flippy_ek

Hey guys, about to press in some Hardrace RTA bushings on my 96-00 sedan but wanted to know what angle I should have them set to.

The ones that I'm replacing are original OEM bushings so their angles are obsolete as the rear of the car is lowered 2.0" from stock 6th gen ride height. I know that if I install these new bushings at the same angle, they will bind and wear/tear quickly.

Wondering what angles you guys at similar ride heights have used?

cheers!

EDIT 05-20-2015

See below for the solution to this scenario

speedjunkie_g35

What ever angle will make them have little to no load on them at your ride height

Meoshe

iTrader: (3)

The general accepted rule is marking the angle before the car the is raised and installing the new bushing at that angle

flippy_ek

Yes, but as I stated in my original post, the bushing that was in there was the original, which was clocked for stock height, so going back to that angle wouldn't be the correct thing to do.

I'm trying to achieve what speedjunkie mentioned, but was hoping someone that has figured out the angle for this ride height would be able to share their specs, or at least a formula to follow for lowered cars.

M3THTICAL(EF)

iTrader: (1)

Just clock the bushing as it currently sits. I did that to my hatch which was lowered on skunk2 springs. One year later they still look good.

98civdx

jack the car up, place on stands.
Jack a trailing arm up until the car comes off the jack stand. ( Unhook the sway bar if applicable)
Look at the TA bushing. The angle that it's at is the angle you want to try to match with the new bushings. using a marker or something and putting some lines on the trailing arm is a easy way.

Meoshe

iTrader: (3)

I didn't think I was unclear, It's basically the process everyone else is stating. If your car is currently lowered you crawl underneath take a ruler or some type of straight edge and butt it up against the tab of the rta bushing. Then you take your marker and you draw a line on the actual trailing arm using the straight edge as the guide. That is your approximate angle.

98civdx

There is no specific angle. Stock is clocked straight, but when you lowered the car it caused the metal bar to twist. That is the angle you need to match.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

I think OP's situation is that he's lowering the car and putting in bushings at the same time?

If someone has clocked their RTA at a 2" drop...a picture would be the only way to express the "estimation".

Or OP could measure and do some trigonometry.

Errbody so afraid of math though....

98civdx

maybe? The way the post sounds the car is already lowered, but I've been wrong in the past.

flippy_ek

Thanks, this makes sense.

I see you everywhere when I dig up suspension threads for info!

Not quite the situation, the car is actually still in winter storage for a few more weeks and I am rebuilding a rear disc swap while i wait, so that it's ready to swap when I take it out of storage. That's the only reason i'm not able to measure the current angle (jammed into a garage with cars inches away from it on all sides).

I was just basically asking if someone running a 2" drop had kept a record of their angles were so that I didn't have to wait till I take it out of storage to get it pressed but I think i'll just save those for last now that I know the technique for finding the neutral angle.

Thanks guys, I'll try to update this thread with the angles I end up using for anyone in a similar situation to reference.

98civdx

I'm not on here much anymore, but feel free to PM if you have any questions.

I'm about 2.5'' and I can tell the angle I clocked mine is almost nothing. Very slight tilt.
If I can free up some time and get to my civic I will try to get a picture of the bushings.

Tyson

Rear Trailing Arm Bushings

flippy_ek

Thanks Tyson for the reference, it looks like i needed almost the same bushing clock he used, i didnt get a shot of the arms after the bushing was re-pressed (the garage did factory position at first) but here are the angles I used:





I've marked the factory angle with the green line and the angle I used with the pink line. This angle works perfectly when the car sinks down to it's static ride height and is very neutral.

I hope this helps anyone as picky as myself trying to figure this out if they're in similar circumstances.