Knightmare69

So my friend's 92 needs some suspension work. I've got a H&R's and KYB's sitting in my room ready to go in. Problem is, I had the car checked at my mechanics cuz I knew that there was more work needed than just springs and shocks. He needs ALL new Bushings, balljoints, control arms blah blah blah. I priced out almost everythingg in parts and what I could find on Hondaautomotiveparts.com came out to be like $1100............*Big Sigh*

Can we install the new suspension even though everything else is shot without the risk of blowing the new suspension or is it better to wait? Man..........so much money..........not enough to pay. I doubt we can and even if we could I wouldn't really wannna risk it but I thought I'd ask the veterens here first before I made a final decision. TIA.

H22A4 Prelude

i would imagine a new aftermarket suspension would be rougher on the existing bushings then stock. so your going to have more wear. and if they are already shot, then your just gonna eat the existing ones alive. I personally would do it right the first time then have to make two trips to a shop to just replace parts you could do right then. i know its alot of money but you'll save money on the labor in the long run. or...do it yourself.

Knightmare69

Yea, the plan is to do it ourselves but the cost of parts and that not being all of it is just hangin over my head right now.

Pr0jektLude

i wouldnt replace or pay a mechanic to replace all those things make sure yourself they all need to be replaced and that there shot...cause some mechanics will do that just to make the quick buck when half the **** in there looks new. ie, my cousin took her prelude for a brake check and they told her she needed new rotors and pads...but the pads were barely worn and the rotors werent near wearing.

bad-monkey

i would replace the bushings and ball joints and control arms. it's a pita, but it'll be good to start fresh.

i don't think it'll destroy the suspension, but it'll make the car feel very janky. the overall ride will improve greatly once you replace what needs to be replaced.

ViZ

why would you have to replace the control arms?
the only reason i would think this is necessary is if the car was wrecked and they are bent

yohan

Yea I'm calling BS on this mechanic too .. only thing you'd need to replace is bushings, put the car up on stands and disconnect all that stuff and pickup a set of energy suspension bushings (you can get thefull kit) ... take all the parts off and bring it to a machine shop with a HUGE 4 tonne press, they should be able to get all the old bushings out and put the new ones in ..

Theres no way you'd need new control arms etc. unless honda wont sell the bushings seperately..

Score: Energy Suspension 1, Honda 0 ...

Presently I need to replace my upper control arm because mine is bent to ****, I hit a pole and snapped a tie rod.. and on a car that has over 140k miles on the body, the bushings are still looking ok with no cracks in most areas ..


As far as the ball joints .. unless the boots are busted and grease is everywhere, the mechanic is full of crap. I've got a 1992 4WS and all of my ball joints and boots are fine, no play at all .. if you really can't get over what this shop is saying, go somewhere else and get a 2nd opinion.

Again to recap my advice, put it on stands, take off all components, replace all bushings w/ energy suspension urethane kit , slap on the KYB's and some good springs/coilovers and laugh at how well your car now handles.

Also, for some ball joints honda requires that you buy the full piece and wont sell just the ball joint (ie: UCA) so that could be why he quoted that..

How do you tell a ball joint is bad anyways ?

chrisgags13

a ball joint is bad either when the boot has been broken and a lot of **** as gotten in and worn it up. in hondas there will be alot of slop in the suspension. you can tell by jacking up the car and shaking the wheel like you were checking for bad wheel bearings.

Knightmare69

I know all the parts need to be replaced because

1-the chassis has 195,000 miles on it
2-I've seen the damage for myself
3-I've worked with this shop for over 7 years with nothing but great experiences

I get that alot, it's hard to trust a shop so I built a relationship with this one, even though I live in NYC, I still bring the cars up to the shop in CT for service. I plan on gettin the energy suspension parts, and the balljoints are def. busted. Man, bills bills bills. Thanks again for the comments and advice.

H22A4 Prelude

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Knightmare69 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Man, bills bills bills.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i hear ya. But, your making the right decision by replacing them.

yohan

buy the balljoints aftermarket oem, it'll be some work to get them but how would the control arms be bent?? even still if they are ... buy them used, sand/paint them up with some hammerite spray or some por15 and they'll be better than new.

that's my advice.. either way keep us posted.. and hey, wheres the pics?

Knightmare69

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by yohan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

that's my advice.. either way keep us posted.. and hey, wheres the pics?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Pics? Well, I'm still tryin to get my cardomain site up, but for some reason the site doesn't want to upload my pics, it was suppose to be down in summer. Man, I have pics of the prelude from when one of our other friends was driving and and hit by a garbage truck, that sucked. I'll try again with cardomain to get pics of the car up. Thanks alot for all the helpful info, Really appreciate it.


Modified by Knightmare69 at 5:44 PM 2/11/2005

LudeyKrus

Only replace the ball joints if the boots are torn and they joints are obviously worn out.

Screw buying OEM bushings; get the Energy Suspension bushing set for like $125, IIRC.