after 6 hrs and drag out cursing my car like no other.

and i cant stress this enough, LUBE THE CRAP OUT OF EVERY BUSHING!!! lube the outside and inside of all the bushings. everywhere you can think of that a bushing touches any other part. because right after the first winter those bitches will squeek like crazy. i have 2 bushings in my front passenger side that squeek and it gets annoying.

LUBE IS YOUR FRIEND!!!

hondaguroo69

least someone cares about there car i been needing this for a while now i just lazy and never can get baby sitter that long lol