pumafeet10

I wanted to make a quick post about my own stupidity somehow breaking one of the bolts on my front lower control arm on my 2000 Civic Hatch. It is one of the bolts that holds the piece that goes to the compensator bushing.

My situation is my tire is hitting my fender the car pulls to the left if i drive over any bumps, so i am wondering what might else be wrong?

I have tried to check everything i can to see if there is anything bent or welds that have broken on the mounting points and nothing seems to be out of place.

My idea is that since there are rubber bushings in there that they are just twisting and that is why things have moved?

My plan is to get a used lower control arm and wanted to get new oem bushings but don't want to but a new arm since its about 200. I am hurting for funds so you can imagine what im trying to do.

Can you buy the control arm bushings separate or what option might i have with that...i really dont want to put old bushings on my car.

Im sure an alignment will be needed but are there any other options for flca's for an ek?

Any ideas of what i should check i would really appreciate it!

David

SeanZ0r

Raise your car up yo, i bet it looks really dope, but yeah. I had my ek slammed without adj. UCA's, and now my 2 month old tires are done, and my oil pan has a 2" concave dent in it. Hmm, look online and you might be able to find a bushing kit that contains bushing for just one lca. Or just get a bushing kit for the front lca's and replace them both.

94EG8

You buy each bushing idividually from honda.

pumafeet10

the car is on stock suspension , the tire is hitting at the sideskirt/ fender area. I have been looking at all of the online oem honda sites, and none have them so, thats why im guessing i should just call. Ive never needed bushings so this is a new avenue for me.

I keep wondering if there are any ways to upgrade while im under there, but i would appreciate any ideas.

honda.lioness

I would be looking for bent parts first. Also, have you driven over or hit anything and heard a clunk down there? Lotta possibilities for bent parts causing your problem.

The bushings do not usually wear so much that a tire would hit a fender. But they could. Also, your car seems a bit young to need new CA bushings, but if you drive it hard, maybe so. If you have not already done so, then with the weight of the car on the wheels, get under and look at the bushings. Use parts diagrams to help you find them, like those at www.bkhondaparts.com. Then jack up one side, put it on a jackstand, take off the wheel, and inspect again. The bushings will not be compressed but may still reveal themselves to be worn.

About replacing the bushings: I see you are driving in a snowy area, so it may pay to replace the bushings, especially if further inspection shows them severely worn. Besides, taking the lower suspension apart may reveal exactly what bent.

Only replacing the bushings is still going to cost you. First, do call online OEM parts sites and see if they sell the bushings separate. They certainly do list the bushings separately for 95 and older Civics. There may be some interchangeability between some (but not all) of the 95 Civic LCA bushings and the 2000, from my quick check. IOW, this will take some research. Next, you will have to find a shop to press out the old bushings and press in the new. Figure $20 or so per bushing for this job. I believe NAPA will press out bushings. Check your local mechanics as well.

Your best bet might be to go junkyard scavenging, find a decent looking control arm, change it out, and see if it fixes the problem. With luck if it does not, then you can return it. I was having a steering pull problem and did just this.

Breaking these bolts is common when one lives up north.

The following exhaustive report on replacing bushings on my 91 Civic may help with your decision-making: http://honda.lioness.googlepages.com...sionrenovation

Aftermarket sites likely will sell the bushings separate, but they tend to be performance bushings and so will tend to be harder and not give as good a ride.

audioguru76

ditto on the bent parts. if your tire is moved that far back in the fenderwell, you've got something bent or broken. I replaced several control arms over the years for friends after hitting curbs and such when it snows.

pumafeet10

I know its hard to understand what bolt i actually broke, but the there two bolts that hold on the piece that goes to the compensator bushing and i broke one of those.

I think the best idea now is to just replace the control arm and see if that fixes it. Then i can get the bushings done since i do have a friend with a press. My car has 69k on it so its not that many miles but when i first bought the car it was slammed on neuspeed race springs and the suspension took a good beating, and i have wanted to put new bushings in for a while to firm the ride a little more.

I have heard that honda oem bushings are now close to or the same hardness as mugen which is what i would like but not a the mugen price.

I need to take a picture of my car for everyone to really understand.

At this point i might jsut replace most of the stuff to replace it and freshen things up from the aformentioned lowering.

Thanks for the help guys