Stea

CRX is in need of some TLC suspension-wise and I'm planning on getting the OEM LBJs, Sankei Tie Rods, and hopefully Sankei Upper Control Arms (no guaranteed way to find these). I have a personal disdain for Moog, so I'm trying to avoid them. Even so:

Have you guys had any luck with ACDelco, Sankei, Mevotech, Proforged, and - dare I say - Moog?
I'm just exploring my options because finding good parts can be a crapshoot because of how everything is repackaged (in my experience).

Also, would OEM CRX ball joints be fine if I got them from Honda themselves?

Maybe I can extend this post to bushings as well.

DaX

iTrader: (1)

I'd personally go for some rubber bushings, and not do poly. Hard Race makes a nice set of rubber bushings for the EF chassis.

tommycrx

I'd agree, unless this is a track-only car. To the OP - you should indicate how you use the CRX. Results will vary greatly depending on your intended use.

scelestus

Assuming your application is a dd and you only break laws occasionally...

I have not had great luck with Moog ball joints - certainly not enough to justify the brand tax.

Mevotech won't last long, but life span for cost has been good enough for me - usually at least 50K on garbage roads.

TLDR: If you can afford going with original Honda, do it.

acmoc

All my oe replacemt parts hae been Napa brand and I have not had any issues.
I have function and form rear lca's that have poly bushings. They are not stiff at all once broken in. But they gave me insight into thinking it wouldn't be a good idea to run full poly bushings.
Running Tein coilovers (2 inch drop). Rides only a bit harsher than stock.
My camber kits are both skunk2. They have rubber bushings and are doing good.
My rta bushing is Mugen, Hardened rubber.
Cross member is innovative mounts spherical radius rods. No difference in ride quality, just noisy at times.
I have all front and rear upper and lower tie bars and the front upper is a 3 point.
Overall I think I achieved a good balance between ride quality and performance.
I can't really tell if it rides rough since I switched to innovative 60a mounts. If I go back to stock mounts it feels so smooth.
Also my tires are 195/50/15 on a 7" wheel, so the profile is smaller than stock.

Here's a good comparison.
My setup rides smoother than my friends s2k with all stock suspension, lowered on skunk2 springs.

Worst mods to my car were the lightened flywheel/crank pulley& innovative motor mounts. The mounts have not broken in yet, I hope they get better.

Stea

Good point.

Daily Driving. I don't want to do get the best lap times or anything. I am contemplating autocrossing, but I don't care if I'm slow. I want to be comfortable and am okay being stock. Slightly stiffer than stock is alright.

I just want quality stuff ya know.

So OEM is fine?
Im just worried the grease will be hard on a 25 yr old ball joint haha...

2x0

OEM ball joints all the way.

I have one Napa brand lbj and one OEM, you can really see and feel the difference with the OEM.

As others have said, hard race lcas with rubber bushings are nice. I have S2 upper arms that are okay, but they are old and squeak a bit. Used ac delco tie rods which seems fine. My S2 rear lcas are also old but rubber still looks good.

Basically I would use oem for ball joints but upgrade anything else with aftermarket hard rubber bushings because it is probably cheaper and performs better.

acmoc

Yea, it's no question that oem Honda is by far superior to any aftermarket.

But also, take everything with a grain of salt.Online a lot of things seem to be hearsay.

Tyson

OEM is the best guaranteed quality and should be the first go to if available, if that was the question.

Stea

I think OEM is best and I've installed Honda ball joints before, but I guess my question is if it sat for 25 years in a package, will that have any affect on the ball joint and/or grease within it.

I'm mostly asking this because I actually bought OEM brake pads for my CRX but the grease packet that came with it was as hard as a rock. I was told heat would make it good as new but idk. It all came in the blue Honda labelled packaging which means it was old as ****.

I buy OEM whenever I can since it's relatively affordable and I hate doing the same job twice.
That's why I feel like I'm in a pickle lol. I wish Honda still made parts for the CRX.

acmoc

Oh, I see. I never thought of that.
I'd just get an autozone one then. They have warranty.

The price you pay for a OEM Honda will be more than the autozone piece+labor I think.

I have autozone parts on my car and they're not bad. Only parts that I have had issues with were from car quest and Kragen/Oreily.

2x0

I would guess they continued to build service parts from the oem suppliers for years after the production of a model ends.

I forget who made the oem ball joints but they seemed like new when I got one. And likewise, you don’t know how long ago the cheaper parts store alternatives were produced either.

Stea

Musashi makes the joint IIRC.
So you bought a joint as old as the ones I'm thinking of buying? Did they seem fine? I have a discount at work so the OEM ball joint price is not an issue.

acmoc

Napa auto parts actually Carrys OEM honda parts. You can go to the ther site. For example, look for thermostat. And you can get the oem one.
Honda doesn't make their own, so it comes in the manufacturers box. I know this for a fact, 5hey have the oem clutch, coolant, thermostat, and brakepads. They likely have many more.

2x0

Parts stores sell tons of parts as "OEM" that are not OEM. What they actually mean is standard OEM replacement, which just meets the minimum quality threshold set by the OE but did not undergo all the testing and validation that the actual OEM suppliers parts did. Therefore they are sh*t.

Stea

I mean, I was able to get Nissin brake pads easily.
And isn't Exedy the OEM manufacturer for old Honda clutches?

acmoc

No, Napa carries actually oe parts supplied to Honda. Not just oe spec.

316SI

I have Mevotech lower control arms for my DD and they haven't given me any issues.

acmoc

My front lca's are from Napa, not sure who made them. But they're fine sitll as well.

I think OP's main concern is the ball joint.

Stea

As for an update:

I decided to see what I'd get with the OEM ball joints and I ordered them. I was afraid the grease would be very old and/or potentially dried up or hard, but the joint came in red labeled packaging and the grease seemed fine.

Looks good, so I'll be installing them soon.