I'm looking to replace all the bushings in my suspension and was wondering how easy it is to do? Anyone that has done it care to reply would be appreciated and do I need a press to get the bushings in? I would just burn them out right? Also is there any noticable difference between stock bushings and the energy suspension ones? I heard they could bind a bit and reduce the travel of the suspension due to the urthane being really stiff, is this true? Also is there a difference between the red and black bushings? I've got 150k on my bushings and they are tired so help me out. Any write-ups sould be appreciated, too.

 

i have never done it personally. my friend had them in his civic and they made a huge difference IMO. and he didn't burn them out, i guess they make a big mess and the fumes are pretty stank. he cut them, and then did some trick with a bolt, nut, some washers, and a whole lot of grease. the red bushings need to be re-greased periodically and the black bushings have a way of self greasing themselves (red and black are made from different materials). and i don't think they will bind as long as you keep them greased.

 

I've personally installed them myself, and they are sort of a bitch. I installed most of them, i only need the rear shock bushings, front lca bushings that meet w/the crossmember, strut bushings, and rear bump stops, and that's it. Oh and i took them out with the press to get the old bushings out, and it was pretty easy with that i could imagine being hard without it cause at some points it was hard with that machine. And i heard when you heat them up they smell nasty. And i felt a difference, even though i need an alignment. And you don't need to press them in, just with your hands and i had the red ones and it came with the grease.

 

I paid to have a shop put mine in. They are definitely worth it.

 

The black ones are impregnated with graphite which acts as a lubricantish sorta thing... yes that's a technical term! I'm gonna get a set, my suspension is all sloppy!

 

It's not the easiest thing to do unless you have a shop press like I do. I have installed many of these bushing kits in my own and other people's cars. It is time consuming even with the press I can't imagine doing by cutting each one or burning them out expletive that. If you don't have access to a press take the arms to a shop and have them press them out then go home and install them yourself. This would be the most cost effecient method for someone without a press. I charge $20 per control arm to do the pressing.

 

I just heard that if you freeze polyurethane bushings.. it causes them to shrink making it real easy to install! Could be something worth trying

 

mine are on the way, so time will tell i guess!!

i bought the master kit seeing honda wanted $30 a bumpstop and both rears are cracked

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by darkspector &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I just heard that if you freeze polyurethane bushings.. it causes them to shrink making it real easy to install! Could be something worth trying</TD></TR></TABLE>
Or you could just buy the lube, at you local autozone/pepboys. And the master kit should come with lube. Never heard of that though.

 

I did them all myself and it kinda sucked. I tried intially w/ a 6 ton arbor freight press and it broke on the first bushing. Then moved on to the blow torch which was a waste of time. Luckily my neighbor had an acetlyn torch which was mad fun and burnt them out in like 5 min. But with that you gotta saw this metal ring out which was kind of time consuming (atleast with a regular hacksaw). All in all the ride was tight at first but its softened up some, I havent had any binding issues either and I live in a cold climate area too.

 

i actually just installed that kit on my lude, it is a pain in the ***. there are a couple of ways to do it, the easiest way is to use a shop press and bushing drivers. also you can tourch them out, but you will need to cut the metal rings out. i found it easy to take a propane tourch to the bushings before putting it under the press. hope that helps

 

i am guessing that once the old rubber bushings are pressed out the new ones need to be pressed in ? or do they just go in easily ?

 

I really wouldn't recommend doing this on a street car, heck, I don't even like them to much on my racecar.

 

specifically what dont you like about them? noise and vibration doesnt justify the handling improvement?

Did you get the red or black bushings?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by syntax420 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">specifically what dont you like about them? noise and vibration doesnt justify the handling improvement?

Did you get the red or black bushings?</TD></TR></TABLE>

They wear out, or don't allow the suspension to flex the way they are supposed too.

 

so if you had a chassis with tired bushings, would you replace them with ES or OEM? Do you think the ES bushings will wear out sooner than oem?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by syntax420 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so if you had a chassis with tired bushings, would you replace them with ES or OEM? Do you think the ES bushings will wear out sooner than oem?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I would never replace them on any street car. Mugen is the best around because they understood the dynamics of how the suspension is supposed to work. ES will wear out faster.

I don't even like ES bushings on my racecars. The only ones I recommend using are the radius rod bushings and motor mount ones.

 

i am placing them on the rear of the car...

and putting the front engine mount in only.

 

hey sorry im not able to im or something, to get the metal rings out i used a bushing driver set and a shop press, if you cant get that you could also use a hack saw after the rubber is out. and i like them very much have been using them now for 4 months and handling was improved drastically

 

thats good to hear

look forward to taking her out for drive with the new bushes in

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BB6racer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i have never done it personally. my friend had them in his civic and they made a huge difference IMO. and he didn't burn them out, i guess they make a big mess and the fumes are pretty stank. he cut them, and then did some trick with a bolt, nut, some washers, and a whole lot of grease. the red bushings need to be re-greased periodically and the black bushings have a way of self greasing themselves (red and black are made from different materials). and i don't think they will bind as long as you keep them greased.</TD></TR></TABLE>

What was the bolt and washer trick can someone please explain?

Thanks

 

i've heard of them rotting out too.

it was also installed on a prelude race car. so i would stick with oem

 

I did mine myself in my garage With Out a bushing press. I used a bench vise to install the bushings. Had a few pop out and shoot across the garage when i was squeesing them in lol.
It definitely was time consuming, did the fronts one weekend and the rears the next. the front was way easier (at least for a civic)

Here's a link to a write-up:

http://civic-eg.com/viewtopic....f662b

 

thats a good write up, does anyone know the sizes of the bolts to be replaced on a 88-91 crx? Or is it just the 92-95 civic which they break on?

Should high tensile bolts be used?

Thanks

 

I broke one of the rear strut-to-lower-arm bolt on my 2000 Integra right after attempting to undo it. Had to drill out a part of it and cut the nut welded to the shock absorber. Pain in the whole body, I'm serious. And I had to buy a new lower arm. For the other side, I bought a new lower arm and dropped the shock with the arm connected to save the trouble. And that just to put new coilovers.
After reading the topic will probably give up on the poly bushings now or replace just a few of them, maybe just the top strut ones.