Good gravy these things are a pain in the ***. Any secrets to doing this? How do the front upper and lower factory ball joint boots come off?

It's the ES complete kit.



[Modified by johng, 10:00 PM 12/12/2001]

 

I think the balljoints can be pressed out. Best bet is to find a crashed Civic and get its upper arms. Of course, I've got to ask...why mess with the balljoints? Unless you're going to do adjustable ones or the originals are toast, I'd just leave them alone.

And yes it's a pain. I had a shop do mine and it took most of a day.

 

Here's a question I thought I'd ask for you guys.

So I'm looking into building my own bushings kit. Full kit, just like the Energy Suspension kit, but made out of Nylon 6/6 (Nylatron). Much stiffer, less "memory", resistant to heat cycling and fuels/petroleum products. Overall a much better product that rubber, polyurathane, or delrin.

But it would be a little bit more expensive. Would you guys be willing to pay $250-$300 for a full set of really high quality bushings? (Also looking into motor mount bushings) And they can be dyed in any color you want...

What would you guys say?

 

Don't mess with the balljoint boots, don't need them and the will NOT seal as good as factory boots.

Bushings are fun ain't they????

 

you need to press them out but there is a way if you don't have a press. Drill out the rubber around the stock bushing and then burn out the rest with a propane torch until you can remove the inner steel sleeve. Scrape most of the rest of the rubber out with an old wood chisel. Once you have a section of the steel bushing shell exposed you need to get a hack saw blade in there and cut two parallel groves about 3/8" appart (be carefull not to cut into the LCA) once the groves are most of the way through, take a flat bladed screwdriver and from the outside of the bushing shell, use a hammer and the blade of the screwdriver to break out the cut section of the shell. Again, be very carefull not to nick the inside of the bore on the LCA. It's tedious but once you get the method it goes fairly quick. Thats how i did mine. It works.

PS. Dont bother with the ball joint boots. they do nothing at all and they WILL tear. The stock are fine.

Mike Broderick