Anyone have experience with these? I did a search and only found one thread that was 4 years old:

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=308413

My car has 240,000 miles with all original bushings, and I'm sure many of them are shot. I'd like to replace them but I don't want to deal with potential squeeking if I use the red bushings, OEM rubber is quite expensive, and Mugen's hard rubber bushings are even more expensive. So it would seem the Energy Suspension graphite-impregnated black bushings are probably my best bet, but I would like to hear some experiences if anyone has used them.

 

you should get stock.

there are fundamental differences in the inherent design of poly vs rubber bushings that make rubber bushings worth getting.

and they really arent as "long lasting" and durable as they claim to be.

there are "oem quality" parts dealers that sell bushings for reasonable prices. i cant vouch for them. but they are fairly cheap by comparison.

to me tho, even at dealer prices, stock bushings are worth it.

 

really, so you think OEM rubber is better than polyurethane? I've never heard that before. So are you saying that polyurethane bushings are a bunch of hype? I would have thought the polyurethane ones would reduce suspension deflection and help keep alignment within spec (a problem I have with my worn bushings).

 

I'm in agreement with Tyson. After numerous tries with Polyurethane bushing, I switched back to oem rubber. Of course a worn bushing is no good, either poly or rubber.

Right now, I uses monoball, but they are expensive, and IMHO, only needed for race car. Poly has no place in a race car.

 

Okay I'm interested to know more about this. You tried polyurethane bushings and then what, they wore out faster than OEM rubber? Or did you switch back for some other reason? I can't comprehend how OEM rubber bushings could be better than polyurethane, other than the rubber ones probably would not ride as harsh as polyurethane, am I right?

Like I said, my car has 240,000 miles on it. I do not race it anymore, as it is my only car and I'm just trying to keep it in good running order since I cannot yet afford another vehicle. I've been steadily replacing parts as needed (and some when not needed as a preventative maintenance, like my front wheel bearings last week).

I just added up the prices, for all the suspension bushings (the ones included in the ES master kit) would be $185 from Baranco for OEM rubber (not including shifter bushings). And then there's the rear trailing arm monster bushings, which are not sold separately from the trailing arm for the OEM rubber bushings.

Then there are other bushings and parts not sold by ES: the rear-most front lower A-arm bushing = $154 for both bushings

And then some parts which have rubber bushings do not have the bushings sold separately: rear upper arms = $87 for both sides; rear toe compensator arms = $68 for both sides.

In all that's nearly $500 to replace all those rubber bushings with new OEM rubber factory parts, and that still doesn't include the large rear trailing arm bushings, which would still probably have to be replaced with polyurethane.

I just spent $350 getting my front lower ball joints and wheel bearings replaced and having the car aligned. I don't have another $550 to spend to replace all the bushings and get yet another alignment.


Modified by PatrickGSR94 at 2:39 PM 11/28/2006

 

Only thing I can add to this thread, for lack of personal experience, is that you should stay away from polyurethane in the RTA bushings. If you jack up the car and look at how the RTA moves, you'll see that some deflection in the bushing itself is required for the arms normal movement range.

Other than that, my Ingalls polyurethane UCA bushings started squeeking after 2 weeks. Not sure if there is a compound difference between them and the ES bushings though.

 

quit whining about costs. you dont have to replace EVERYTHING. replace whats needed.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">there are "oem quality" parts dealers that sell bushings for reasonable prices. i cant vouch for them. but they are fairly cheap by comparison.</TD></TR></TABLE>

try http://www.ips-parts.com/


and come to think of it, there is a thread in rr/ax about a company that sells COMPLETE replacement kits for integras and later civics called hardrace. theres a distributor on ebay. ppl are just picking up on it so i cant vouch for lack of any experience yet. and its only $160 for the set.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TunerN00b &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Only thing I can add to this thread, for lack of personal experience, is that you should stay away from polyurethane in the RTA bushings. If you jack up the car and look at how the RTA moves, you'll see that some deflection in the bushing itself is required for the arms normal movement range.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah I remember hearing that. So what can be done if my RTA bushings are torn? I'm not sure if they are or not, just wondering what can be done if they are, since Honda doesn't sell them separately?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">quit whining about costs. you dont have to replace EVERYTHING. replace whats needed.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

well I figured I would try to replace at least most of the bushings at once so I don't have to keep getting the car re-aligned.

 

52385-S21-003 is the Honda part number for the rear trailing arm bushing for 88-00 civics and DC2 integras, although there is an acura specific part number i dont know it. Its $25 each at http://www.magauto.com

 

I have the complete ES (Red) set in my '95 Integra. I've had this installed since '97 and I can tell you that they do sqeak. The bushings are really firm, but harsh for daily driving.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rodal126 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have the complete ES (Red) set in my '95 Integra. I've had this installed since '97 and I can tell you that they do sqeak. The bushings are really firm, but harsh for daily driving. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah I knew I didn't want the red ones, that's why I was asking about the black ones with the graphite in them.

