Due to an unexpected breakage on one of my M FACTORY extended ball joints I find myself with the opportunity of upgrading some components on my front suspension on my 93 Si.
I am going to replace new extended balljoints ( probably HardRace or Buddy club.. haven't decided yet) and I am looking to also upgrade my front lower control arm bushings as well as my compliance bushings..

My indecision is that my car is a street car but might see some track circuit action in the future.

Will I benefit from spherical components or should I stick to hard rubber upgrades?(HardRace).

I was thinking on Hardrace hard rubber bushings on the front LCA with spherical compliance bushings and hardrace tie rod ends.

 

Did you contact Mfactory about the ball joint? They have amazing customer service from everything I've witnessed, I have little doubt they would replace it as long as it was not broken due to user error.

 

Unfortunately I bought the shell with them installed so I am not the original owner and I don't have receipts..

This was the carnage..


Due to the breakage the fork fell on the axle and the axle tore on the boot on the side closer to trtyranny so I gotta replace that axle too..

 

Ouch.

Properly designed sphericals seem to work fine for the street, as far as ride is concerned. But...most aren't booted. So...I imagine they wouldn't work that well if you're driving thru road salt or a lot of rain.

Hard rubber is probably a better "all rounder", with all things considered. Cost, longevity, comfort, etc. You give up some traction because of bushing bind...but...you only said occasional track use. Mostly street use.

 

Thanks.

 

That spherical ball joint looks rough from the center on down, might have replaced the boot but didn't clean up the joint and put new grease. I have a feeling previous owner did alot of "tracking" on the road.

 

you might be rigjt... this car was previously used as a track time attack, ASR super Lap vehicle.. it was strictly track as when I bought it the inspection sticker was expired for like 4 years.

 

Well...answered the problem...rock hard abuse and no ***** given. Sold it off proclaiming badass parts to profit off of fucked up parts, the end.

 

Well.. almost 500 bucks in stuff for the front suspension..
I hope I smile once all is said and done...Here's my cart.

 

Are geniune Honda tie rods no longer available?

 

I suppose... why? Bad choice on my end?

 

I'd trust genuine Honda suspension/steering parts (like ball joints and tie rods) rather than aftermarket. Especially for track use.

I understand that the RCA provides roll stiffness and more suspension travel vs. height. I've never installed extended ball joints on my S2000 because I don't fully trust them. But...I'm a bit cautious.

I'm sure the hardrace parts are fine. But...there's no quality like Genuine Honda quality.

 

I have the HardRace extended lower ball joints and have not had issues with them on the track yet, 4 years, still going well. The car doesn't see much city driving unless it is to go fill up gas or a drive to get beer.

As for the spherical ball joint components, I didn't see a need for them. I'm still learning, and I couldn't justify the cost of them over the hardrace rubber poly bushings. I'd say, spend less on the components and save the funds for the instruction track time. HPDE track time is not cheap by any means compared to autocross.

 

I think he's just maintaining the car. Not necessarily modding it for the sake of modding it.

 

well yes and no..
I bought this car as a daily driver and with the intention of running 6 Super Lap events per year but I've been busy so I haven't done the second.

 

What I meant is that you are getting the car in shape (maintaining) it, in order to do events and street drive it. Or am I off base?

 

no you're correct

 

My point is made.. whether you were intending it for street purposes or track, I would definitely just save the funds for something else other than the spherical bushings.

 

Is your point that spherical bearing are a waste of money? Or that you're a novice driver, and you didn't feel like the money spent would be large enough benefit for you and your vehicle?

 

Are you just looking at doing the front end?

Have you taken a look at replacing all of the factory bushings while your at?
Have PIC's kit in my civic, the difference was very impressive over the factory/poly bushings I had before.

 

They wouldn't be a waste of money if I was at the peak of my driving skills and needed more hardware. I wouldn't consider myself an advanced driver yet, but I'm not a novice either.. I have some experience, but I just felt they were overkill for me and my wallet. The HardRace bushings have been doing very well so far.

 

Update..
Parts arrived and I started installing stuff.. I had to exchange my front swaybar endlink bushings as I discovered I have an GSR/ ITR bar so my endlink were incorrect..
Some of the parts were backordered so that's why it took long.

I did passenger side and installed the Hardrace front roll center adjusters as well as the K tuned front LCA. Luckily I had a spare B series axle in good condition so I slapped it in there...

So far..



Old vs new


After inspecting my outer tie rods I decided they're done as well so I ordered brand new OEM at the dealer and they should be ready tomorrow.

Now just gotta wait for my front endlinkendlink and tie rods and I'm done...

By just doing one side the steering feel was incredibly better and smoother so I can't wait to finish the other side and take it for a drive.