dakota1820

The front bushings are what I am concerned with? How do you guys know when they are bad? Whats the best way to check them? All advice is appreciated.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Look at them.

dakota1820

What am I looking for? A little more specific would be nice!

m_shake

Cracks, tears and overall deterioration.

dakota1820

So movement of the bushing isn't a factor? By the looks they look ok.

dempsi

The bushing can begin to look weathered on the exterior but still have a little life left.

The best way to check is to have the car on a drive on lift and use a pry bar in between the bushing and arm to see if and now much deflection you have.

BTW....how many miles are on the car and what is making you think they might be bad?

dakota1820

120,000 I was just doing routine checks and was wondering how you actually check these .

lazlong

Yes, movement is a factor. They'll kinda compress but, they shouldn't move.

dakota1820

So if I pry between subframe and control arm how much should it be able to move

lazlong

The LCA will move a little due to compression of the bushings. The bushings shouldn't move.

This one is real bad:

Do you hear it knocking too? A good one will make no noise and the LCA will barely move.

dakota1820

No knocking. They both moved a half inch or so. The control arm move that is.

lazlong

You should be alright for now. Check them again in a year or if the steering/suspension feels weird, whichever happens first.

dakota1820

So movement is ok I guess as long as you have that rubber tension feeling so it's a solid resistance and isn't just flopping around?

It Wasn't Me

You need new bushings if:

The LCA is just flopping around.

The rubber is cracked.

The rubber has pieces missing.

The rubber is missing all together.

You need piece of mind.





If they look okay, they're probably okay.

If you're worried about it, replace the bushings. They're cheap and are not terribly difficult to replace.

04civicoupe

i bought my car last year with 120k with alright bushings and now at 130k my bushings are worn badly. mine have been bad for awhile. pulling into my gfs driveway my right control arm makes clunking noises. Do you guys recommend just replacing with oem bushings or should i upgrade to polyurethane? Theyre not that much extra money but was wondering what you guys would do if you were me. (i dont care about ride comfort but occasionally like to push the ole civic)

jdmatheart

Glad i know what to look for now.. On another note, has ANYONE ever found or heard of aftermarket front LCA's for a civic??? God that would be nice if they are out there ive been wanting them for years.

It Wasn't Me

That's entirely up to you, really. If money isn't a concern, you could always look into a spherical bearing kit.








There are non-OEM front lower control arms available. Check Google and/or eBay.

dakota1820

Took a video of my driver side bushing movement . Is this to much play? If I go on gravel roads it'll make some noise . I guess this Is the noise anyway everything else is in good shape. This movement is with the car on the ground. It'll move more with the car lifted up .

dakota1820

Not sure why it posted the video 3 times I apologize for it.

If a mod can fix it that would be good I can't it keeps kicking me off every time I try

It Wasn't Me

The hell? When I try to edit that post, it will only let me edit the first sentence and the first video. It acts like the rest of the post (two videos and last sentence) aren't actually part of the post.

Very strange. Software glitch of some sort.





Edit: I've brought it to "their" attention.

dakota1820

Thank you "it wasnt me"

So is that to much play in the bushing?

It Wasn't Me

Oh, sorry, I hadn't even watched it. LOL!

Well, now that I have, I hear a lot of clunking along with so much glare I can't see what you're doing.




They're rubber. They're going to have some play in them if you pry on them hard enough.

If they're sloppy, replace them.


Everything else, re-read my first post. Determining whether or not they need to be replaced should be easy enough to do.



Oh! Yeah, it was a glitch. They're working on it. (the youtube incident)

lazlong

Poly bushings are a MUCH stiffer ride but, they pretty much last the life of the car.

dakota1820

http://imgur.com/CE7xZNg.jpg

Turning the wheel all the way and the cracks are clear as day. In the day time with the sun and the glare it was almost impossible for me to see .
Guess these are bad?