 

ya i just picked up the ES Master kit in black for my EF, picking them up tomorrow and i hope to have them installed within the next week or two ill let you know how it goes if you'd like

 

I put the red ones in my EM1, ran them for a couple of years, they stayed tight and never squeaked. I really gooped them up all over with the grease they supplied though, and I later replaced the poly RTA bushings with rubber ones because the poly ones made my RTA's bind under hard cornering (hard cornerring as in at the track, for street use they worked fine).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by chrisw85 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">52385-S21-003 is the Honda part number for the rear trailing arm bushing for 88-00 civics and DC2 integras, although there is an acura specific part number i dont know it. Its $25 each at http://www.magauto.com</TD></TR></TABLE>

How did you find that part number? I searched high and low on Majestic Honda and couldn't find that number, nor could I find a diagram showing the RTA bushing sold separately. I tried several models of Civics and Integras on Mag Auto and also could not find the RTA bushing sold separately.

 

I've had success for the most part. Only one spot was giving me some problems. I would suggest you leave the inner most front LCA bushing stock unless you want to replace it every year. Otherwise the Black ES bushings have been good to me. I also don't use the crap for "lube" they give you.
Get the lube from here.
http://www.polybushings.com/

And their "master" kit doen't include all the bushings you need. Silly but true. I just can't remember which ones are missing....might be the compliance bushings.

 

The one you're saying to leave alone, is that #10 and #11 in this pic? I'd gladly leave that one alone if it's still good because those are the most expensive out of all of them, over $70 each.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PatrickGSR94 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How did you find that part number? I searched high and low on Majestic Honda and couldn't find that number, nor could I find a diagram showing the RTA bushing sold separately. I tried several models of Civics and Integras on Mag Auto and also could not find the RTA bushing sold separately.</TD></TR></TABLE>

youre right you cannot find it in a parts diagram. the part number is from a servcie bulletin from 2002. 52385-S21-003 is the latest honda part number version.

 

#19 is the one I'm talking about. The one you're talking about takes a lot of abuse and mine has lasted 3 years so far with autocrossing and a few track days as well.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dvp &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">#19 is the one I'm talking about. The one you're talking about takes a lot of abuse and mine has lasted 3 years so far with autocrossing and a few track days as well.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Just trying to get this straight here. The #10 and #11 above is the ones you said have lasted you 3 years? Well, mine are 12 years old, 240,000 miles, so I don't know. I'll have to get under there and look at them real close when I do my next oil change.

 

You can get new compliance bushings (the radius type ones you have as # 10/11) for under $30 ea for DC2/EG chassis.
HON049829
HON049830
from http://www.stopshopanddrive.com $27 each.

everyonce in a while a user by dohc garage on ebay will sell complete rubber bushing kits from Hardrace which includes the complaince, rts, etc, for about $150 all he has up right now are the spherical bearing rta bushings at $215.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PatrickGSR94 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just trying to get this straight here. The #10 and #11 above is the ones you said have lasted you 3 years? Well, mine are 12 years old, 240,000 miles, so I don't know. I'll have to get under there and look at them real close when I do my next oil change.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Here's my 2 cents.

I've had Energy Suspension red bushings, for about 1 year, then I switched to the black ones because the red squeaked like mad. It drove me nuts.

I was amazed at how worn out the new bushings were after just 1 year (and I stored the car in the winter).

The black ones don't squeak, but your ride will be considerably harsher (than stock).

If you want to be cost-effective, you can't beat the whole kit. I think I paid $110 bucks on eBay. I have a bunch left over, red and black. PM me and you can have them for cheap.

 

I've had red E.S. bushings on my car for over three years, 40,000 miles and haven't heard a squeak yet. It says in the E.S. instructions that they will squeak if the original parts, i.e. sway bar, c.a. etc. are not properly cleaned and lubricated before installing the new bushings. I got the master kit for about 120 shipped, so in my opinion that's not that bad.

 

sorry to bring up old thread but im not having any luck searching for info i need

i need bushes where front shock connects to lower arm, oem honda bushing isnt available on its own but i want as close to oem stiffness/quality as possible, i think es is gonna be too stiff and mugen costs too much

i really need other recommendations otherwise gonna end up with es which ill probably regret later

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vti444 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">sorry to bring up old thread but im not having any luck searching for info i need

i need bushes where front shock connects to lower arm, oem honda bushing isnt available on its own but i want as close to oem stiffness/quality as possible, i think es is gonna be too stiff and mugen costs too much

i really need other recommendations otherwise gonna end up with es which ill probably regret later</TD></TR></TABLE>

The front shocks go into the shock forks, and the shock forks connect to the lower arm where the #14 bushing is, so yes you can get those bushings separately.